Neighbours selling with driveway rights to property developers

[brendacastello]

Hi,
In a bit of a stressful scenario as I have learnt our neighbours who we share a driveway with are selling to property developers who will replace their single household with 9 new households. The property developers have their legal team supporting them and we are worried that we are going to be steamrolled.
Essentially we have access rights over each others property to the main road. The drive is in a u shape starting on neighbours property passing over ours and continuing back onto theirs to the road. With the new development it will mean 9 households with car, bins, deliveries all passing over our part of the drive which will be just too much.
Do we have any rights? The neighbours are just seeing the big payment and are not interested in avoiding the impact on us when they are gone.
I am quite worried and do not know where to start or what to expect or indeed should we just leave and cut our losses. Any advice or experiences that might help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Brenda

Where are the new houses being built? Is there no other access to them than over your driveway? Was that covered in the design and access statement of the planning application? I don’t see how they got permission without access already sorted and I would have thought you’d both have to agree. Look at your deeds and see if the access can be sold. I’d be really surprised. Then consult your solicitor.

Thanks for responding.

I will try and answer the questions, by giving the recent history ...
The estate agent working on behalf of the developers approached us after they approached our neighbours and offered us an amount. The offer would have meant our family would have to move further out from children's schools and where we commute to work ... a lot worse off. The estate agent made it clear that they would go no higher and when we talked about our rights to not have lots of traffic over our property, he said that the developers would be looking into our deeds and would get around any issues for them (yep, quite threatening and scary). When I read the council rules on objections to developments, they specifically exclude any right of ways or boundary issues from their considerations - it is a private matter.

The only access for them is over our part of the driveway.

Our neighbours who have family grown up are proactively talking to the developers and the tree surgeons are now in to look at cutting down trees before we believe the planning application goes in. House next door to them followed the same process (ie cutting trees down before applications go in) and looks like they are nearly through. Our neighbours are very secretive and tend to do things without any consultation, and proactvely avoid discussions or compromise.

The deeds say ...
The way the deeds are written, includes 'a right for the Vendors or their successors in title owner or owners for the time being of the adjoining land edged green on the said plan at all times to pass and repass with or without vehicles over and along that section of driveway hatched red on the said plan in common with the purchaser his successors in title the owner or owners for the time being of the property conveyed subject to the lapse of such right ...'

So, feeling isolated and cornered.
thanks

This nearly happened to us, trees taken down over the weekend when council offices closed. Try getting a TPO on the trees if you think they are about to be demolished. The developer tried to buy the house luckily the seller who wanted to stay on good terms with his old neighbours told him to sod off. The developer has now given up and is now moving on to pastures new.

You must speak to your neighbours, councillors, get a petition up. Not talk to us.

This sounds awful Brenda, and as though they want to bounce you into selling to them. Do you have legal cover on your household insurance at alll? That might help with legal advice. I would get your MP involved too

Thanks.

I have dropped a note to my MP and local councillors. Fingers crossed.

Have they been granted planning permission?

Definitely book an appointment with a solicitor. Personally, I think that if you jointly own the driveway, they cannot give permission for more than just the next owner of their property (only their house, not nine new houses) to also use your shared driveway.

Have you looked at your local councils development policy for residential developments? I think they're called development control policies and there will be other strategies you can review on the council website. Then when objecting you can refer to specific parts of the policies that its infringing. Like pp said I dont know that one free holder with rights of access could just ride roughshod over another's- but not an expert!

"Made clear they would not go higher"
Means
Claimed they would not go higher.

It would all depends how the deeds are worded and the legal interpretation of them. This means you really need legal advice. It's possible the clause has been poorly worded which may leave you in a weaker position but since it specifically refers to an area of land it would have to be the whole plot.
They may try to get around it by making the houses leasehold or something, but that's where you need advice from an expert.
If you need free advice there is a forum called garden law, where lots of professionals (and others!) Hang out, so you might get some useful information there.
I agree it's all a hard negotiation tactic from the sellers, they know there's a risk there but they don't want to let you know, so they hope to bluff you into signing away your rights.

The developer may be hoping to make you unhappy so you sell. They would make even more money with a bigger plot.

Has full planning consent been given? Or just outline? If an application had gone in you definitely would have been consulted.
Access to developments is part of a planning application and has quite strict guidelines, especially from a narrow drive or lane onto a public road.
Can you also involve The Council conservationists as this many houses on a garden site would disturb wildlife. Planning applications of this nature often have to have a conservation report and strategy.

Is the developer planning to build just on the land your neighbour owns? If not, it's easier as only the land your neighbour owns benefits from the right of way.

Otherwise, you need to take proper advice and probably look into "intensification of use" for an easement.

See if your house insurance covers legal fees, then use it to get help.

Do the deeds mention anything to do with utilities? Is going over your land the only possible way for them to access the neighbouring property (i.e. there may be a wooded area that could be cleared to create another driveway access point). Can construction vehicles access the drive easily?

Without seeing the deeds it is impossible to say if you have rights within them but based on what you've posted you don't have the ability to stop this. Your neighbour could quite literally sell the land in 1 inch square portions granting every owner thereafter ability to traverse your driveway. It may be that there is something hidden in the deeds to prevent the development however. When were your homes built?