Concerns of buying a house next to a footpath

[Ck1005]

Hi,

I've had an offer accepted on a house. I like the house but now I'm nervous as the garden is next to a footpath. It's a small development and the footpath is near the end of a fairly quiet close leading to another quiet road - I can't see it being a massively used footpath. The garden has a brick wall and side gate.

Realistically anyone who wants to jump a brick wall can. This sounds silly but my only concern is I have rabbits and I am worried about then being stolen....or worse. They are only out in the day time (in a run) and come in at night. But it would be very easy for something to think it was funny to jump the wall and take them. The area doesn't have the best reputation which worries me. I can't work out if I'm being ridiculous or not.

I admit, ive always been anxious about leaving them in gardens even when gardens are enclosed. I currently don't have a grass garden and one of my main reasons for moving is so they can have a grass garden. Which on turn will be pointless if I'm too anxious to put them in the garden.

Any thoughts? Am I being over anxious? Or Realistically, if I have concerns should I look for a more 'secure ' garden location.

I did read about putting wire on the wall (which might look like overkill) but also read that then if someone tries to jump over the wall and injures themselves on the wire, I'm liable 🙄.

Any thoughts for an overthinker? Thanks 🙂

There are always compromises to be made when buying a property. It all depends on how busy the footpath is!

Before you make a decision you need more data. So I would visit over a few evenings, Inc the weekend to see if anyone was walking there.

You can also check crime maps of the local area, and do a quick online search for any news stories.

Personally I don’t think I’d be worried, our friends have a similar set up and have never had issues. It would be area dependant. I would however put a trellis up and grow some spiky plants as a deterrent. If you were still anxious you could install a camera doorbell or similar at the back so you could double check your garden was secure if you were ever concerned.

As a PP said, there is always a compromise and this does otherwise sound like your perfect house

I’m also missing something, many houses have roads or footpaths bordering them at a given side. How else do you access them.

We recently bought a house in the corner next to a footpath and I regret not thinking about that more. It’s a lot more noise than I expected

Does the path link to anywhere else? Does the road it goes to lead to the bus stop/village shop/kids playground or whatever? Scrutinise it on Google maps, and see if it is a short cut to anywhere, or just a little used cut-through. Is the path overgrown, are there patches of weed growing in the cracks ?(so few users nobody has complained?) If not it's really only going to be very locals. I would go back and walk around the area early one evening, and see who uses it, ditto on a Saturday morning. How many kids about? Where do they hang about? I'd knock at the neighbours the other side of the path, introduce yourselves as likely buyers and ask about the use of the path.

I have a bridle path behind my house. There are people going up and down it constantly because it leads to local parks and out into open fields. It is semi rural. We've had one burglary in this street in the 22 years I've been here. They accessed from the front. It honestly doesn't bother me aside from when youngsters use it to take dirt bikes out onto the fields. Put up a trellis or pigeon spikes. You can even use anti climb paint if it's bothering you. It wouldn't put me off buying a house.

Depends who is using it and for what purpose.

Closes are always a bit more secure because they are not used by general traffic. Most thieves are opportunistic.

If your close has a footpath at the end then it is likely to see a lot more traffic through it and that in turn will lead to more crime and noise.

The type of footpath and where it leads to is important. Will it be kids banging footballs against the wall ? Dog walkers leaving their unpicked crap ? Beered up people from the pub on the Saturday night using it as a cut through to get home ? People hanging around ready to mug people ? All undesirable.

However some footpaths are rarely used and hardly ever cause issues. There is a footpath at the end of my close (but it doesn't open onto the close, it runs along the back of it). It wouldn't worry me that much living next to it, because next to the path are thick bushes and then a tall fence separating the footpath from the gardens. It also does not take the home from pub traffic.

I wouldn't worry too much if it's a good area. My parents have a wall, I have a fence. They've never had issues whereas I have.

We went to view a property, it was a beautiful house and also had a footpath running down the side.

I never really thought much about the footpath when looking at the property and then I clocked it had been on the market numerous times over the years.

I went periodically to the area and noticed on an evening teens hanging out downside the pathway smoking, drinking and fairly loud music. I am pretty sure this is why it was on the market every few years.

