New neighbour wants to own the entry?

[danilyon]

Hi,

A new neighbour bought the house next to us about 3 weeks ago. She knocked and introduced herself and said she wanted to pop around the following week to talk about the back gardens. She came round and spoke about putting a fence in the back garden between our house and hers, which is fine as it's something we've been meaning to do but not had the money for. She also asked about putting a gate on the entryway that runs between our house, which is also fine with us.

She then went on to say that she would sort all of this out and that she would like to legally own the entryway that runs between our houses and that she would maintain the entryway. Our house is a terraced house in a row of 4 and our house and the neighbours are in the middle. Above the entryway is one of her bedrooms and her bathroom I think. The entryway is shared between us both and as far as my hubby and I are aware the boundry line runs straight down the middle of entryway. It is the only access we both have to our back gardens. When she mentioned getting her solicitor to send us the paperwork to have a read through hubby made a few non-commital comments but I think she thinks it's a go from us.

We've had no paperwork from any solicitor as of yet, but after me and hubby have had a chat (obviously couldn't do it whilst she was here), we are wondering why would she want to have ownership of the entryway? Obviously a part of our problem would be if she fell out with us for whatever reason and denied access as it's our only access to the back garden? Also what would happen when we sold our house - we think this could hinder a sale if we agreed and told the new owners that actually the neighbour owns the entryway?

I'm worrying what to say to her now as we are not keen to sign anything to give her the entryway completely. We only use the entryway to take the wheelie bins from the back garden out to the front on collection day anyway so it's not like we have all kinds of people coming round the back to see us etc. Does anyone have any advice on what we could say to her? Obviously we don't want to 'sour' relations with her because we are refusing to give her the entryway legally.

Any advice would help. Thanks! :)

Oooh thanks for the update OP. You stick to your guns, she sounds barking. You're gonna have some fun with this one!

I lived in a Victorian semi detached villa that was L shaped, with the other also an L shape - Ours was wider at the front, the other was wider at the back iyswim. The cellars ran along the front of the property only, so next doors cellar was half under our property. We did query it when looking at the deeds of the house, but never had a problem with it.

Ooh, marking my place because I really want to know what happens! Stand firm, Op. Hopefully she will see some sense and not keep pushing it.

I would lay money on her wanting to extend into the alleyway.

I would not let her put a gate up TBH as I would be worried about her not giving a key.

I agree with SoupDragon. Given her behaviour so far I wouldn't let her do anything at all to the alleyway. If she wants to secure her back garden she can fit a gate at the back garden end that only secures her garden and doesn't affect access to yours.

Not everyone is that concerned by front to back access (although it would put me off a house if it didn't have it). I've seen this design of house extended by attaching where the outbuildings are at the back, the people I know who've done it now use the alley as the main entrance to their house so they have somewhere undercover to dump shoes - a sort of free porch. This doesn't seem to bother their neighbours but I wonder if maybe your neighbour is thinking along the lines of preventing you doing it rather than extending her own house? Either way she's still bonkers but perhaps she might back off a bit if she knows you have no plans to extend?

haha...I thought I was really sad for being hooked on this thread and it seems there's loads of us. I do need to get out more. Anyway at least we've been updated now. Good luck OP - I hate this kind of situation but you are doing the right thing

there is no need to know why she wants it or what her plans are - you DO NOT, WILL NOT sign any part of it over to her for any consideration - and that is all she needs to know
if she gets her way she has you dancing to her tune - and what if she sells and the next person does not co-operate with you - and it will most certainly affect the value of your property. you were lent the money by your mortgage company to buy your house 'as it stood' and they may well have de-valued it if you did not 'own' part of the access
you don't need a solictor to write to her solicitor - write your own letter - get it witnessed by a 3rd party who has no interests in your property and send a copy to her and a copy to her solictors both by registered post and
keep at least 2 copies yourselves (lodge 1 at your bank if you think your copy might go missing)

It will have been made clear by her solicitor when she bought the house that it was shared, surely, by reading the deeds? Don't let her do anything to it. I wouldn't trust her now with any form of gate & padlock.

