Right of way V right of access

[purdypuma]

Hi

Can anybody on here advise as to differences between right of way & right of access? Right of access stated in deeds to my property.
Terraced house with no access from road to NDN garden from road. However parents to NDN live other side of me & my back garden is effectively being used as a thoroughfare between their 2 houses. They have just marched through my garden with my back door wide open (& me stood open mouthed!) Carrying outdoor furniture, not bothered to ask if it's okay etc.
I just feel as though I have no privacy at the moment. I do have legal cover on house insurance.

So , & again I'm probably being thick, doesn't that make it a right of way to the house from their parents house ?
Can anyone use it if they want to visit @purdypuma neighbours and nip through her parents house ?
They don't 'need' to use it, there is an alternative route

Do the deeds say who the right of access is for? I would be surprised if both houses had the right.

Either way, you can’t stop them Op.

I've had peoples opinions as to what they think the answer is multiple times actually. I am hoping that a person with definitive knowledge in this area can provide clarity. I will be consulting a solicitor to clarify my position regardless & take it from there. I'm not being unreasonable, I simply want to be able to enjoy some privacy.

They don’t need to at all. If they choose they could use your garden every single time they came or left their house. They would not be expected to tell you every time they did this.

Anyone can use the access ie family, friends, milkman, window cleaner etc. That is what it is, access. Yes it is bloody annoying but at the end of the day you cannot block access. We have gates, but my shitty neighbours constantly remind me that they don’t have to shut them if they are bringing things back and forth.

So , & again I'm probably being thick, doesn't that make it a right of way to the house from their parents house ?Can anyone use it if they want to visit @purdypumaneighbours and nip through her parents house ?
They don't 'need' to use it, there is an alternative route

Anyone can use it to get to or from the neighbour's house unless there are some specific limitations on those deeds (which OP would presumably have mentioned).

The legal position is that if you want privacy, you need to buy a property without a right-of-access.

A friend of mine lives in a house where her neighbours have “right of access” across her back garden. They can access the road from their front door but they never use their front door. Literally never. They only use their back door so they are constantly, several times a day, walking through her back garden right by her back door. She can’t do a thing about it as that’s their right.

Curtains?

So where does the right of access lead, to their parents back gate or down a passage way to the road? So if they were taking the bins out where would they take them?
Do the parents have a right of access too?
A diagram would help.

They are currently using a path that goes past my kitchen window. I suspect that they should be using a path (for whatever access or right of way they have) that runs across the back part of my garden & then goes past the fence separating mine & the parents to the lefts house (think upside down L shape) but access to this this was blocked when the neighbour before put new fencing in. If they were just using the path past my kitchen window to put bins out, for window cleaner & maintenance etc then there would be no issue but as it is I have no privacy as they pass my kitchen window at any time & can see directly into my house if the blinds not shut. I'm not prepared to live like that.

So if your neighbours parents don’t have access why is there a gate through to that side? Can’t you just block that bit off but keep the other access?

I agree, a diagram is needed. Normally a right of access is for the person to exit their back door and then come across your garden to an alley or road or drive. They don’t have access to wander all round your garden.

I shall provide a diagram tomorrow. Thanks for all the replies so far.

I can understand why this is annoying as they could surely go into their parents at the front of the houses using the front door and you'd reasonably expect the right id access only to be needed for things line taking bins out, moving furniture, maintenance to avoid dragging these items through their houses etc if I am understanding that right.

It seems very unfortunate that they are related or it wouldn't be happening. I doubt there is anything you can do about it if the right is there to be used.

agree trying to reinstate it at the back would be better and would a chat with them help in that you want to allow access yet not right at your window. Maybe they don't realise how bad it is for you and would happily compromise by walking at the back

Nobody is going to be able to give you a definitive opinion without reading the deeds and any relevant supplementary documents, e.g. any covenants. So your plan to consult a solicitor is the right one.

Our NDN access is right in front of our kitchen and back door and yes they could look in, but even though they are shitty NDNs they never do.

If you want advice, you need to post the actual wording of the right OP. It will be on the Charges Register of your title or in a document listed there.

I have right of access to my back garden via the passageway by my NDNs house. It’s across their garden. I use it for bin day, to take my bike through, and to have large deliveries that won’t fit through the front door. I do not need to let my neighbours know. However, I do not give the code to to the side gate to anyone else, and am there if any deliveries, and this is a courtesy I give to my lovely neighbours. They’ve had people abuse this in the past, and I am ever aware that although I have RoA, all and sundry do not.

This thread is another reminder to never to buy anything with ‘shared’ whatever, be it drive, parking, access.

It will depend on the actual wording as others have said. We had issues with right of access on a part of our garden. The land nextdoor was sold and the new owners started parking in the turning circle on our drive.

We saw a solicitor and they confirmed that they couldn't park there as they blocked or access, but more importantly that they couldn't pass through our land as they didn't have a right of way (i.e. enter and leave at different locations). The right of access was defined as entering and leaving at the same location and was probably so the owner of the land nextdoor could turn a vehicle as our drive was at the end of a small lane.

We fenced off our land completely so they couldn't pass through it to theirs anymore and started locking the gate but had to give them a key. They had another gate to access their land separate to ours. Have since moved, in part due to the stress.

I'm sorry to say it but you are being unreasonable. However irritating, your neighbours, plus all and sundry with a legitimate reason for being there, have an absolute right to pass to and fro via the access.

Your feeling that you are entitled to privacy has no basis in law and indeed you mention yourself that you are fully aware of the relevant clause in your title deeds. You would have been provided with a copy of that paperwork as part of the process of purchasing or, if by some vanishingly rare chance you were not, you have a potential claim against your conveyancer.

You have as much right to protest at their 'intrusion' as you do to object to the people passing by your front door on the pavement or the vehicles going along the road outside.

Consulting a solicitor is probably the wisest course of action so that you have greater understanding, which may take some of the sting out of your anger. I would caution you most fervently to avoid anything that could aid or provoke any kind of boundary dispute for that way lies only a stressful warzone and huge legal bills to resolve...I speak from experience! Good luck.

I would personally be cautious not to do anything that might later constitute a dispute I would need to declare when selling. By all means take legal advice to fully understand the right of access in place, but if you start making a whole thing of it outside of that, you may be creating issues for your future self.

A lot of these houses will have a front door that opens directly into a small living room - mine sounds like the exact situation as OPs, and I can't use my front door without literally rearranging furniture. So everyone uses their back doors daily. Multiple times. For themselves, the family, visitors, deliveries, takeaways... 😬

@purdypuma
you still havent posted the actual wording on the deeds though

no one knows what they say, so cannot comment on what they mean