Shared access question

[TwocatsX]

Im buying a new house which is a Victorian semi. It has a shared access driveway between the house and next door. A deed was drawn up in the 80s stating that both houses must keep it clear so a car can drive down.

In reality a car can’t get anywhere now as there are no garages in the back garden and a wall is in between the back gardens. Although the bit between the houses is still accessible by both.

The house I am buying has built an extension on part of the shared access on its own half. Now this means they are permanently blocking the access. This extension was done over 7 years ago.

Could the next door neighbour make us knock the extension down?

TIA

Picture as looking from the road at the front

E on thé picture is the extension.

in theory.
You need a new deed signed by both that restates the new situation.

How on earth did they get planning permission for this?

You need to read the exact wording of the covenants in the Deed from the 1980’s to know if there is a breach of covenant. And I’d check whether it is registered on your title, but at first glance it looks like a breach of the terms. I’d also check the Deed is registered against their title.

When was the extension built? Was planning permission granted without objections?

It may be that you could get defective title indemnity insurance, but that could be expensive. Also your remedy would be compensation if forced to knock down the extension.

What did the replies to pre-contract enquiries that were sent to your solicitor say?

@MadeInChorley planning permission was not obtained. It was done before the current owner bought it. The current owner spoke to the council and the council have said they are not bothered and won’t challenge it. The current owner has also bought an indemnity against the planning permission.

It is registered at the land registry on our title. Not sure if it is on the next fois title but I expect it is.

Our previous house had this exact same driveway situation and covenant. (No extensions built).

In our case, if both parties agreed, the covenant could be dissolved relatively cheaply/easily (obviously involving appropriate legal professionals).
Our neighbours approached and asked us if we would agree to dissolve it, at their expense, because they wished to build an extension.
We would have agreed but our house was under offer so didn’t want to make any material changes ie. Our buyer may desire covenant stayed. a But neighbours had done the research and it seemed to be a case of completing legal docs they had already obtained & getting and paying for legal professionals on both sides to process.

The long winded point I’m getting to is: ask the vendor if they will get the covenant dissolved with their neighbour prior to exchange?

Clearly there may be more to it than described above but might be worth looking in to?

@Longhairmightcare thanks for your experience. Annoyingly we are hoping to complete next week so I don’t think there is time for the current owner to do that. Also there is a slight inconvenience in that I don’t think the next door neighbour would want to dissolve it. I’ll add a picture but they have built a fence with a gate which opens onto our half. Maybe they were annoyed with the original extension.

Purple line is neighbours fence. The orange but is their gate. So they exit their back garden by going on our half.

I do feel like if the next door neighbour was going to challenge it they would have done it by now. But we don’t want to annoy them in some way and then they decide to sue us. I do think this is unlikely.

I wonder if the deed can be null and void because neither of the owners has kept it clear from obstruction. The extension plus the fence?

Sounds like you are potentially buying into a boundary dispute.
Either get the vendors to dissolve the covenant before sale, which could add months. Or go and talk to the neighbours and see what they want.

I second what @Rollercoaster1920 says.

Out of interest would there be room to drive a car down the drive and into the neighbour's garden if their fence and the rear garden wall wasn't there? If so, then although the extension is built on the land with an easement (coloured red) it doesn't actually stop the action the deed was intended to allow. Might help you case.

But I agree, the positioning of the gate is rather passive aggressive. I'd offer to pay to have it moved to the front if you do end up purchasing the property.

Those don't sound like happy neighbours; they knew where they were placing the gate was wrong. I'd be very wary of getting involved with this situation (as I would be for any shared anything relating to houses).

Thé position of the gate does look passive agressive. The extension has large Windows to the side which overlooks the neighbour. So I do kind if get why they would be pissed off.

Our ideal situation would be for us to pay for a high trellis between the houses so neither of us can see into each other’s garden and we would pay for her gate to be moved.

We have tried to knock on and speak to the neighbour but both times she either hasn’t been in or didn’t come out but it was middle of the day so May have been working.

We will try again this weekend.

Hi, I’m buying a terrace house with shared access through the gardens, the only other access is through the house.
both next door neighbour’s gates are right next to the house.
I want to put a single story extension on the back, small enough that I don’t need planning permission. But I don’t know where I stand legally with keeping the access.
one neighbour has an established garden so I’d leave a walkway to the side for access.
but the other neighbour hasn’t done anything with his garden, there’s actually 3 fence panels missing and his garden is a bit overgrown.
I don’t want to leave a gap on both sides as the extension would be too small.
If he agreed would I legally be able to build up to our joining fence, then put a gate at the end of my extension. I’ll draw a diagram to better explain. Do I legally need to leave access or can I close the gate off completely?
I’ve also added a picture of the garden showing where the gates are currently.
thanks