Walthamstow - would this be possible?

[Londonlost23]

Hello there,

I have owned a first-floor flat in Walthamstow 'Village' for almost 10 years. Whilst I love the flat it has not gone up in value muxh. A combination of Brexit, buying at the top of the market and not having garden access (post COVID this became issue).

I recently discovered, via my builder, that my flat would have had at one time a fire stairs leading down to the garden. Infact you can see the where the bricks had been changed on the outside of my kitchen. Further having checked the land registry i do own part of the garden in my deeds. I don't want to create a fight with the downstairs owner, but having garden access could add significant value to my property - which is important as I plan to sell in the near future.

So here in lies my question (s):

-I am a share of freehold so it would be even possible to do this? As the downstairs owner (other share of freeholder) would never likely agree it. As mentioned i do legally own part of the garden though.

-Would it be fairly easy to reinstate a staircase that was once there? Or would planning permission be needed etc.

Many thanks
Will

I think you could reinstate it, but I am not certain . I imagine it was removed for security reasons or because it had become structurally unsafe. You need proper legal advice asap so that you can reclaim your piece of land, your downstairs neighbour might now legally be able to claim it as theirs, how long have they lived there ? I am astonished that you didn’t see this on your deeds when you bought the flat though, so it is possible that the land registration is not up to date, and that it was sold to the downstairs neighbour before you moved in.

I also think it will have been sold to the down stairs occupant.
What other reason would there be for deliberately removing access?

Thanks for your replies.

I bought the upstairs flat from the original older of both flats, who then sold downstairs around two years ago.

There was no sale of the garden exclusively to downstairs as the land registry shows i still own half of it.

Ps the stairs where removed even before the previous owner bought the flat.

But they sold you the flat, not part of the garden?
They were entitled to sell any portion of the property they chose.
If one person owned the house in it’s entirety, there’s no real question of part of the garden definitively belonging to one flat, unless they decreed it themselves, and it seems they didn’t?

In your situation I think I'd be contacting the solicitor who handled me buying the flat. That you were able to buy without knowing that you (technically) own part of the garden would suggest possible negligence on their part. They should at the very least hear you out and make suggestions at no further charge, IMHO. I am not any kind of lawyer I hasten to add, this is my entirely unprofessional opinion.

This is a common Walthamstow layout. Is it the same for your neighbours? I was in a similar situation. I told my downstairs neighbour I was reinstating the stairs. They weren't happy but not much they can do. Like you, Land Registry was crystal clear. You don't need their blessing. If I was you I would front it out, do the same, see what your downstairs neighbour says when you tell them - just assert that you have a share of the garden and you're just getting around to putting the steps back in now.

I don't think you need planning permission but you can always check with LBWF.

I lived in the Lloyd Park area. Same thing with us. Got our garden back then the downstairs neighbour kept creeping her border over. I ended up having to put a small fence along my side.