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?

Yeah I can’t. I WFH, and if they’re going to be sitting outside under my desk/TV/bedroom window then it’s going to be noisy all the time
i have a severe chronic health condition so spend most of my time here and it means the other 10 neighbours could start joining in

nobody else has been in it, ever
I just won’t know how to do it when I don’t have any money to move and it won’t pay off my mortgage to sell it

Post your title docs

oh dear OP, I really feel for you. What about gently trying to deter them from sitting there. Move the bench and start playing some annoying music or something.

I didn’t notice the door for ages TBH as it’s around a corner and when I did they said “oh it’s for quicker access”
which makes sense - to get to the shop or the bus stop it’s quicker to exit via the back and there was no way of them doing that before (I can through the doors)
also their relatives like to park on the road at the back as it’s usually less busy

Long shot, but do you or your parents still have the original listing when it was purchased? Did they also think/assume the garden was privately owned as part of you flat?

Couldn't people just step over the little fence if they wanted to get into it? How would ALL the other neighbours also suddenly gain access? Only by walking around the block?

You need legal advice I'm afraid.

Why do they need to sit directly outside your door? Can’t you ask them to sit somewhere else in the garden? That feels oddly imposing

You need to ask the management company. You could also search for the listing when your parents bought it, Rightmove, Zoopla and The Move Market show old listings going back years so it might be on there.

It doesn’t look like a private garden to me unfortunately. I can see how annoying this would be for you. Doesn’t make sense why you have bifold doors but all the other flats have no clear access to it but it looks like someone could also just step over the metal fence? Unless the photo makes the fence look lower than it is.

In the meantime you could somehow section off those patio stones outside your bifold doors. If you take the bench away someone will probably just put their own down unfortunately

It’s higher than it looks! I’m 6ft and can’t step over it without hitting my crotch
no listing - it was a new build and never got listed. I do have endless paperwork but I can’t see any sort of property listing

i spoke to my dad who was “but they had no DOOR, it was never designed to have shared access”

No old listing unfortunately
and yes, higher than it is

Because that’s where she has put her bench

The 700mm alley type entrance is standard accepted width. That’s not considered small in planning or access terms

Gardens and flats can be tricky. This garden flat in the photo for example has access to the whole garden shown and the garden flat has private ownership of the
two patio areas shown. But the actual garden itself is communal.

Make a claim for adverse posession

There was no door for 17 years

The other ground floor flats were built with no back doors so no access at all which is why it’s never been an issue

Highly unlikely to succeed on registered land and in any event one of the (probable) shared owners is also using it

@gardenwoess if the flat had no previous access to your garden then I think they are just chancing their mitt now!! they are trying to take advantage of your age. I really doubt that the garden is a shared amenity. I think it is most likely yours

Also won't work because the management company maintains it and the fencing

And because the land registry simply writes to the owners and says “this person wants to take your land are you ok with that” and the owner says “erm no of course not”

Its irrelevant that there weren’t doors from your neighbours initially. It doesn’t make the external space non communal. It just looks like land surrounding the properties. It doesn’t look private and if it was it would be on your own Land registry plan.

They don’t maintain the fence, or at least that’s what they told me when I asked if I could add extra fencing A while ago to make it more private

thats the only conversation I’ve had, they’ve never seen the property and weren’t the original management company

Agree.
Plus LR would have to write to all other flats before any adverse possession is approved. They would then declare their use.
( we’ve been through AP over a flat and previous owners and anyone LR could find were written to )

No I get that but there was no way to sit in it, even if they wanted to as they had no access, just explaining why it was never an issue previously as they physically couldn’t have access

Out of interest, why did would you be allowing the management company to be mowing and maintaining YOUR own, private lawn, if it really was your land???

But I could write to offer to buy it?
there is 12 people
me and neighbour with door
4 others ground floor no access, 4 others upper floor no access

so I guess it depends if the neighbour objects

Surely if it was communal there would be access for all through the hall? No one other than you OP has had access from the rear of their property or through the communal hallway so it may be that your flat was more expensive at new build stage.
Can you research the selling price of all the flats when first built? If yours was more expensive it could mean the garden is yours but wasn’t registered as such. If that were the case it might be possible to register it now.