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!

Not even for a tenner.

I won’t move to house with shared access ever again It’s a pain in the arse.

I strongly suspect that if there was any way the vendor could have effectively purchased the ROR from their neighbours already,then would have.

If money aws a factor, the could have agreed if pending their sales proceeds.

The fact they haven't addressed it prior to putting the property n the jacket indicates that the neighboursl use it and want it yo remain.

You would be mad to do this if you value your privacy. I wouldn't even buy a house with a shared driveway, never mind ROW across the garden!

This.

oh god no absolutely not - it will 100% piss you right off

imagine sunbathing in your bikini and your neighbour comes wandering through?!

or you have a dog or kids playing and they come wandering through and worse, leave the gate open?!

nah

I wouldn't. Not in a million years.

I'd walk away from this - for the simple reason that it would make it impossible to secure the garden for the dog and small DC.

Another no I’m afraid. As others have said there are plenty of properties that don’t have this set up, walk away.

interesting that your seller didn’t mention this. I’d bet that was done purposefully in the hope you’d feel compelled to continue with the purchase, or that previous buyers have pulled out through it.

either way. No.

I’ve lived 20 years in a well off neighbourhood and have ROW down the back of 6 terraces to one side and me, and my neighbour to the other has ROW across my garden. The houses have all been sold multiple times and we’ve never had an issue. People keep their bins out the front and just don’t walk through other peoples gardens. My neighbour who has access through mine goes through once a year max. I’m just sellling my house now and it hasn’t been an issue. Can’t say I’ve ever thought of it as a problem as it’s quite common around where I live. It wouldn’t put me off buying a house.

I wouldn't buy a house like this. I think you are right to seriously connsider walking away.

My main worry would be resale, especially if you got a problem neighbour.

We're in an end terrace and the house joined to us has ROW across our patio to access the side gate/alley

We've had no issues with it tbh, the neighbours are very considerate and rarely use it, I think I've seen them use it 3 times in the 2.5 years we've lived here and it's always been for legitimate reasons (large furniture etc)

We have a dog and a young DC too. If anything, the neighbours on the other side (not attached and no ROW) are more of a problem because he just lets himself in to my garden! He's harmless and is always just dropping off some home brew for my DH or a toy his kids have grown out of, he's very kind but he makes me jump when I'm not expecting him

I have right of access to my back garden through a passageway at the side of my adjoined neighbour’s house. I’m lucky, as my neighbours are lovely, and they appreciate the fact that I’m very discreet, and do not give out the code to the side gate to anyone. They have had issues with previous neighbours giving access to all and sundry, but they’ve lived there for 40 years, so not much of problem. I’d buy this house again, as despite the access issue, it’s a huge Victorian semi, in a good community. It depends on what you want, when I bought this house, it hadn’t been on the market that long, so I suppose it’s about what you’re prepared to compromise on.

We have a ROW with my neighbours they only use it for taking the bins out. Never had an issue.

Thanks all for your messages - again, it’s good to hear there are those who have similar and don’t experience issues with it. Gives me a bit of faith in humanity!

Re: kids/pets, we won’t have children and partner’s allergic to cats & dogs so unlikely to be an issue. Re: sunbathing in a bikini in the garden - I mean, I don’t look great in a bikini so actually that might be an effective deterrent!

Those who are saying look elsewhere: we have. We’ve been looking for a whole year. We don’t earn much (both in public sector jobs) and unfortunately we live in a city with stupidly high house prices, in part due to it being a decent place to live and also to an influx of buyers from a city with even more stupidly high house prices ;-) we considered moving elsewhere but my partner is from here and has roots so wanted to stay.

The compromises you have to make at this end of the market are pretty stark (for house buying - flats here are a different story but to be honest the potential headaches involved with leases etc don’t strike me as easier than ROWs). In the nicer areas you have to go for something dilapidated in some way, or overpriced and max your budget, or choose to live in a less nice area and take all that comes with it. I grew up on a council estate which wasn’t terrible but had its fair share of ASB so pretty keen to avoid that. We don’t have loads of choice - we’re lucky to be able to even consider buying. And I don’t want to keep renting and paying a mortgage for someone else!

I rented a house with no front garden and access along the back of the terrace. Mine was mid terrace and the house to the left had blocked their access with a brick wall, so I could only drag the bins to the right. Every house made it as difficult as possible with a waist high gate with a floor level bolt on the other side. Cunts.

My parents have a bigger problem as the access follows their drive so the neighbours widened their gate and squeeze their car behind their house! Meaning my mum can never hang the washing out and it's not safe for the dog because they accelerate up her drive like absolute idiots.

So no, absolute wouldn't buy it from experience.

This is common in terraces where I am. Officially there is a right of way through the three houses on the right of ours and into the house on our left, so they can access the street from the back.

In practice it's only ever used when one of us is having building work done and needs access. No one just wanders through.

We've been here ten years btw.

My whole street has a row access around the back for bins etc, it's been in place for 120 years and houses sell in a flash.

Given that you wan't have children or pets to worry about in the garden, and you are both busy working, this might well be the compromise you can live with.
Good luck with your purchase.

Do the neighbour's have children (or grandchildren) or pets though?

I owned a house like this. Was never an issue. We used the access across one neighbouring garden to take our bikes out. The neighbours never used the access across our garden in the 2-3 years we were there

Would depend on two things for me. One is how territorial you are likely to feel about "your" space. The bottom line is a garden with an ROW literally isn't your garden. It's someone elses road as well.

Second is how miserable you are likely to become if someone decides to exercise their rights in a way that you wouldn't like, for example walking past on a regular basis and staring through the windows at random.

As other people have pointed out, the neighbours may be "alright" by your definition now, but there is no guarantee they won't be replaced by non alright ones at some point in the future.