Vehicle Access Between Two Houses

[dannywright10]

Hi, I am having a dispute between ourselves and our neighbours. Our houses are semi detached with 5 meter gap between our houses. The houses are set back from the road with each house having its own entrance to its own drive which can house between 3 and 4 cars. The dispute is that I would like to fence between the houses. My neighbours stated that they do not want this because they can not drive their vehicle to their garden where a garage is situated. My grievance is they currently have a fence on the rear of their property and fence panels (squared off) to the boundary fence line with a small gate (pedestrian access only). Their fence has started to fall down due to the wood naturally falling apart, which would indicate that it had been fitted for some time. There grievance is that they believe they have a right in law regarding vehicle access to their garage. can you please advise on best course of action, I have stopped works on the fence when they informed me of their grievance. I have asked my solicitors when buying my home, they have said their is nothing on the deeds or covenant stopping me from erecting a fence.

[Old_Geezer]

Loathe to say too much since I have no expertise but it seems to me that if you have separate drives, they ought to be able to get to their garage at the back using theirs ? So how does this 'right of access' thing get justified ?

Unsure why you have a grievance regarding a deteriorating fence/gate or even if you have what it has to do with this fence you wish to erect. Aren't a number of things all getting mixed together here ? Might be easier to see a way forward if the issues were separated ?

[buildersmate]

Simple questions to ask yourself:

1) Do they drive over your land when doing this?
2) Have they (and/or including any previous owners) been doing that for more than 20 years, reasonably continuously, without permission of you or any previous owners of your house?

If so, it is possible they have enough in law to claim an easement - a private right of way across that part of your land. Otherwise, you are entirely within your rights to deny them access. Is it clear, by the way, where the legal boundary is between the two plots? I must say, its the sort of thing to get cleared up before one buys a house, not after, but that's being wise after the event.

[boxtops]

Have you got your deeds, to be able to look at the ground plan and where your boundary line is?

[ichkeria]

We have exactly the same issue except that our neighbours are being more reasonable.
The previous occupant of our property actually agreed to remove the fence so that the neighbour could drive his Jag over part of the adjoining property and into their rear garage.
We are keen to reinstate our fence, particularly as at the moment the (clearly marked) boundary fence cuts off part of our rear garden to accommodate their "driveway". The deeds clearly show a 50-50 split between the properties.
But the Jag owner has since died and his elderly wife no longer drives.
We are keen to reinstate the fence before any issues of "easement" might apply, nonetheless

[buildersmate]

Ichkeria
Easements by prescription (which is what I was describing above) cannot ever be created if your predecessor gave permission for the neighbour to drive his Jag over - no matter the length of time. These things can only be created when someone uses another's land without permission (plus a few other necessary conditions). You can just tell them (nicely) that you'll be putting the fence back shortly on its old line.

[dannywright10]

wow, thanks. The lodger from next door stated he used to own my house, possibly around 1983 with a number of owners in between, he stated that he had an arrangement regarding the easement, he also claimed to have drawn up an arrangement through a solicitor to confirm the easement, this paperwork is nowhere in our deeds (our solicitor checked), nor could he produce them. My only issue is that since i moved in in November 2011, they have not used the easement for access to their garage as there is no way of using it due to their fence impeeding vehicle access to the garage itself (thus, annulling their right of the easement on errection of that fence). When we first moved in, they used it as extra parking (which we requested them to stop and they did). They seem pretty reasonable except for this issue. The owner stated that when selling her house, she wants this option as the garage is to the rear of her property. Thanks again for your comments.

[Titehead]

Sorry, can you clarify, you have a 5 metre wide drive between your 2 houses and you want to put a fence down the middle, lngth wise? so the fence is 2.5 meters from each house. I don't see how this impedes them getting into their garden/garage. Are you saying that their grage is so positioned as to make it necessary to swing out to turn into it and they can't do that with a fence?

[Titehead]

...in the way.

[dannywright10]

the gap between the houses would not be capable of placing a car down it if there was a fence in between. Their garage is in their rear garden and fenced off from this gap. They still beleive they have a right to access the garage in the future due to prescribed easement rights.

[buildersmate]

If an easement agreement was 'drawn up' as the neighbour claims, it is up to him to produce it. Just him saying all this doesn't change anything. Some agreements do get drawn-up by agreement, and hard cash is typically forked out by the person wanting the benefit.

Either he produces the bit of paper or it should have been registered at LR, which would mean it appears on both yours and his LR property title.

A right by prescription (which is one obtained over time by just taking the right and the landowner failing to challenge it) clearly does not apply here.

You're free to stick the fence back, or negotiate a big wodge if you wants the benefit od such a deal.

[Rob57]

If you have allowed access previously for 7 years to that Right of Way, they can claim the right legally now to continue the practice and there isn't anything you can do about it. If it has been less than 7 years, take them to magistrates court, bring a copy of the council property registry that shows both houses and the property lines. Try and learn when the garage in the back was built. If it was added after the houses were built and by an owner as an addition, it only adds to your case. Bear in mind, this will ruin any relations you may have with your neighbor, permanently.