shared driveway

[jayney 12]

at the front of my house we share a drive with our neighbours this has never been a problem for the 17 years we have lived here, just recently new people have rented the house next door and have decided they would like a fence erecting between us, this would cause problems to us when we park on our drive as it would make it impossible for us to open our car doors without hitting the fence and causing damage, the only alternative would be for us to move our drive over to the middle of our front garden at considerable expense which we really cant afford and it will also make it difficult for us to access our garage, can anyone please help?? thanks in advance. ps my husband has already made it clear that he is not happy about their proposed plans.

[glenis]

if you own your house a shared drive way is classed as a "flying freehold " meaning you both own it but neither can do anything with it , and if one party dosn't want a fence then the other can't just put one up ,also you are entitled to access to your garage ,if a friendly word dosn't work then perhaps a solicitors letter just might ,although if the new neighbours are only renting next door try contacting the owner they might be able to help

[factor-fiction]

It depends on what you mean by a shared drive. Is it truly shared or are there two adjoining drives (one for each house) ?

[buildersmate]

Actually a flying freehold is nothing of the sort.
A flying freehold is when the freehold is held by one property where another land title exists below - for example where two houses overlap vertically - or a room is over an archway where the land underneath the arch is owned by another party.
Please tell us what your land title says about this. The usual arrangement on this sort of thing is that the land is owned separately, but there is an easement for each party to have a right of access over the whole area of the land, together with an obligation for each party to equally share any maintenance costs.
If you have this written into your land title then discuss it with the neighbour - cheaper than employing a solicitor.

[bednobs]

what i dont understand is this - if a fence would damage your car door, what do you do when there is a car parked there?

[themas]

If these people are just renting the house then I don't think they would have any right at all to put up a fence. You need to contact the owner & discuss it - but do check your title deeds first, as buildersmate says.