Dont own driveway!

[Werehalfwaythere]

Looking for some views please.

We're in the process of buying a probate home. For context, it's a detached home with a long driveway leading up to it. The driveway only leads to our new home. When we viewed it (multiple times) we were assured by the estate agent that the drive is owned by the property. However it's a probate house, so really I think they were just assuming that.

In the deeds, it's turned out that the driveway is owned by next door, who originally owed the land our house was subsequently built on. We have shared access which the solicitor has assured us can't be removed without our consent and there's no reason why they'd need to use it. It's on the deeds that the responsibility for maintenance of the space is with us as a return for using the driveway. It's in great condition.

I'm now not sure what we should do.

A) not worry about it. We have access and it doesn't really matter who owns it

B) move in and later on ask the neighbour if we can purchase it, although they're old so presumably in the next 10 years it would be likely they'll sell to new buyers.

C) drop the offer price

D) withdraw from purchase

I'm leaning towards either b or c. We love the property but it just feels very strange. We're also maxing out our borrowing potential, it won't be easy for us to raise funds to purchase the land later IF they let us. And if for any reason we need to sell in the coming years, we can't afford to lose money on it if this is what puts people off. I also find it very controlling that the neighbour owns our driveway, I prefer to own all of what I use.

What would you do?

Our deeds state clearly that you can't park on it (they can't and I can't). Genuinely this is fairly normal.

I'm leaning towards your way of thinking. It's a headache we don't need. And if we want to build our own drive, it'll cost a bomb.

As far as I'm concerned, we're essentially purchasing an expensive detached home with no private access.

Eugh. It's literally the only house we like. If we don't move there, we'll probably cancel the whole thing.

How do we go about finding out what a reasonable reduction would be if we took that route?

I would check that you have the right to park on it.
Having right of way and the right to park are different.
We shared a drive and got it redrawn up between us to allow each other to pass over the bottom section but park on our own parts.

Can you access the road from the land owned by the house? Is the drive shared with the neighbours? Ie do they use it for anything?

Another lawyer here. I don't think it's a problem. You would have a legally protected right of access (I'm assuming an easement). The grantor of the easement can't withdraw it (unless you agree or abandon use of it, which has to be for years and still wouldn't succeed if it would landlock the property). The grantor cannot use the land in any way which prevents or limits your access i.e. can't park on it or build on it. The easement is perpetual so it doesn't need renewing and it will "stay with the land" if you sell. In effect it's almost as good as owning it yourself. The only difference is that you ... don't.

If it was my dream house it would not put me off!

We had a shared drive (owned by our neighbours) at our last house. We never had any issues and they were responsible for the maintenance, it was a gravel drive way. We knew about it before we bought the house and did not really think about it beforehand but after we moved in, I had an odd uneasy feeling about it. I can’t put my finger on what the issue was but I wouldn’t buy a house again with this set up.

No, it leads only to our house, no one else's. No other access to our house.

This is the driveway. We have space for 3 cars in front of the house that IS in the deeds to our house.

Thanks, that's really helpful. It certainly is our dream house.

I think it's making me feel so uneasy as I can't see why they wouldn't hand over ownership. What are they gaining from keeping it? Is it a control thing? The land is completely useless for anything else and it literally only leads to our house.

Also, presumably they're entitled to walk up and down it whenever they want, which whilst most normal people wouldn't, what if a weirdo moves in. I have three young children and want my space to be mine.

Would you advise we talk to the owners about it at this stage? Or is it really just a no big deal?

I'd do a combination of B and C - lower the offer and offer to purchase the driveway later. It should be fine, but maybe check with a solicitor?

Lots of properties have shared accesses, its not uncommon.

I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole personally

Not for me

Have you seen the wording of the easement? Is it definitely stated to be shared access? Or does it say sole access?

It's very unlikely that the legal owner would traverse up and down it, even if technically allowed, because it doesn't go anywhere except your house which is nothing to do with them.

I see what you mean though. If the drive doesn't lead anywhere but your house, why wasn't it included in the part that was sold off? I expect it just wasn't thought through properly at the time. The owner might have thought he was retaining land which had value but in fact because of the permanent rights granted over it, it has barely any value (to him) at all.

I wouldn’t spend hundreds of thousands of pounds and not own the access to it. Regardless of what’s written in the paperwork, the resale value may change completely if you fall out with new neighbours.

Have they retained it as a ransom strip perhaps? If you did own it would it be a likely position for an extension or something?

Yet another lawyer. We have a right of way over the driveway owned by the house behind ours. We need it for rear access to our garden. It’s really common.

As long as your lawyer is comfortable with the wording used for the rights over the driveway it wouldn't concern me. In fact we (two lawyer couple) live in a house where we don't own the drive. Our house was originally part of a larger estate under single ownership, now split into four homes. Only one owns the drive. We have no obligation to maintain but in reality the four sets of owners all pitch in.

Yes because apart from anything else the plot is smaller than you had been led to believe.

You talk about building your own - how would that be doable? Is there a different potential access point?

Yes, we could come in at a different angle. It would be totally doable but costly.

I'm guessing - only guessing - one reason for the other property owning it is it ensures it is only ever used as a driveway for access purposes. If you owned it you could use it for whatever purpose you wished. In some circumstances that would detract from the surrounding neighbour-owned property (think views become parked cars instead of just a track) etc. I'm not sure if that's relevant but I think when things go back yonks it's just kind of the status quo. Two lawyers here seemed unbothered so that's 3 with your own which should give you confidence :)

There are some pretty paranoid people on here. Thousands of properties have access over someone else's land. As long as access is in place it is fine.

We’d walk away, I’d be concerned about the neighbours from hell moving in and taking over it. Many estate agents would use that as a selling point for that house as extra land.

At best I might get them to drop the price to put a new drive in, but otherwise I’d pull.

This is really helpful and makes perfect sense as the driveway runs parallel to the front of their property so could potentially block light or cause a less desirable view for them. Its a narrow drive so realistically we couldn't build on it anyway but I can see it would be seen as protecting their interests.

This is very reassuring - thank you.

I would also walk away unless they sold me the driveway.

A neighbour can't deny access but can make it awkward eg what's to stop them parking on it? Additionally who decides when it needs to be maintained? What happens if they think something needs to be done and you don't or you don't have the money?

Lastly I'm sick of these estate agents either not knowing the facts or, more likely, being economical with the truth. I wouldn't trust a word that's come out of their mouths now!

My last house had the right of way over the drive covenanted into the deeds. Maintenance was 50:50 with the owner who also used the drive. I never had any problems and as the ROW was covenanted, it couldn't be removed. It didn't cause any issues for my purchasers either. If your solicitor is confident the covenant is in place, I would proceed.

I think we need a map.
I can't picture how they can own your driveway. Is it plonk in the middle of the property? Does it run along their fence line? Can you access from elsewhere and make it a private driveway?

It's very common where we live and in fact our lane is owned by one house but a further four houses along the lane have access rights. Wouldn't bother me at all.