Shared back yard

[Zapzep]

As per title have you ever lived in a property with a shared back yard, and what issues were there if any?

I would never, especially after reading the issues people have on here.
eg one has a dog and leaves dog mess all over, or the urine stinks even if they do poop scoop.
One party intimidating the other so they feel they can’t use the space.
Childs toys being broken.
Cigarette ends etc etc.

@ICouldEat can you link me to those threads please?

Under no circumstances would I consider a shared yard/garden/drive/parking place/access.

If you use advanced search and type shared garden there are plenty of threads that come up, any time I try to copy and paste a link MN is reloading and deleting what I’m trying to post.

we owned a flat which was a small block of 4.
2 upstairs flats and 2 downstairs flats. The land front and back around each pair was shared.
So we had the ground floor flat with nice garden behind and a big garden in front, but they were both technically shared with upstairs.

In practise, because we were ground floor, I did all the gardening. He occasionally used them. But it was very odd looking out of my kitchen bedroom window onto a space that he could technically just appear in. I constantly felt as if I had no privacy, which was especially odd for the back garden.

If we had stayed longer, I would have negotiated a split of the land, and fenced it off, giving us a strip round our building and the back garden, then giving him the huge front garden for himself.

We were extremely lucky that he just left us to use it and never went there.

Even when I planted a few bulbs I remember thinking - but he could come along and not know they are there and dig them up and plant something else. It was really odd.

Having once had a shared drive, I would never have a shared anything.

I had a shared garden in a flat, I was the upstairs flat.
The downstairs neighbour took over the area in the front of his back door, we weren't allowed to walk on the shared walkway that ran in front of his back door, he expected us to use the paved washing line area and the front garden but not the bit in front of his window, he had basically a "no fly zone" around his flat.
It was a nightmare, dd was a toddler so if she was outside I was there too, she wasn't exactly running amok.
Never again it was a nightmare

Even IF neighbours start out amicable and lovely, they might move or relationships degrade. We lived in a flat with a shared roof terrace. We had plants, beds, BBQ, tables/chairs etc so our only outdoor space.

1 flat changed from owner occupier to a rental. The tenants were a nightmare. Roller skating across the roof, leaving cigarette butts in the flower pots, allowing their friends dog to poo on the terrace and far more. I now have my own garden and love it. Never again!

Shared anything is a no for me

I lived in a steading with a shared courtyard back garden. It was absolutely fine. We all had little terraces by our back patio doors which were technically shared but we all used our own. Dogs weren't allowed in it. When the children (from 3 of the 6 houses) were small they used to all play in it. It was maintained by a factor. We all had large front gardens too though.