How very DARE she hassle you.

Is it wrong that im a tiny bit upset to see this was updated yesterday and ive only just noticed now!! actually a but gutted i could have found out yesterday what had happened so far!!

Im also waiting for the day though i see this new thread " new neighboura are being stubborn and wont give me my entry". How funny would that be if she joined here to discuss it further! seriouly though Don not give into this woman, what next if you do (which your obviously not planning on doing) if she starts being funny though just tell her to back off woman, your heavily pregnant and dont need a psychopath ranting about an entry of all things every time she sees you! good luck, (im secretly thankful that she hasnt moved next to me, although my new neighbour seems to be captain von trap in disguise as he loves to whistle at all times of the day and night)!

It will have been in the deeds that it's shared, but if she assumed it was hers & didn't ask then it won't have been mentioned by her solicitor (because having shared rights to an entryway is completely normal)

In fact that might explain why she's changed solicitors, because her original one will have told her she was wasting her time

Wouldn't bother having a discussion with her if I were you - just write back to her solicitors to put them in the picture and copy the letter to her. Job done.

Cheeky cow, isn't she, though...

What annoys me even more about her attitude is having been told the FIL is a guarantor, she's clearly decided to "work" on him and pursuade him, like the fact its your house, you pay the mortgage, etc. has nothing to do with you and she'll get around it all this way.

As others have mentioned, write back to her solicitor, keep a copy for yourself and send a copy onto her. Don't enter into any more chats about it (no matter how hard she tries) and just smile and be pleasant if you see her (while she no doubt inwardly seethes, ha).

Hi ladies, well your just going to LOVE this update!! Was up at our house today as my dad came up to rip out the kitchen, left my dad to it and then went back to the rented house to meet my mum. About two hours later my dad comes back telling me about how my neighbour is nutty and asking what she had been going on about to him. Now I've not mentioned any of the whole entry discussion to my parents really as there isn't anything to discuss. Apparently my dad was coming out of our house with a load of broken cupboards and she saw him and said to him 'are you peter's dad' to which my dad said no I'm danielles dad. She then asked my dad if he was the guarantor to which my dad said no. She then says go him. 'oh right..I wanted to have a meeting about the right of way with entry with peter's dad' Obviously my dad has no idea what the hell shes on about so she carries on by saying 'I think theres been a misunderstanding, I don't want them to pay halves for anything, I'm going to pay for everything (in the letter to her i mentioned nothing about money) and I'll pay for them to have the front hardcored so they can keep their wheelie bins at the front'
My dad said he was thinking in his head that who the hell are you, I've never even seen you before, and the wheelie bins are kept at the back, but he said because he had no idea what she was on about he kept his mouth shut and then she said that our front garden (and back) needed sorting as it was a bit untidy and if were wanting to sell it needed to be tidy, to which my dad said 'they are more concerned about sorting out the interior' after that she asked if he knew when we were going to be back up there so she could chat but he said he had no idea.
Our gardens, front and back, do need a good mow but that's it, also we aren't there so when hubby does go up he is sorting the inside as it needs to be done. My dad said he felt like calling her a cheeky bitch as her front garden is also overgrown and she's had the house for 2 months now but she's been sorting the inside of her house like we have and she doesn't seem like she's going to be mowing the front of her garden anytime soon ( the back garden also needs sorting on her side and it's also got loads of brambles in) but we've not mentioned anything about her doing her garden!! I'm annoyed that shes approached a visitor to my home and then proceeded to mention the whole situation to him when it's between us and her - noone else!! I'm going to fire off an email to her solicitors tomorrow to state that we have told her no, she's now harassing visitors to our home about it and I do not appreciate this. We did not agree anything in principle and we will not be giving up our ownership of our share of the entry and that this is the last I want to hear on the matter! I felt like ringing her and telling her to piss off when my dad mentioned it but restrained myself lol

Oh I forgot to say we are planning to sell in the next five years...by the way she's talking you'd think we are putting the house up for sale next week!!