Although a footpath would not necessarily put me off a house, I would definitely visit periodically to see if it caused any bother by being there.

I'd probably avoid it. That being said, I'd want to go and walk the path myself, and just see what the vibe was.
I also live in the middle of an estate, and there are some paths that I walk down without a single quibble, and others that I don't like at all.

When I was house-hunting, I didn't pursue houses with paths next to them, or empty plots.

I've lived here for nearly 30 years and there is a path that runs across the back of my house. It has never caused a problem, I use it to go to the local shops, when my kids were kids we used it to walk to school or the local park. It has never occurred to me that it could be a problem.

My husband is a retired police officer, he has worked in Scenes of Crime and as a detective and he's never mentioned it, my nextdoor neighbour is also a retired police officer and he's lived her for over 40 years. I think they'd both be aware if a footpath is likely to be an issue. DH is out at the moment but I'll ask him when he gets in.

Is the wall high enough that the garden is secluded or would passers by be able to see the rabbits?
If it's a high wall I think I would consider the property, as long as I checked the area out at different times of day/ night and ask the sellers in writing if they have ever had issues.

We have a small residents car park on the side of our house and garden with a paved footpath running along our house side wall and garden wall. The garden wall is six foot high but a few years ago I was in the garden and I saw the top of the head of an exceptionally tall man as he was walking along the path to his car. We have never had any problems being next to the path and carpark but seeing his head did make me think about how easy someone could get over the wall so we had a two feet high lattice trellis fixed securely to the top of the wall and now (a couple of years later) the trellis is completely covered in climbing plants. It looks lovely and I was surprised how much more secure I felt once the trellis was up. The wall and trellis height is now eight feet. I wish I had put the trellis up when we first moved here.

Living in a terraced house with no alleyway to gardens doesn't stop people jumping over. They just jump along the terraced row!

If you are concerned about people accessing your garden have a decent lock internally in the fence and get some spikes on the wall.

I was thinking about this thread yesterday as we use long footpath alleys to get back from town and yesterday we had a row walking along one and I only realised once we got to the end that people might want to enjoy their gardens and not hear people rowing about the fact that yes I have told you that we have a leak under the bath, you clearly dont listen!!!

We have a foot running the length of our garden. It’s a pretty steady flow all day if dog walkers and people walking past or cycling. Safety wise we’ve had no issues in 10 years. The most annoying thing is dogs barking and people stopping and having loud conversations but it’s not like that happens 24/7.

Oh this made me laugh. We have a six foot fence at the back of our garden and a path running just behind it. If I am in the garden I hear some funny conversations. If people can't see you or hear you they don't think you exist. Unfortunately my neighbour heard someone saying something rude about her house and that upset her so wasn't as funny.

If the wall is high and the garden is private then no one will know you have rabbits and make an attempt to steal them.

If you are worried about general antisocial behaviour you could walk the footpath yourself in an evening and see if anyone is about.

It wouldn’t put me off the house if everything else about it was great.

Surely having people passing by outside would be a good thing, it will deter foxes or large birds of prey which might take the rabbits? I really don't think people are going to be jumping a very high brick wall in their droves just to take rabbits, but foxes will.

Get a Tapo camera! Cheap and connects to WiFi so no monthly costs! We've had a cat keep getting in the garden near the rabbits run so I put the camera on the windowsill (inside) to keep an eye on them. I'd be more worried about animals getting them than people. I never let my buns out in the garden loose unless I'm outside or in the kitchen watching them.

We also live next to a busy footpath and haven't had issues (touch wood) we've been here over 10 years x

We’ve had 4 houses which were all end plots so paths running immediately adjacent to our garden (one was a footpath) and always thought it was a bonus! Never had any issues.
As long as it doesn’t appear to be the type of place kids are hanging out (usually tell if it’s got litter, graffiti etc) or is a cut through to a pub I wouldn’t worry.
You could definitely put the plastic spikes on the wall. They don’t injure just make it difficult.

We have an L shaped public path on the left side and rear of our corner plot. It's never been a problem, mainly just dog walkers, runners, and school kids.
In 7 years, we once had a late night vomiter and one lot of very drunk teens.