Would we not own driveway?

[Nortam]

I downloaded the deeds for the house I'm buying and it looks as though the driveway in front of the house isn't included? It's ex council if that makes a difference. It did used to be grass but was converted into a drive by the previous owners. (Most other owners have done the same) or is it normal for front gardens not to been shown on the deeds? We are first time buyers so have no idea. Thanks in advance

If you owned it it would be on the deeds.

Some modern housing estates are now making the front gardens part of the 'general space' so that they can count it as a percentage of the open land that they have to have on new build estates.

This doesn't sound like that's what is happening here though.

No the house was built in 1960s. Oh no. I don't know what we should do now. Is it likely that none of the neighbours own the land in the front of their houses either?

You possibly have a right of access. You (or your solicitor) need to check the deeds.

Which bit would be the driveway on the screen shot?

Yes, it's possible but I still wouldn't buy it. It's too risky. There are houses where people park their cars on wide path type driveways in front of their homes but all it takes is a family to move in to the area who decide it's every man for himself and that's the end of it.

So the yellow area is a rough outline of where I assumed we would own. Number 13s door is at the side of their house, there is a path leading up which marks the 'boundary'

Hope that makes sense!

The estate agents listing mentions the driveway too so I'm assuming the owners don't know they don't actually own it.

This is exactly the sort of thing that you pay your solicitor to advise you about, just have a word with them.

I will definitely email the solicitors in the morning, thank you. This is definitely one of those times where I don't feel like a real adult yet!

Realistically you can't purchase until this has been clarified.

Thats about a third of your outdoor space so will have a big impact on price.

I cant make sense of the picture, what is the bit with the red line around it?

You solicitor will send you a copy of the deeds showing the boundary. The current owners of the house have to fill in a property information form with details of all shared rights of way, changes to the property etc. Your solicitor should then raise this as a query with them/their solicitor.

You could always chuck £3 at the land registry website and download next doors plans to see if there's is on it to give you an idea in the meantime.

We own a house with a long shared drive. But we own the entire drive. We asked lots of questions about it when we bought but the drive is on our deeds. Ultimately everyone treats it as a shared drive but I have the comfort of knowing no one can lay claims to parking on it.

It's a nightmare and I wouldn't have bought it without that reassurance. Parking can be a pita

The red line is the outline of the land that OP would be buying.

@bellac11 that's the (semi detached) house and back garden that I'm buying.

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm going buy next doors and see what theirs says for the time being.

So next door don't own their drive either. Apart from buying the whole streets deeds, is there any way for me to find out who owns that land?

I love this house, I'm gutted!

The estate agent will want to gloss over it if they don't know as it will be much harder to sell if they say 'this house does not come with a drive or front garden'. But they could say there is a drive to the front of the property the same was as they could say there is a lamppost at the front of the property or a street.

Estate agents are trying to sell houses for the sellers.

OP, if you want to pm me, I've got access to the better functions for looking up titles so with the seller's title number may be able to do some digging for you. Won't get remotely offended if you'd rather not share the details.

Is that yellow area a road? It looks like green space (with trees) and footpath to me

Have you got a link to the listing? May be easier to understand / advise if we can see it.

People can do CF moves over people's access, drives and parking whoever owns it, so owning it doesn't protect from d*heads anyway.

Our first house had a driveway which wasn't on the deeds. The solicitor tried to find who owned it with zero success and all anybody in living memory knew was that it had been used as a driveway for decades. Same for all neighbours who had the same set up. The vendor took out an indemnity policy when we bought and we did the same for our buyer. Wasn't a problem at all.

The thing is though, as long as the people living at the property have had unfettered access over this drive for a certain number of years, that would give you the same right. I would want the seller to sign a document to that effect.

Ask the solicitor you're paying to handle the purchase.