Is there a difference between repair and maintenance?

[Loobyloo68]

Explanation. I own a house that has a private track up to it. I dont own the track but have access. The deeds state I must maintain the road but cant tarmac it without owners permission. I did have a quote a while ago and it would cost over £10k to do this, so no chance of that. I paid £2k to have the track dug off and stoned. The track is owned by 3 separate family members and originally they said they would pay equal share to do this but then after I had the work done they refused saying it's in the deeds that I am responsible for maintaining the road. So my question is can I make them repair it?

Depends on legal definitions. What are they legal liable for? What is the wording in the deeds?

Few thoughts...

Establish what's in all your deeds
Then work out how much it would cost you to enforce / defend those deeds.
Then work out what it's worth to you to just do it.

My neighbour owns trees but doesn't maintain them. My solicitor advised it would cost more to sue them than just pay to get it done and pay myself. If even you win in court, you're still a long way from getting your money...

Some people are just pricks.

Here's what it says,

Unfortunately the 3 families who own the road rarely come up the track, so dont know if I can make them pay, and they are pricks😁

I don't think you can make them do anything based on this wording.

You have the right of access and are also liable for its maintenance. There's nothing in there that says they have to do anything?

It only says she has to pay a "fair share" which very much implies she isn't liable for the whole cost though.

I don't think you can make them pay the whole amount though.

Doesn't it say fair share according to usage and if the op is the only one using it then 100% of the cost would fall to her

That's what I've done for the last 20 odd years. With them being shitty with me over a few hundred quid towards the last maintenance I just wondered if there was a difference between maintenance and repair, obviously theres not. No harm in asking though

One of the owners told me I couldn't tarmac the road without her permission and it doesn't mention that either. Strange

In my head the difference between repair and maintenance is

Repair is Fixing a single pot hole.
Maintenance would be regrading the whole road or weeding it.
Upgrade would be tarring a road which is currently a dirt track.

Do you own your property or is it rented?
You obviously need to keep the road in a usable condition. If the house is owned by you it will affect your resale value if the road is in a poor state.

Yes owned by me which is why I've always maintained it. Thankyou for your help every one. It seems theres a fine line between maintenance and repair . 😁

Very fine line between repair and maintenance.

The other way to think of it is repair is more urgent, like a dripping tap, or something that has been damaged like a gutter or tile coming off a roof.
Reactive, it's something that needs fixed before more damage is caused.

Maintenance is planned, like painting and decorating, redoing a whole roof.

Does that make sense.

Repair is a type of maintenance. Maintenance is anything and everything you do to keep something in a good working order. There are two basic categories: preventative maintenance (ie putting new gravel down, dredging drainage ditches on the side) and reactionary maintenance (otherwise known as repairs- fixing pot holes or resurfacing).

So legally if a document says “maintain the road” it includes repairs.