Are we fools? Buying a house with a ROW over back patio

[Biscuitlover456]

FTB here - me and my partner are in the process of buying a house which has a ROW on the title register for the house next door, allowing neighbours access through a side gate along the side of the house we are buying, across the patio and in through another gate to their garden.

We are both now a bit spooked given the back and forth between ours and the buyers solicitors over this. Buyer’s solicitors haven’t answered some questions about the use of this ROW and I’ve been reading some horror stories online about disputes. Are we mad? All advice welcome!

I wouldn’t. The people who live there now might be nice but you might have some nightmares living there next time.
Also potentially a huge headache if it gets damaged

I wouldn't. I had a friend whose parents had this set up. Constant people walking through the row of gardens, looking through the kitchen window etc. No one seemed to use their front doors, even though it was a longer distance to go through the gardens.

Even if the neighbours now only use it once a week to take the bin out, there's nothing stopping them (or new neighbours if they move) using it every single time they leave the house.

Is it used? We had. R ow in our first house but used it once in 3 years.

I'd hate this, it would take away all sense of privacy.

I would not buy a house with that arrangement

Please dont

As naiive young buyers many years ago we bought a house where the neighbours had ROW over our back garden to their own.

Long story short - would not recommend.
Go elsewhere!!!!!

You have absolutely no control over who lives next door and a lot of people in the world behave very badly indeed.

I wouldnt, you never know who your neighbours will be

Yeah its not a property I would buy. The thought of someone .... or many people traipsing through my garden whenever they like....no thanks!

You’re mad if you buy it. Is it the only access? ie if they don’t use it they can’t get into their garden?

Could be very problematic. Not a good sign that their solicitor isn’t answering questions.
Could it be removed? Would the neighbours not be able to do something essential if it was removed?

I wouldn’t as it’s the sort of thing I can’t stand (I’m too controlling about privacy) and we also have animals that would make it an issue (free range hens etc-we live rurally) plus a young child where security would bother me.

There’s a lot if them here in the small cottages and most are fine in practice but it’s definitely on my No list as I don’t like sharing.

I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole , but I wouldn’t buy any house where a neighbour had access through my garden

It's another no from me...I value my privacy too much.

One day you have to be the person who sells that house to someone else who finds that acceptable.

That limits your pool of potential purchasers massively.

I rented somewhere with this and hated it, I wouldn't buy somewhere with access. You never know when they're going to appear. Also makes your garden unsecured for pets or small children.

I wouldn't. You'd have no privacy. What if you have any issues with the neighbours?

We had this in our first house and it was fine, never an issue, but may put off potential future buyers. It's normal in rows of terraces though.

Thanks all for the swift replies! My partner seems more relaxed about it than I am - I explained to him that a ROW means they don’t need permission from us to use the patio/path (you’d hope people would be polite and not abuse it but tbh I am more skeptical) but I’m not sure he is fully getting the implications.

Could it be moved - potentially yes, although they’d have a lot further to walk to get to the front. Not sure we would want to start a long process to make this happen, unless the neighbour is a total nightmare of course but then we’d probably just move (if we can sell it with this bloody ROW on it, argh!)

Is it used often? Not sure. EA for the seller said occasionally but our solicitors have asked more detailed questions about it and the sellers solicitors have so far ignored these.

I think we’ll talk to our solicitors about it. If the seller maintains a vow of silence over how it has been working in practice I feel that’s a big red flag. The register says they have to pay 50% of the maintenance but again, without more info on how things are working in practice it’s hard to know whether this would be a benefit or another headache!

Lots of people are happy with it, it's fairly common.... That said I like my privacy so wouldn't go near it. Same for shared driveways - I want absolute control over my own land!

The lack of privacy and control over your property would be bad enough with decent neighbours, but much worse if anti-social people moved in.
Then there's the maintenance. That could be another issue.
And limiting your future pool of buyers. I wouldn't touch it.

I had a house with this set up & it was abused sometimes by the neighbours. It was originally set up for coal deliveries or similar. One late evening I was in my kitchen washing up looking out onto my garden & a house full of partygoers leaving next door walked right past the window. They could easily have exited via their front door but chose not to

Have you thought that it might be the reason the house is for sale?

No way! People looking through your windows, wandering about in your garden when you aren't looking, trundling bins and wheelbarrows etc. past, cracking paving, using your garden when you are away...

Don't sign anything before talking to the neighbours to get a judge of character! but they can always move and be replaced by selfish people.

I've often wondered with ROW if you can change position if you offer ROW? Does that make sense?!

I'd if you're end of terrace and neighbours can pass through your garden to theirs could you decrease your garden by 1.5m or something by fencing off the back path and hence creating an alley they use for RoW?

I think I'd still consider if I could do this and it didn't decrease the garden to a postage stamp.

But o wouldn't want a property where anyone could access my whole garden at will.