Any solicitors out there or any one with any knowledge about nasty developers!!

[boo70]

Hi all my house was built in 1896 and has a private right of way over a pathway leading to my house and this pathway was the only access to my home as stated on my deeds and land registry map.There is another road but the pathway is our only legal access. A developer has come along and put a wooden hoarding around there site which they have purchased and straight over our pathway and blocked us off completly. The council who granted planning permission have said, even though they agree this company have encroached onto our pathway they cannot get involved!! The developers are really horrible and wont even talk to us and we dont know where to turn for help, ive contacted cab, obudsman, highways, council but still no luck. This has been nearly a year now and if we dont get it sorted soon they are going to start to build and without the path reinstated ill never be able to sell my house. I know solicitor sounds like next step but money is tight and not sure what to do. Any advice would be great. Thank you

But i am going to call again tomorrow as our MP should be helping us, i thought they put so much time aside for different issues.

You should have a local councillor, county councillor and an MP to represent you.

Anyway, have looked on-line and the CAB in Berks does not seem to do property pro bono. So...

Suggest you find a legal firm in Berks with a strong property team rather than a generalist approach.

Get a clear breakdown of the cost involved and find out whether it is partner led e.g. £200+ per hour or a supervised trainee / legal executive £50+ per hour who will be working on this.

Set a clear initial limit for fees and ask for daily, weekly etc feedback, whatever you want. You will be the client. Don't be shy!

I dont know actually,Friendlypizzaeater, ill have a look now thanks.

boo70 I suggest you post on this forum here...

Garden Law

Great thanks for your help baffledmum, i have booked tomorrow off work to get things sorted.

Thanks Lobsterslass, ill look on there now.This looks great!!

Good luck - DD just popped out of bed so I have to go and say goodnight. Hope you manage to resolve this at miminal expense!

Thanks so much

There is a farly militant right to roam organisation - can't remember the name - who might back you if the path is used by the general public.

oh right thanks ill try anything!!

The law is totally in your favour - spk to a solicitor on a free advice basis. Go to:

www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law and search in your area under conveyancing - property. Have a look at their websites, spk to a couple.

If it really is as cut and dried as it sounds it really shouldn't be expensive to fire a shot across their bows.

Are the developers a small company? A larger company you would have thought would have done proper due diligence and this would have been flagged up.

My post got superseded by baffledmum - great advice on doing as much work as you can yourself. Good luck

kaz33 thanks so much, they are a company who have many different names and addresses and there very hard to track down.

Thet seem to have our local council on side and we did not even have a letter from the planning department to let us know that plans had been submitted.

That is totally bad process if you didn't get a letter informing you of the application. How many people/houses does this affect?

there are 6 cottages here, and we seem to be forgotton about all the time, except when they want council tax of course!!!

so we did not get the chance to object, but now they have had to submit new plans we have been sent a letter.

I have found a local solicitor from that site thanks, am going to call first thing.

Don't go to a tinpot high street practice - I am an ex solicitor so am allowed to say that . Go to a firm with a proper residential/development dept, also my particular advice never ever employ a firm of solicitors where you have to go through a switchboard or secretary to get to the lawyer. Only ever employ a firm where you can get a direct line, when/if it all starts to go pear shaped then at least you can get in touch with the solicitor. It keeps them on their toes.

ok thanks Kaz33, ill look into that and check i get the right solicitor.

boo go to a reputable firm of solicitors in reading, and tell them you want them to make a fast application to reading county court for an order requiring the developer to remove the hoarding. the judges there are a sensible lot and on the side of the average joe (certainly when it comes to property developers behaving badly). Once you get to court I'm reasonably confident from what you've said that you'll get your order, you just don't want too much of a delay and faffing around etc before you get there.
Also if you are successful in getting the order and the developers are behaving as badly as you suggest, you will most likely also be awarded the bulk of your costs too.

boo70 - if you go on the garden law website as given above there are conveyancing soliticors who answer posts on there for free obviously.

They are happy to point out where to go and what to write in letters etc.

They are just being bullies trying to make you back down to give them what they want.

For everyone else it makes very interesting reading!! Land is treated very differently in law than any other property. If I nicked a car I would be (hopefully) prosecuted for theft, if I nick your land and have it for 10 years I can legally try to claim it!!!

They can't claim adverse possession as they haven't had the land long enough. However if they build on it then you will have one hell of a fight to get it back.

The cost involved in going to court is a small price to pay as like you say there is the possibility that you may never be able to sell in future if you lose the access.

Can you and your neighbours not club together for a class action?