Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Shared driveway problems

42 replies

Angihay · 14/12/2018 23:23

Shared driveway problems...

We have lived in our house for just over 4y with no problems but recently our neighbors decided to make a big deal about how the driveway gets used on our side.

There are 2 houses sharing the driveway and ours is the last one in the end. Basically we have a turning point at the end of our driveway, directly in front of our house that it only exists to make it easier for us to park into our garage spaces. This turning point is only used by us and my neighbor’s turning point is directly in front of our garage, making that turning point too far away to be used by them. Occasionally, out of convenience reasons, we park our car at the end of the driveway, without affecting our neighbors parking in any ways but they have decided that we cannot park in there after 3 years of doing so, just because they don’t like it.
However, they happen to have 6 cars between them and use up all of the spaces on the road next to the shared driveway. We are reasonable people and if this was affecting them in any way, we would have no problems in stopping doing so, but it seriously doesn’t and i have small children, and friends with small children and a disabled grandma that should be able to park near us when they come to visit but purely for their own satisfaction, they want to make my visitors walk a big distance and struggle just to be annoying.

Because we have ignored them and constinued to live our lives normally as we did before, they started parking in the middle of the shared driveway purposely making it difficult for us to get in and out of our driveway.
We tried talking to the police, we tried a mediation service, we sent letters to them but they ignored it all and they are just living to make our lives hell at the minute, they have nothing better to do.
Our deeds state that no one should put any obstruction to block or make it difficult for the accessees (us) to access their property, which is what they are doing. Although it also says (very distorsively) that parking on the “brown area” (which is the whole of the shared driveway) is not allowed.

I would like some advice on how can i change the deeds of our property to make that end turning space not a “shared turning space” because we do not “share” that turning space, therefore, it would be our space to use as we wish so we can use it as we please and have at least one extra space for visitors to park near our house.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
PeaQiwiComHequo · 14/12/2018 23:39

we need a diagram -mumsney rules.

but anyway - no the turning space is shared and it makes no difference that it's on "your" side - the neighbour is allowed to use the space in order to turn a car to reverse in or out of their garage and you can't take that right away.

your additional rant about the on-street parking is irrelevant - all on street parking is first-come-first-served so that's just tough.

yes you can and should make them stop parking on the shared driveway. they are breaking a contract by doing so and they can and should have consequences.

DrWashout · 14/12/2018 23:42

Hm. If it is officially shared and you want it to become yours then I think you'd need to approach your neighbours and offer to buy their share of it. Whether they use it or not, if it's shared then it is shared and they have part ownership of it. How much cash are you prepared to give them??

What happens with the space in front of your garage, your neighbour's unused turning circle? Does anyone park there?

Original poster
Angihay · 14/12/2018 23:54

PeaQiwiComHequo - thank you for your input. My big questio in this is that the turning point in question, although classed as “shared driveway” it is not shared, that space is only used by us, reason why i want to change the deeds to exclude that bit of the “shared driveway” with the argument that it is not shared. Do you still think we don’t have a case? My point is that bit was mistakenly classed as shared by our contractors and needs to be changed.

OP posts:
MsJaneAusten · 15/12/2018 00:00

We need a diagram!

Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:01

DrWashout- I don’t think it is a matter of “buying” their share.even if it was, It is not for sale and they do not want to talk about it. If this was negotiable with them, we would have sorted it, my problem is thst thry do not wish to talk or negotiate or nothing, theyjust want to purposely annoy us and be inconvenient. They are just jealous of what we have and whst they don’t, that’s why this all started...
Like i said above, that bit classed as “shared” is not actually “shared” only in our particular case, the deeds are made as a standard contract for all the owners of shared driveways in this development. It wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t making a big deal out of it but i am just trying to explore my options on how can i stop them from pesting us about this silly thing! Tha k for your input as well.

OP posts:
Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:01

MsJaneAusten - how can i post a picture in this?

OP posts:
RNBrie · 15/12/2018 00:06

You might be the only ones who actually use it, but it IS still shared and they have the right to use it if they want to. I can't see them agreeing to letting you change the deeds to take official ownership of it as your relationship with them has deteriorated so badly.

I suspect they were just trying to be difficult by complaining about where you parked but you broke the rules first so you have some responsibility for what's happening now.

Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:10

Let me try to explain how the driveway is:

There are 2 houses, detached, both with double garages, as you look into the driveway from the pavement, to your left there is his house, followed by his 2 parking spaces in front of his garage, then a bush planted in the middle separating our 2 spaces in front of our garage, then there is our house build with a large front garden and in front of our front garden this “turning point” only used by us. His turning point is directly in front of our double garage (that he uses fully just to prove a point because the driveway is long enough for him to use half of the space he actually does and even doing so, he still doesn’t reach our turning point. Does this make more sense? It’s my first post in here so not sure how to share a diagram...

OP posts:
MsJaneAusten · 15/12/2018 00:11

Are you on a mobile? Just below the box where you type is a picture of a paper clip. You can add pictures using that.

