Private road

[Delamereroad]

Friend is considering a house which is accessed via a private unadopted road.
No one knows who owns the road.
There are approx. 10 houses along the road.
Never been any access issues in the past
Solicitor advises any purchaser would have servitude rights to use the road as it has been used since the house was build 50 years ago.
Apparently quite a common issue with rural houses.
Anyone any experience?

Me. Never been a problem. You can ask the seller to get a defective title indemnity policy to allay your fears.

We live on an unadopted bridle way and we also don’t know who owns the lane, when we first brought our property we got an indemnity should any disputes arise with access and use of the lane.

I would advise you to find out who maintains the road, our lane is currently maintained by all the residents and at times the lane has large pot holes that need to be filled in which we try to do, were trying to get the council to adopt the lane as it’s also cut through for people on foot but were not having much luck, to be honest it’s the only downside to the property.

If you make enquiries about the road- eg with the local council - you may be unable to get an indemnity policy. These policies work as a relatively small payment to cover an unknown ( but probably unlikely) risk. Once you start enquiries, it's not a completely unknown risk.