Would you buy a house where the neighbour had right of access through your garden?

[Anticyclone]

So, we are looking at an end of terrace house where the adjoining neighbour has a gate in the fence - which is right next to the house. The end of terrace house has side access and the neighbour has the right to access their garden through this side gate and the gate in the dividing garden fence.

My instinct is to run away screaming as I hate the thought of someone being able to intrude on my garden. But current owner says it's not a issue and neighbour very rarely uses it - just to occasionally move big items into their garden.

What do others think, any experience of this? The house is otherwise good, so would be a shame to discount it unnecessarily.

Maybe. I'd never heard of it before I moved to where I am now but it's really common around here, so if you want a certain type of house, i.e. smallish terrace then you'll almost certainly either have someone access over your garden or you will have to go through someone else's e.g. with bins. It does put me off a bit but if the house was really nice it wouldn't be a deal breaker on the basis that it's the same for all houses in the area and they don't seem to have difficulties selling.

We have this access over our neighbours garden. In 10 years we've probably made use of it about 5 times. We always ask their permission to even though we don't legally need to, but just to be polite. We also have rear access to our own garden though so it's often not necessary. Really does depend on your neighbours though!

We were the mid house in this situation and the end-of-terrace house had fenced off a path for us along the back of the garden. The gardens were tiny too (she probably lost about an 1/6th of her whole garden doing this) but it did mean she had complete privacy.

No. We lived in a rented house with this sort of set up. Ok with first set of neighbours but when new lot moved in with kids, there was constant to-ing and fro-ing. Perfectly nice kids, but it was still a pain.

I wouldn't. Not necessarily because it wouldn't work for me, but because it'd be a problem with reselling, as shown by the number of people who've said no on this thread.

No. It's a nightmare. The house next to my parents I'd a rental and they've had a constant string of problems.

Could you buy this right of way back/out ie offer some cash and redraw the legal status? Looks like many people have bad experiences and many have been neutral - but for me the worst would be the uncertainty....

Run screaming! Neighbours can be enough of a nuisance without access to your land!

Never, don't do it. Really it is such a pain in the arse. We bought a house like that. Previous owners told us that the neighbours didn't use the access much, but it wasn't true. They used it all the time. And they used to stare in our windows as they walked past. I had no privacy. We sold that and swore never to buy a place where the neighbours have right of way again. And anyway, even if those neighbours are ok, what if they sell up and the next ones aren't? Don't do it, you'll live to regret it......

I'm writing this even though this thread is old just so that I can give anybody in future considering a shared access my perspective.
As someone who owns a property with this kind of access, my advice would be to run for the hills now! I have a neighbour who cuts across our garden as much as 20 times, which doesn't include the multitude of visitors she has too, so you can only imagine how annoying this becomes. She has also now installed a lock on her gate and a doorbell (hers garden is completely private and no access necessary to get into adjoining property). This means all her visitors congregate in our garden waiting to be let in. We've managed to avoid a dispute, but I know our previous neighbours at the other side whose garden she also has the right to cut across sold up because of her and we are considering doing the same. Like us, our other neighbour only use it once a week to put out bins or take big deliveries, other than that, we use our front doors to respect one another's personal space. But if you're unfortunate to get someone next to you like we have then this becomes fast annoying, especially when you're trying to enjoy some private time in your garden during in a lockdown situation.
If you can afford it, pay a little extra and try to find a house with a private garden if you can because there's no reasoning with this these types of people and they will only see it from their own selfish perspective.

It will do your head in! One of our houses had open plan walk ways at the front and back which meant someone was always walking past every single days, several times a day. It used to get on my nerves but my neighbors were quiet so I put up with it.

I wouldn't do so now.

It might be fine but if the current neighbours move you could have a family move in where kids and bike are constantly going to and fro. If you or a neighbour has pets it can be a problem if someone leaves the gates open, you won’t feel relaxed to sunbathe inc are someone comes through, would have to leave gates unlocked which can be a security risk.

I think many old terraced houses have this , it doesn't seem to put buyers off where I live . Most people fence the garden part off to leave a passage to keep the garden bit more private. Personally its not for me , but if it was a nice house in a good area you can afford it might be perfect . Lots of people have no neighbour access , but still the garden doesn't always feel private especially if its tiny .

Zombie thread! I reckon the OP has made a decision by now

Nope, never

Its a big no fro me

Wouldn’t bother me. We used to have right of way through a neighbour’s garden and used it once to get garden furniture in. Find it odd that anyone would care. And if you really cared, presumably the access is at the rear of the garden and you could just fence it off.

Another no from me. I'd never heard of this before reading it on mumsnet. Loads of terraced housing round my way but always back alleys for access.

I do always wonder when I see shared driveways how it works in practice. Does each house get it on different days? I imagine if one house didn't have a car then the other would get used to having it all the time. Then if non driver moved out and new occupant had a car it would be awkward. I feel anxious thinking about it!

Wouldn't make any difference to me but I'm not super big on privacy or gardens either really

It’s really common where my Mum lives. Everyone has a flying freehold, shared drives or paths and various rights of access.

Are there any conditions on it? The path across my parents’ garden is ONLY for maintenance. They go once a week for bins, occasionally to bring in gardening stuff (like a small digger, not a bag of compost). Everyone respects the general principles of access across a maze of picturesque cottages.

MN Suburbia generally gives a collective shudder of horror at the very idea.

I think each case needs to be looked at individually and in context.

Wouldn't consider it even for a minute.

No way.

Definitely not. I wouldn't even consider a house with a shared driveway. Too much potential for disputes.

Been there and done it. Never ever again.

This is very common in terraces op. Because logistically it’s the only way tl access th back of the property logistically oth than through the house.
So I’d prepare if you’re looking at back to back terraces you will find this.