I think there’s no right of way, previous neighbour did

[bebeboeuf]

We live in a row of terraces.
We are the end house with side access to the rear.
All houses have front gardens or driveways if converted
Our previous neighbour (who we only met on 2 occasions) told us there was a right of way over our side access for them to get to their garden for weekly bins.

Before we bought the house there was no mention of this and nothing is on the feeds or title plan referring to right of way or covenants

Current neighbours haven’t once mentioned it and know we keep the side access locked due to security and Young toddler

If nothing is written on deeds or title plans I was told by solicitor recently that this would indeed confirm there is no right of way and anything previous to us might have been via casual arrangement.

Who is right?

Sounds to me like your solicitor is right and they should know. Nothing in the deeds and nobody claiming they've enjoyed access for x amount of years so I'd think you are fine.

So do all the middle houses have to bring their garden bins through their houses? Annoying for them. But not your problem if there's no shared access.

How old is the terrace? I would be very surprised if there wasn’t a right of way if this is a period terrace. Bins, washing rights, outside toilet when the houses were built etc.

DS just bought a terrace built 1882, the deeds and covenants are illegible as they are handwritten, it doesn’t mean the right of way has disappeared. He could have got an indemnity policy to protect against such problems or disputes but didn’t because common sense suggests the right of way is there.

There is access to gardens for hanging washing, using bins (most people keep their bins at the front anyway)

They are normal Victorian terrace.

If the sellers didn’t mention a right of way in the information questionnaire and it’s not in the deeds or land registry plan (I had a right of way on a property of mine and it was clearly marked) there probably isn’t one. Your old neighbour may have had an informal arrangement with your sellers.

I wonder if it makes much difference that we bought a house that had been empty for a few years

Are your title deeds and any covenants legible? You should have access to a copy of them.

My first terrace 25 years ago still had the York stone path running through the middle of the back garden gardens and some stone sheds which were once the outside toilets and coal sheds, it was obvious there was a right of way.

When the house was built what were the toilet arrangements? How many houses shared a loo? how was coal delivered to the terrace?

These are usually clues. Unless it was a posh terrace with its own outside lav and coal shed at the front I can’t see how the other houses can’t bave a right of way.

The loos and coal stores were at the rear with a back doors to them.

Deeds are all in typefont now as have been transcribed

If they persist, ask to see their deeds. They'll either be able to prove it, or shut up.

As I understand it, if it has been used for 20 years, it is an assumed legal right of way, regardless of whether or not it was in the deeds. We are in the process of buying a house with one at the moment. It should have been declared by your buyers, and they will need to prove 20 years use, but you could well have to comply. If you want to keep the gate locked, that's fine, but supply your neighbours with a key.

I understand you might not have been informed, and you might be able to legally challenge your vendors, but I think, if proven, you dont have any rights to deny it.

Are you saying there’s an alley or something down the side of your house that gives access to the side of your back garden?

Sorry, pressed send too soon. Does the alley at the side then meet an alley at the back that the other houses back gates open on to?

Just a small point but the right of way may not show on your deeds but it may be on your neighbours.

I would suggest that you get a copy of your neighbour's deeds as well.

You can do this for £3 from the Land Registry here:-

www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

It may well be that the right of way is mentioned on the deeds for the other property.

Also, if the neighbour is asserting that there is a right of way by prescription then they have to show that at any time in the past there has been a period of 20 years where people did cross your property.

If the coal stores were at the back of the houses that could certainly imply that there was a right of way - I can imagine the coal being delivered by being traipsed through the house to the back garden.

You say this came from a previous neighbour who has now moved on, and your new neighbours haven't mentioned it? Wouldn't old neighbour have told them if they were sure of this, when they were buying the house.

There is access to gardens for hanging washing, using bins

Sorry, bit confused by this. Do you mean that there is access via your property to the other house's gardens in order for them to take their bins out?

If that's what you mean then that is a right of way.

Or do you mean that there is a separate access to the back gardens for the bins that doesn't cross your property?

In which case that other access is the right of way.

I think we are going to need a diagram .....

I’m no good at diagrams so here is google earth, hoping there’s nothing too identifying on there.

Row of 4, alleys down either side. 2 mid terraces in middle who both keep buns out the front.

To clarify - our previous neighbour when we first moved in (quite rudely) told us we couldn’t park our car in our driveway as it blocks the side access which he has a right of way over and therefore it needs to be kept clear at all times.

New owners have never once said that it’s their right of way.

We keep it locked due to security reasons and get on well with new neighbours and have said to them that if they ever need access to the rear using our side alley then just let us know and we would be happy to accommodate.

I’ve checked both ours and our neighbours title deeds and plans and no mention of right of way and no indication on the plan.

The only thing that confuses me is that the previous neighbour told us we couldn’t park on our drive as it blocks the side access and I’m wondering if at any point our new neighbours are thinking we are being CF’s for doing so

Old neighbour sounds really aggressive - I bet you're glad to see the back of them.

With the google photo everything makes a lot more sense now (thank you for posting it). I was assuming from what you said that none of the other three houses had access to the road from their back gardens apart from through your garden but instead it's only your immediate neighbour that would want this.

As you've already checked the neighbour's deeds as well and there's nothing there then, yes, I think it was just a casual arrangement between the neighbour and the previous owner of your house.

It sounds as though old neighbour was being a bit of a CF when you moved in and, instead of asking nicely "The previous owners of your house let me bring my bins through their garden every week is it ok if I carry on doing this?", he (I presume it was a he) tried to bully you into letting him do it and thinking that you didn't have a choice.

Just as an aside, even if there was a right of way it would only have been on foot. So as long as you can still walk down the side of your house when the car is parked there then there's no problem. It would only be a problem if the car was parked so close to the wall that you can't physically get past it. But it sounds as though there is no right of way anyway so this isn't an issue.

My son technically has this.
He lives in a Victorian mid terrace house. It is on the title supplied by the Land Registry that he has the right to use an alley a few doors away ( between 2 sets of terraces). In the past this would have been used by the dustmen who used to collect the rubbish from the back if the houses.
In reality, one of the houses has placed a gate across, and it appears the alleyway has been absorbed into the garden of one of the houses. My son is not bothered. Why would he want to use it? The dustins are all now at the front of the houses. So, probably more important if your house opens directly onto the street , so dustbin would have to be carried through the house.

old terraced house I was born in the coalman use to carry coal through the house to back garden & my dd use to carry bin through house as did our neighbours - no side access.

Can't make out the picture fully...but I used to have a cottage, one of a row with the driveway at the side of my house for people to walk up. Clear right of way but not on the deeds.

You couldn't drive a car up but at the bottom of the yard was the old,outside toilet buildings. Apparently to road/pathway was made large enough for a horse and cart to empty the outside toilets!

Solicitor advised that the right was way was definitely,on foot and technically if a person want to forma horse and cart then they could argue it but unlikely.

I think your old neighbour was being a CF and was totally trying it on.

I have the same issue. I'm a mid terrace. There is a side access, my landlady thinks I'm responsible for it. But as I'm buying the house I've been sent a copy of the title deeds and it's not on them. Will have to ask the solicitor.