Neighbour’s planning permission - access across our driveway

[Starrylife]

Hi, would appreciate any insight into our situation…I’ll be as brief as I can!

Nearly 4 years ago we purchased a farmhouse which was an estate that was split into 3 at the time of purchase.

Our now neighbours bought the land and buildings adjoining our plot. Part of what they purchased was a large barn that already had planning permission under Class Q to be converted into two houses. There are also two old stable blocks on their plot. When the original estate was split we got ownership of the driveway and the owners of the next door plot are granted access over it to get to their barn.

Now, completely out of the blue to us, and with no mention to us, they have put in for planning permission to convert all the remaining stables/buildings into three more houses. As it stands, they would need to access these from the driveway which we own. The driveway is narrow and has low visibility angles onto the lane (very high built up hedges/walls either side) and we don’t think it is suitable/safe for 6 house’s worth of cars and visitors to be using (it is also the only pedestrian access onto ours and their property).

My query is where do we stand legally as we own the driveway and they were granted access. Can planning be granted to them even though legally we may not allow access? Can we not allow them access to the new properties? Seems like it can be a grey area from what I’ve read up.

There is potential for them to create new access solely for their properties into the lane further up on their land which is what we would prefer as we could then be separate from them (we would be driving past their 5 properties to get to our farmhouse, currently we drive past two) but not sure planning would grant this as it would be through a hedgerow.

Any insights much appreciated!
Thanks!

I'd get proper legal advice for that question!

What does it say in your deeds?

@Starrylife

Really? Get legal advice .

You can apply for planning permission over land you don't own, however that doesn't trump the ownership situation i.e if they got planning permission (including access via your driveway) this wouldn't mean that they can legally do that without your permission, otherwise it would be a trespass.

If the plans are with the local planning authority I'd contact them to explain that they cannot access via your driveway. They will probably then raise the issue with the applicant. Without access it seems unlikely they would get permission.

Are you sure that they don't have any rights of access over the driveway? I ask as you've mentioned there is already permission for two homes there, how was access envisioned for those properties? If the land was once in single ownership but was split three ways, they may have had foresight to put easements on the title giving rights of way, do you have any way of checking this?

Sorry I've just seen "My query is where do we stand legally as we own the driveway and they were granted access."

If they have rights of access to their land via your driveway, you shouldn't obstruct this. If you do, they can pursue a civil claim against you.

If they have rights of access, you're only option would be to object to the planning permission on the ground of highway safety concerns - that the track isn't fit for purpose, it's overdevelopment, it's pedestrian access too, another access would be safer etc. These are material considerations and can be considered by the decision maker when weighing up whether or not to grant permission.

This will very much depend on the wording granting the access in the deeds.

Sometimes a right of access is granted to that piece of land in general and therefore it is generally (not always) granting a right of access whether there are 6 houses or just the one on the piece of land in question.

However sometimes whoever wrote the transfer will have been more forward thinking and will grant the access for a single residential property/3 properties or whatever.

It also depends on the quality of the driveway. If it is a small dirt track for example you could try and argue that it isn't built to a standard that's fit for purpose for that many properties due to the natural wear and tear that would occur.

I would discuss your concerns with your neighbours first before going down any official route as they may simply not have thought about it.

If they don't play ball I would photograph the bits of the access you anticipate being problematic and lodge a detailed objection with the photos saying why you don't think the access is appropriate (a planning objection near me was recently successful in changing the access route purely as a result of such an objection).

Any legal route is likely to be expensive to try and fight (unless your deeds specifically only give access to the one residential house as opposed to the land itself) so if the above isn't successful I would really stop to consider whether this is something you want to put the time and money into fighting and weigh up the impact it would have on neighbourly relations and whether its worth it to you.

Does it specifically mention access to the barn with planning permission? Or just access to their land?

Planning can be granted irrespective of whether there is access to the property that would be built.

It is worth pointing it out to the Planning Department as whilst they cant use it as a reason to decline, it may cause them to encourage the applicant to work that out first.

If you ask your councillor to refer to the planning committee, including that point. They could then use it in their oral objection which could nudge Committee members to refuse even though this would not be strictly correct on their part.

I think you need to check the wording on your paperwork. Is access granted to specific buildings, or to the entirety of the plot next door?

This could be a complex legal matter but just because they already have access over the easement that doesn’t necessarily give them automatic right of access to dwellings that didn’t exist when the easement was granted.
Read the terms.
Seek legal advice.
Check if you have legal cover under your house insurance.

The wording of the deed is key. They have likely been granted access for a specific property or a specific purpose. Eg if it says they have access to their stable, that wouldn’t necessarily still apply if the stable was converted into a house. Because stable access is a different type of access to a house - lower frequency, different time of day and different type of vehicles. You need a solicitor but you can very likely refuse access for these proposed properties.

Hmmm you'll need specific legal advice as with farm land, whether it's still in use or not, there are specific rules and laws in place about access rights etc in the deeds.

This why I would never buy anything with shared drive etc.
Most usually probably fine, but if the neighbour starts blocking it while building or damaged it with heavy trucks or laying new services, a conflict arises which could go legal.

As others have said, the answer entirely depends on the exact wording of the legal easement over your land. It should be pretty specific and registered against your title (and on theirs) at the Land Registry, hopefully with reference to the filed plan. Modern easements usually say something like “with or without vehicles”.

one thing I’d want to know is whether they are required to pay for repair, upkeep and maintenance of the access road. Should say on the title register. Heavier use with many cars coming and going may mean you can argue that the new use goes significantly beyond the scope of the original grant. There is a presumption in English law that you don’t usually get the benefit of an easement (ie to use the road) without the burden (paying a reasonable proportion depending on frequency and type of use towards upkeep of the road)

Get legal advice. The current landowner has been granted access, however if they sell plots to others who become the landowners as separate plots this may not apply

i would also object to the planning application via the planning portal stating concerns over extra traffic using the driveway and that you are seeking legal advice as you will not be prepared to enter into any arrangement for a right of way for anyone other than the current landowner

If you drive over it, arguing it’s not safe could massively backfire (my parent’s neighbours found this when they argued an access point wasn’t safe which resulted in highways deciding the access couldn’t be used even by the household who had used it for years (they were trying to prevent farmer next door using the access to his field). Get proper legal advice. If you bought aware the stables/barn could be developed I’m not really sure where you’d stand.