Shared garden or not?

[gardenwoess]

this could be long! I bought an apartment in 2007 with bi fold doors which opened into a garden. I was young at the time so it was technically bought by my parents who handled everything

The other apartments had no access to this garden at all unless they walked up a road, down a main road, up another road and let themselves in
The only access is via my apartment except for that

The title deeds don’t really seem to show any ownership of the garden now I’ve looked but I’ve had sole access since 2007

Now someone has installed a door into their apartment through a wall at the back and is claiming the garden is shared. My management company are expensive and useless
If the person sits in the garden on the bench I have out there, I can’t open my living room window with smacking them on the head, and same with the bi fold type doors (sliding though but you get the point)

I am literally staring at the back of their head, unable to open my window while I’m watching TV and can’t hear the TV because of them on the phone screeching down it an inch from my window

any bright ideas?

In short, before the door was installed by them, there was no way into the garden except via my doors. Or trotting 0.7 miles down 3 roads, or teleporting through a wall!

OMG what a nightmare. No useful advice sorry, but I would suddenly find a need to open and close my living room window. A lot.

Presumably the info about the shared garden is on their title deeds, or they wouldn’t have felt inclined to go to the expense of putting a door in. Could you ask to see them, or order a copy of their deeds from land registry? They don’t cost too much. Once you know what it says you will be better equipped to deal with the situation.

Do you pay the management company to manage the garden? Does the other person also do this?

Did they have planning permission for a new door? It’s about £14 to request a copy of their deeds from the land registry I believe.

They put the door in a while ago as they can access the road (which gives quicker access to some shops) rather than the garden, sorry should have made that clear! Otherwise if you want to get to the shops you have to do the same up a road, down a road, up a road

Its only been this year they’ve decided the garden is now shared…

You need a solicitor - it is surely up to them to prove access rights, not you to prove that they don't have them.

We do but it comes under “maintenance” and is just a set fee for everything (so garden/rubbish/removal of branches etc etc)
They pay less but that’s because their apartment is smaller and it was set off that originally

I don’t know about planning, would they need that to add a rear door?

You can go on the land registry map, and that would show if the garden itself is registered to anyone at all https://www.landregistry-uk.com/map-search

That shows nothing registered at all

Even if it turns out that the garden is shared, your bench isn't.

I can move that of course but I suspect they will just add chairs - the only patio area is outside my glass doors or under my living room or bedroom window… the rest is all grass

Your deeds would clearly show if the garden was part of your property. It's just a few pounds to download instantly from the Land Registry. If its not on your deeds, it's either shared or someone else's.

Has the neighbour been cutting through the garden to get to the shops then and has now decided to use the garden? Bit confused by that bit.

I’ll try and do a diagram!

you need to check the deeds before you do anything - do you have a copy? if they show the garden as yours and no right of way by the neighbours then you should have some legal recourse.

what does the registry map show? when I look at my house it has a clear black boundary showing my house and garden. Can you screen shot yours? (cropped in so not identifiable where you are). someone may have better knowledge of what it means

Very rough diagram (not to shape or scale!)
the “path” is one flag wide but isn’t really a path as there wasn’t a back doir

Ok so the dark bit is the apartment, the sticky out bit is where the glass doors are
you can see what I mean by narrow path that isn’t really a path, you have to sort of shimmy down it to get to the garden
The section to the right of me not coloured in is the hallway and stairs up to the other floors (I think)

the others are houses so not relevant

Not an expert, but you can see that for all other houses in the street, the boundary line is clear between the garden sections too.

In your section, there is no separation between the garden section behind the two houses/apartments, so it could either belong to one of the apartments or be shared. Presumably the freeholder would know?

Yeah the others are definitely not relevant - they are houses with front and back gardens and not under a management company so totally separate
although the neighbours apartment doesn’t seem to actually appear properly on there now I have looked again which is odd?

This is my feet at the doors showing how close they want to sit

I'm even more confused by the drawing 😬

If you installed a gate where you've put the arrow 'narrow here + step to patio' would that prevent them access?

Have you spoken to them? I too would be seeking legal advice, obviously before installing any gates etc.

Yes it would, a very narrow one! It’s about 3 and a half foot wide

If the garden is the area I’ve shaded green, then it looks like it is outside of the boundary of your property.

In the legal documents from the sale, there may be information stating who has access. Who cuts the lawn?

Well even if the garden is shared, it’s pretty obvious the pavers were put there by whoever put your door in so they aren’t shared! Absolute nutter to think it’s okay to sit on someone’s step like that.

Don’t know why this didn’t show before.

if the map you have shown a photo of is showing your property - it looks like you only own the actual building bit - doesnt look like the garden is included in your property so it is either shared by the building or belongs to someone else!