Help - what can we do

[Summer8900]

A complete odd situation...Please help
We own a flat (converted house 4 flats) in London in a lovely neighborhood. The freehold was bought in 2009. When the freehold was bought a front garden over which we have a right of way was kept by the previous freeholder who doesn’t live anywhere near (he refused to sell it). For 11 years us and the other owners maintained the garden. Suddenly the owner of the front garden reappeared and is trying to take us to court for trespassing on the front garden. We hired a solicitor, and he said we shouldn’t touch the garden anymore. The owner has put up an ugly fence around it and in his words “want it to look messy”. We offered to buy the front garden, to lease it or to maintain it but he won’t listen to it. So now our beautiful house will look terrible with the terrible overgrown gardens destroying our property value. What can we do??

Leave him to maintain the fences and garden as a wildlife area.
Keep an eye on it and that is all you can do.
If it gets damaged let him repair it

Forgot to mention that we are in a conservation area

Throw a packet of wildflower seeds on it when no one's looking & enjoy the bees & butterflies. That's it - what else can you do if it's his garden?

Why does he want to keep it by the way? What's his motive, any idea?

No idea why he wants to keep it. I think he thinks it will sell it to someone for ££££.
It’s a small garden on a slope. He thought he could built something on it in 2003 but the council refused it 3 times (looking at planning permissions).

How could he build there if you have right of way across it? That sounds very odd. Although you've consulted a solicitor, I'd also get a second opinion from Lease-advice.org (which is free) in case there's a way for you to get hold of it.