Land rights

[Housen]

There’s a no-man’s land back passage running behind three terrace houses (1,3,5). We own no. 1 (recently bought) our neighbours own 3 and 5 (yes they own 2 houses!)

Neighbours have put a locked gate on the passage and claimed it as their own. They store their bins and bikes back there- including in the space behind our garden.

We asked if we could store our bins there too - there’s space for at least 2 more bins without blocking the way. (Also our garden is much smaller than theirs and we have three small kids- they have one 15 yr old).

Neighbours have said no. They have said since they’ve been using this passage as theirs only for years (because they put a locked gate on in) , it’s now legally their property and we have no right of access and they are not willing to share.

Do we have any leg to stand on here? I’m guessing not but thought I’d consult the collective wisdom of mumsnet..

Which end is the access point? Do your conveyancing papers or deeds mention the easement?

Totally depends on
A) what your deeds say
B) who actually owns the land (a third party?)
C) what legal jurisdiction you live in

Access is through a side gate behind our garden. We are end of terrace.

it’s marked on land registry as no man’s land. We asked our lawyers and they said we could establish right of access by asking previous owners if they used it. Previous owners said they hadn’t used it because there’s a locked gate on it. We then knocked on our neighbour’s door and wife answered (this was before completion). She was really nice and admitted they had put the locked gate on and said they’d be happy to share a key if we wanted to use it. Since we moved in however and her husband found out he has said no and they’ve changed their mind.

No one own the land, its marked on deeds as no mans land. We are in England.

They are probably trying to do an adverse possession. Speak to a solicitor if you are bothered.

So you could block the gate with your bins? where did previous owner put theirs?

"Access is through a side gate behind our garden."

So this is the side gate that they have locked?

Is this a typical Victorian/Edwardian terrace of homes? Terraces back then were deliberately built with passageways to provide rear access for all the homes and there would typically be a gate in the rear fence leading to each garden.

This allowed people to enter the home from the back door and get coal deliveries etc all without having to traipse dirt through the front room.

As a result, some or all the terraces gained rights over and along the passageways due to their prolonged use over and along them for the uses for which they were intended.

These rights continue to exist today….although many people (like your neighbour) seek to take over these passageways and make them unavailable for the other houses.

So asserting your ‘rights’ over and along the passageway is the issue you have, as opposed to worrying about who owns it.

You will have a right to pass and repass over and along the passageway (to get to and from the rear of your property as a result of long-standing rights after a day down the pit etc in the 1900’s ) and the right to take out & bring in bins, building materials etc (due to longstanding rights bring in coal etc).
.

"...it’s now legally their property and we have no right of access and they are not willing to share."

That sounds a bit of a dubious claim, it is possible to check to see if that bit of land is registered and, if so, who owns it.

But who owns the land isn't really so important. What matters is that your house had access along that passageway from the date it was built. That will certainly be long enough to establish a right of way.

You neighbour can't simply get rid of a right of way by locking the gate.

Given what you have said about the neighbour I don't expect that they will be amenable to you just asking (or telling) them that you require access.

If you want to regain access to that passageway then you will likely need the help of a solicitor who is experienced in dealing with rights of way.

If you google something like "rights of way solicitor [name of your town]" then it should come up with some local solicitors who have experience in this area.

Thanks really much for this, it’s really helpful. They definitely don’t formally own it at the moment as it is unregistered land, but they say that since they have been exclusively using it for long enough they can now acquire legal right of ownership and are seeking to formalise this.

Get in there by whatever method possible and take some photos of you having a picnic in there. You have to prove you have been using it.

How long have the neighbours lived there?

Adverse possession requires continuous uninterrupted use as if it were their own for 10 years for registered land.

If they have used it like that for 10 years or more then yes they can get it registered as their own

Sorry that is incorrect. It is far more complex than that. They can make an application but that can be opposed by either the law full proprietor or or anyone with a vested interest. Given that it is a communal alleyway it is likely you have an easement to use it, either express, implied or by prescription.

The OP knows that it’s not registered though.

It is not registered as being owned by anyone. I understand the OP to have said that Land Registry has it registered as such.

it doesn’t make much difference either way. For registered land the time period is 10 years. For unregistered land it’s 12 years.

@Brahumbugthere is no “lawful owner”. That’s the whole point. I’m a lawyer so I tailored my response to the information given, rather than set out every permutation of what could happen.

To obtain ownership of land in this scenario, the neighbours would have to apply to Land Registry with evidence of their uninterrupted continuous use for 10 (or 12) years. There is no other “owner” to oppose that so if they have the evidence, they will get it. If they don’t, they won’t. However for practical purposes they have currently locked off access to the land and so whether or not they make the application makes no practical difference unless the OP wants to destroy the locked gate. I wouldn’t advise that. I would advise getting a solicitor to write to them asking them to remove the gate as they don’t own the land. They would then have to prove that they do have a right to the land through adverse possession.

There is no other “owner” to oppose that so if they have the evidence, they will get it

It's not just the owner who can make objection to the application though is it? 'Interested Parties' of which, OP is, presumably, one, can also object.

Yes, they can. But rather than prompting these people to file the application I would first try to flush out what they have by way of evidence of the period of their uninterrupted use.

Have they even owned the property for long enough to claim 10 or 12 years’ uninterrupted use of the alley? If not, can they produce a statutory declaration from the previous owners evidencing that the previous owners had continuous uninterrupted use of it? If not then that’s a complete answer - they can’t claim it. If they can show the requisite use, why wasn’t this matter dealt with in the conveyancing process (as the alley directly adjoins the OP’s property)? I’m selling a house atm and we have an alley way along the side of our garden - buyers have asked various questions about what it’s used for, who uses it etc.

I didn't say the op was the owner or proprietor, I said she may have a vested interest in the alleyway as a right of access . Such a right may be established expressly, implicitly or by prescription. That is a route well worth investigating.

Does their Adverse Possession claim depend on whether other parties have used the land, should other parties have free access to it? Surely the locked gate restricts the access?!

Am I right that OP can challenge their claim? I know others have suggested this OP, but see a solicitor sharpish and have your deeds and photographs ready.

If they go for adverse possession, the Land Registry will write to you and the other neighbours to inform you and give you a chance to reply. Check your deeds and the deeds of the other houses that should have access, it may say in the deeds that you have access to the rear:
www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

Thanks so much that's really helpful to know that the land registry will write to us. Unfortunately our deeds don't say anything, and our neighbours have owned both houses for more than 12 years.

On the one hand I can see their point - that if they have exclusively used something for so long they have established a norm that it's theirs (and that seems to be consistent with the law).

On the other hand it feels unfair that they can just grab land like that. No one could use the space because they put a gate and a lock on it, and in our house there was a revolving door or loggers/ multi-occupants. No one really cared about the house and it wasn't a home, so I can see how this action went unnoticed challenged.

Meanwhile, we have moved in and now have nowhere to store our bins while they store their bikes and bins in the unregistered land behind our garden.

Just take the lock off and use it. Or put your own lock on it so they can’t.

Not sure if I made sense there - what I meant that adverse possession has to show that other parties could have used it should they have wanted too - so putting a lock on the space stops you from even trying to gain access to the area.

Doesn’t this work in contradiction to adverse possession conditions?

@brahumbugthe OP, by definition, is not going to have a right by prescription/an easement because she and the previous owners clearly have not had uninterrupted access over the alleyway.