MsJaneAusten · 15/12/2018 00:13

I don’t understand why you’d have different turning points. Are they actually labelled on the dress?

MsJaneAusten · 15/12/2018 00:13

Deeds!

Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:15

RNBrie- we did bot realised we were breaking any rules, we just thought that as long as we are not in their way, it is not a problem to occasionally use that space for a couple of hours (not permanently).
And this is the thing: they can use it, but they don’t need to, even if they wanted to, they don’t need and if they tried to use it, it would only make it more difficult for them to reverse into their driveway.
And there is no question of them agreeing to this, they absolutely won’t, we would have to ask for this in court, that’s why i am asking here to get an idea of how things could go in court...

OP posts:
Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:18

MsJaneAusten - I don’t have that clip in mine just an italic and an emoji bobble at the bottom. PM me your email address and i will send it to you. The deeds just classify it all as shared driveway, it’s because the driveway is long enough that we have different turning point. His being directly in front of our double garage and ours being directly in front of our house.

OP posts:
Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:33

DrWashout- sorry didn’t answer your last question, my neibour’s turning point being directly in fron of our garage spaces (not a turning circle) no one parks in there, it is kept clear at all times...

OP posts:
redastherose · 15/12/2018 00:40

On your deeds is the shared driveway equally owned by both yourselves and the annoying neighbours or do you both have a right of way over land still owned by the Estate Developers? If the driveway belongs to you both equally you will each have a right to pass and repass over the whole length of the driveway which has been coloured on the deeds. This is an appurtenant right in favour of the area that you don't own and a burden over your land in favour of the neighbour. If the actual shared driveway belongs to the developer with the right of way reserved thereover in favour of both you and the neighbours then you may be able to ask the landowner to warn the neighbours about the breach of covenant on the part of your neighbours, however, you are also breaching the same covenant by parking on any part of the shared driveway so you will need to stop doing that.

Yohooo · 15/12/2018 00:44

You might want to try posting on the gardenlaw website. They are a bit biligerent on there but very knowledgable.

Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:47

Redastberose- thank you for your reply. I believe we both own the whole length of it equally with right of way over it. But the part of the drive i am talking about is not an access way, it was mistakenly made “shared” when it is not shared. It’s for our solo use only. The deeds are standard for all the shared driveways on the development but in our case, that bit is only used by us, therefore, not shared, just mistakenly marked as shared on th deeds, reason why i want to request a change. Do you still thi k we couldn’t win this?
The developers have just finished it all thsi month I believe, need to double check if they can still do anything about it but doubtful because our deed are complete and signed and transferred to us, therefore it would be a civil matter.

OP posts:
Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 00:48

Yohoo... thank you, do you have a link to their website, please?

OP posts:
BollocksToBrexit · 15/12/2018 00:50

I can't imagine a court forcing your neighbour to sell their land because you want it and use it more.

Original poster
Angihay · 15/12/2018 01:01

BollocksToBrexit- the land doesn't belong to them, on the deeds, the la d in question belongs to us but they have right of way over it. Except that they don't need to have right of way over that bit of the driveway because it's not used by them.
I have downloaded the app and now i can post a picture, will do so in the morning and perhaps people can understand the situation better to give a better perspective.

OP posts:
Minniemountain · 15/12/2018 06:49

You'd need their agreement to change the wording of the right of way. It needs to be a formal document. You could offer to pay them to do that I suppose.
I have no idea what a court might order but it would be VERY expensive to get that far.

flumpybear · 15/12/2018 07:04

Speak to a solicitor. You don't have shared driveway if it's yours with a right oif access. We have this as opposed to a shared driveway. We CAN park jn our driveway we just need to leave space so then neighbour can access their garage which is only accessible by our driveway. They tried to tell us they wanted full use of the whole driveway at all times (she had no car either but that was irrelevant To the solicitor) but they told is we owned the land and though they had a right to access we also had the right to use the land to our own needs as long as the neighbours can still gain the access they need

I'd also ask the solicitors to see if they can liaise with the builders to amend the deeds, it might be possible if there are similar set ups in your estate with different deeds re the driveway

flumpybear · 15/12/2018 07:05

Oh also make sure you have legal fees in your house insurance

Agglia · 15/12/2018 07:10

MinnieMountain,
They are unreasonable people, there is no reasoning with them, to get it changed, we would have to go to court without a doubt and that bit belongs to us, they mistakenly have right of way over it.They don't need access to that part of the driveway, it is not shared in the practical side of things, it is only shared in the paper (as it says in the deeds). But that turning point is only used by us, so if we have a car parked in there it would make it difficult for us to turn into our driveway, but it would only affect us, so if we want to allow that to be used as a parking space, it should be only up to us.
I'll post a picture in a bit and it will be better for you to understand what i am talking about. Thanks

eurochick · 15/12/2018 07:17

I'm a lawyer and confused about how the land is held. Is the driveway owned by you both or all owned by you with a right of access to them?

The fact that they don't use the bit in question is probably not relevant. The next owners of their house might.