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Original poster

Neighbour and her fence/access

114 replies

Tohaveandtohold · 28/05/2019 15:06

Hello, please I need some advice with regards to this as I don’t want to be a cf and bring this up if I don’t have to.
We own an end of terrace house with a shared driveway. The driveway is shared between the 3 houses on the terrace. We’re responsible for the maintenance, etc if anything comes up.
Neighbour on the other end has her own driveway and drive however she drives into her house regularly from our driveway but this has not been a concern really. Now the issue I now have is that over the weekend, she has started building a fence in front like trying to create a front garden and private driveway for herself meaning the only way for her access her property/ drive would be through our own shared drive way.

I feel we should say something to her now as she is indirectly creating a right of way to her house from our shared driveway but dh does not want a confrontation or anything.
I feel that if we need to do any maintenance, etc, we would be the ones bearing the cost but she would just be enjoying it and if she sells, all this will just continue. How do we go about this.
Sorry this is long.
I’ve attached a picture.

OP posts:

WhereDoesThisToiletGo · 28/05/2019 16:39

You need to tell her that you are planning to erect a fence between "my fence" and the road

YogaDrone · 28/05/2019 16:47

I would park the car between your house and your fence and then she can't drive through. Where do visitors park? From the diagram it looks as though she's driving right past your front door!

peteneras · 28/05/2019 16:49

I would tell her (honestly) to dismantle her new fence because I need to use her driveway to reach my property.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 28/05/2019 16:50

You need to tell her that you are planning to erect a fence between "my fence" and the road

Actually having looked again at the diagram this is the obvious thing to do. It would define your boundary which may be no bad thing.

RestingBitchFaced · 28/05/2019 16:57

Can you block her access with your car somehow so she can't drive through? Definitely a CF

BubblesBuddy · 28/05/2019 17:33

The other two houses do have owners. The tenants should be asked to contact the owners and landlords immediately. I would be furious if this was happening to a property I owned!

Forget your legal insurance. They won’t be helpful. You need to immediately block up the way though. Big planters. The other owners need to be contacted about what you are doing.

I’m surprised you have to maintain all of it if it serves three houses. Are you sure? Insist that she uses her own drive and get a local solicitor to write to her, with necessary legal documentation, asking her to stop using it. I
Wouldn’t trust her to stop with a polite word in her ear. You have to man up with this or you will regret it in the long run. Block up the drive to her house.

MarieG10 · 28/05/2019 18:40

Aside from the cheek of it, you really do have to take steps to stop her otherwise over time she will create a right of way for herself and successors in title to her house. I guess being able to use your access will add value to their house as being able to fence it off.

If a pleasant word doesn't work start putting things in writing to them

Faith7777 · 28/05/2019 19:09

Sounds like a sneaky land grab. No matter how small I'd call it that. Nuke it ASAP. Seen this happen before.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 28/05/2019 19:31

Apart from the access, does all the land she is fencing in actually belong to her?

PhilipMarlowe · 29/05/2019 06:57

Can you put a fence up on your land, between you and her?

Bluntness100 · 29/05/2019 07:06

Op, the other two houses do have owners as a pp said. You need to get their details. Because it's not solely your drive. As such you can't behave like it is.

Check your house deeds. See if you own the drive or part of it. Or if simply you have right of way. Then go to the other two houses and ask for the owners details. Then contact them and explain the situation and see what they wish to do.

AJPTaylor · 29/05/2019 07:08

Surely you need the contact details of the owners in any event due to the shared driveway.

wowfudge · 29/05/2019 07:50

I'm willing to bet there's also a covenant to stop the frontages being fenced in.

I fail to see what the OP is doing wrong Bluntness, apart from letting this CF potentially get away with using their access instead of her own? This has to be clamped down on asap.

The problem with not wanting to cause a row with this kind of person is that they just think you don't mind or care so they ramp things up over time.

NoFucksImAQueen · 29/05/2019 08:24

did you talk to her? shes a proper cheeky fucker and I'd definitely put a fence your side if she didn't listen

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 29/05/2019 09:05

I'm amazed that the OP is worried that SHE is the CF.
Neighbour is the CF.
Best to speak to her before the fence is completed

stucknoue · 29/05/2019 09:17

You need to look at the deeds, it should clearly state if she has a right to use the driveway, if she does then no need to speak to her

Bluntness100 · 29/05/2019 09:24

Wowfudge. She's not doing anything wrong per se, but more often than not shared drives are not actually shared as such. They are owned by one party and the others have right of access. So she needs to check her deeds to ensure she jointly or wholly owns. If she does not she has no say here.

In addition, if it is jointly owned, she needs to confirm with the other two owners, because if they wish to grant the neighbour access, then the op has a difficult fight on her hands with them and the cf neigbour.

As such, confirming who owns the drive, as well as what the other two owners wish to do if it's jointly owned is in my view prudent before she goes in there and possibly makes a right tit of herself, which if she doesn't actually own it she would do.

This one is not clear cut as it would be if she solely owned the drive.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 29/05/2019 10:00

As Bluntness says, it's possible that the drive is owned by one house and the others have right of way, but it seems unlikely if they are a terrace of three newish properties. It's not uncommon for houses on estates to share a drive, for example where two have been squeezed onto a corner plot. Usually the entrance is single car width and then splits off to the individual houses. I'm guessing from the OP's posts and diagrams that is the case here. In which case "My Fence" may be the OP's boundary, and she can't erect her own fence beyond that point.

It would be a good idea anyway to check who owns what and who has access.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 29/05/2019 10:07

It would not be unreasonable for the OP to ask neighbour what their deeds show.
The neighbour clearly believes they have a right of way over the shared drive, so she should be able to produce the paperwork to prove it

FunnyHappyGirl · 29/05/2019 10:34

Wow, that is a CF! I'd be tempted to put up a brick wall all the way along your boundary line.

While she's away on holiday and she comes home to find her car trapped in her front garden preferably!

Good luck OP - let us know how you get on.

Weenurse · 29/05/2019 10:39

🍿👀 love a parking thread

MiniCooperLover · 29/05/2019 15:42

You absolutely need to speak to her. How are you going to deal with it if you want to sell and this then comes up? It doesn't have to be confrontational but don't let her finish building without saying anything as she's quite rightly going to say 'why have you left it so long'.

Jaxhog · 29/05/2019 15:54

As many have said she does not have a right of access, nor does she contribute to maintenence. It will potentially have an impact on the value of your home and cause problems if she has deliveries, skips or visitor parking.

A swift chat to her followed by a letter is called for. Then if she continues, a solicitors letter.

peachgreen · 29/05/2019 16:00

Unless she's no longer planning on parking on her drive, she's being a CF.

Jaxhog · 29/05/2019 16:03

In the meantime, erect a barrier along the boundary to stop her using the shared drive to access her drive. That is likely to start a swift conversation about access, which you can then clarify with her.

Although it's hard to imagine that she truly believes she has access via your shared drive! But some people have a very skewed idea of what's 'reasonable'.

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