Rear entrance on to common path, but locked gates between houses

[Sallythedog]

I've recently moved into a small terraced London house on a very quiet no through road. Every 8 or so houses there is a locked gate which leads between the houses to the path that runs between the backs of houses on our road, and the road behind. I have a key to the gate.

Today I had a tree surgeon to remove a large quantity of branches and opened the gate for him (3 houses away from me). Apparently the man who lives in the house adjacent to the gate told the tree surgeon that the gate couldn't be kept open, it wasn't for access or removing rubbish; the gate was to be kept locked as a security measure. And, incidentally, this would then prevent his cat from getting into the road. He said that all rubbish had to be brought through my house. I went and had a polite word, he was a very rude youngish man holding a small child (I am a much older woman), and said that I wanted to be able to use the gate, and would ask the tree surgeon to close the gate behind him.

I have the Deeds to my house, and there's no mention of the rear entrance, and the drawing useless as it's such small scale. Any ideas as to how I can avoid this happening again? I'm planning on having the fencing and shed replaced, and would obviously want them to go through the back exit and not through the house.

I can understand that there might be security issues if the gate was unlocked on a permanent basis, but this was 8.00 in the morning, and would have been for a couple of hours. And of course, any of the other gates on this road or the one behind could be permanently unlocked, and he would never know it. I don't want to fall out with my new neighbours, but neither do I intend again to be spoken to in the manner that he employed this morning.

Apologies for lengh, and advice please.

Ask another neighbour what the situation is with the gate. Make discreet inquiries into whether this man is generally difficult.

If that is the rule then who is responsible for enforcing it? I suspect no-one. Don't listen if the grumpy bloke says he is responsible because he isn't. It would have to be the landowner, if it's leasehold, or someone with an interest in the land.

Having said that, if it's not in your deeds then it isn't a rule. It's just a grumpy bloke trying to intimidate you. Check with your neighbours as they may have a view about this man and if you want to avoid the problem again you could ask him where the rule is documented, who enforces it and what the penalties are.

Hmmm strange. We have this behind our row of terraces- we are the end terrace and the next two or three houses along have a right of way across our back garden. We put in a side gate which we lock from the inside so anyone from the row can open it if they wish. In practice hardly ever used.

If yours isn't a right of way there's probably not much you can do. I'd be surprised if it's not though?? Did anything come up when you bought the house?

I've read it again and I think I misunderstood your OP. If you have a key surely you can unlock the gate whenever you choose? Who's responsible for maintaining the path and gate? Your neighbour sounds daft.

Hmmm could be tricky. We have a gate just like the one you describe, we have a key but the land belongs to our neighbour and there is no official right of way on our deeds.. We're lucky that they are very friendly so it's never been an issue and we don't use it much. You can buy a copy of the deeds from the land registry website (£2 per document) and this will at least tell you which side owns it and if there is some sort of covenant for access.

Can't you just give the tree surgeon your key for the duration of the job? I agree that the neighbour is being unreasonable but its bettr to resolve things ithout argument if possible because when you sell you have to declare if there are any disputes with neighbours.

If you have a key you have access. And the access means removing rubbish, building work etc. he's just an arse and should be ignored.

I would imagine that even if a right of way it is just that and should not be blocked by a stream of debris and left open. You can check LR for your neighbours ' properties too. Could it actually be his land if his cat can get through (ie. our neighbours access their garden via a path on our land)? Probably it is devised as a way of putting out rubbish/emergency access. Could they not chip the branches in your garden and bring it all through in one or two batches. Likewise if you didn't forewarn him this time , I would give notice of your intended dates for fence etc and minimise the inconvenience of repeated trips.

Thanks to all of you who've replied. My solicitor wasn't able to find out who owns the pathways - there's about 7 roads all built the same, with interlinking paths, so I don't think that the access paths belong to the adjacent householders. Having thought about it, my feeling is that we all have right to access from our back gates, otherwise why would we have back gates? Next time, if there is a next time, if he's difficult, I might suggest that he doesn't have the right to say who can use it and for what purpose. This morning the tree man had my key and we managed. He certainly wasn't blocking the path, and in fact swept everything from the path into his chipper, including things that hadn't come from my garden. Because I'm new here, and I didn't want to ruffle feathers, I was conciliatory.

I will see if I can diplomatically find out from other neighbours if this has been a problem in the past.

Time to stop worrying about it now, otherwise I'll still be awake at 3.00 a.m.!

Is this basically What we call an Alleygate? Houses on different streets not quite meeting at the back garden and in days goneby would have been open, but like the beginning of Corrie used to be?

If so then you are quite able to open the gate for your workmen as long as they shut it behind them. Your neighbour is just being awkward. Its possible his house is the one that gets robbed if the gate is left open as it's nearest the entrance.

He wanted the tree surgeon to carry bits of tree through your house??

I think I would just ignore him in future and if you do use the gate in future make sure it is locked at the end of the day.