Wow!
With talk of hard standing for your wheelie bin she definitely has it mind to stop you using the alley, doesn't she?
Have nothing at all to do with it.
And I wouldn't accept anything from her, by ay of paid fo maintenance, fencing, anything - don't let her acquire any rights by 'custom and practice'.

Oooo Danilyon, am all cross on your behalf. We had a set to with one of our neighbours over a wall we built, so I understand how cross it can make you. He engaged a solicitor and I found the pair of them on our land one afternoon so booted them off. Talked to his solicitor after the neighbour had stropped off home to get some deeds and he said to me 'my client is a pillock'.

When they were hanging around later and things got a bit heated, something of the seven year old in me took over and I said (in front of the solicitor) 'AND even your solicitor thinks you're a pillock' Very satisfying.

Hope she packs it all in and leaves you in peace. Well done for sticking to your guns.

yes, you're dead right, I love this update

"I'll pay for them to have the front hardcored so they can keep their wheelie bins at the front"

so in her head, making somewhere for you to keep your bins at the front is the only thing that stands between you & her taking free ownership of the entry

she is so deluded!

"I'm going to fire off an email to her solicitors tomorrow to state that we have told her no, she's now harassing visitors to our home about it and I do not appreciate this. We did not agree anything in principle and we will not be giving up our ownership of our share of the entry and that this is the last I want to hear on the matter!"

yay for you, danilyon!

I'll do it on you and your dad's behalf - Cheeky Bitch!! It is absolutely none of her business if/when you are planning to sell or what you do with your gardens.

Definitely deal with the solicitors and definitely say no.

Probably best to try and keep it polite as neighbour disputes are horrible but it looks like you may be stuck with one anyway despite doing nothing wrong

OMG!!!! She really is deluded. You need to set her straight.

And I agree - no gate on the alley, esp paid for by her.

And I would write a hard copy to the solicitor, stating that you do not wish to sell or give the passageway, or any extra rights of access to your neighbour, you wish it to remain exactly as it is, and that you require acknowledgement of your letter stating that they have understood this.

I don't like the idea of a letter saying 'we understand you are willing to give your share away' without there being a written reverse of that to keepon file.

The legal complications of flying freeholds and shared access can be very complicate - my Mum's neighbours believe they have rights to generalaccess across her garden becaue the last owner of my Mum's house granted the last by 3 owners of the neighbours a temporary license to use her garden as access -and now no-one can fnd the paperwork. It's going to be a nightmare to sell.

oh Blu

surely if there's no paperwork either way then the alleged right of way can't be proved & doesn't exist???

Thanks for the replies ladies! Well, I got pretty worked up about it at first as I can't believe she had the cheek to talk to my dad about it. She knows we are getting work done inside so for all she knew my dad could have been a builder or anyone. Dh and I are quite youngish (I'm 24 and hubby is 26) so maybe she thinks she can manipulate us into it. I may be young but I'm not daft. She never ever mentioned anything about wheelie bins or where we kept them until today and now that just gives a clear indication that we wouldnt be able to use the alleyway. I agree that she is trying to get round it by trying to get to talk with FIL but it's not his decision, he's only on as guarantor as hubby was in uni when the house was bought but we have always paid the mortgage. Her solicitor is based in Sheffield otherwise I would have popped in personally but we live in Huddersfield and don't have a car so awkward to get there. An email and written recorded delivery letter should suffice though! She's really annoyed me today by acting the way she has, sneaky cow!

I hope that the issues with your mums house can be sorted Blu, hoping that it's as Ponders has said and that the alleged right of way doesn't exist for the neighbours!

Keep calm, though, OP, try not to to let it develop into a slanging match. You have to live next door to her!

It does sound as though she thinks you are young and impressionable, hence she thinks she'll get further by speaking to your dad. Don't read too much into her hassling your FIL; she's obviously a bit concerned that you've misinterpreted the situation.

Just say no, we are not interested, it's nothing to do with who pays for what, we just don't want to lose the access to the back (and you really don't!). A calm and rational letter summarising this, to her and her solicitor should suffice.

Stand firm, but be polite to her.