Shared Drive

[shawld2]

I own a house with a drive which is shared by about 6 neighbours. 4 of those neighbours have access to their garages via the drive. The drive was tarmac'd about 4 years ago and one of the neighbours with a garage would not contribute as they said they didn't need the drive as they didn't have a car (at the time). Their share of the contribution was paid by the previous owners of my house. On my deeds(or land registry) it states that neighbours should contribute to the maintenance of the drive. The non-contributing neighbour is now selling their house. The estate agent selling the house states that they have access to the garage via the drive. Is this a valid statement or is there something that can be done to either remove access or force them to contribute? Thanks Lee

[Ellipsis]

> Is this a valid statement?

Put it this way. When the buyer's solicitor comes to do a search to show whether their client has access to the property, will anything show up to indicate otherwise? I would think not. Therefore it is a valid statement.

> Is there something that can be done to either remove access or force them to contribute?

Not really. It should have been done at the time - they should never have been allowed to get away with not contributing.

[woofgang]

I am not a legal bid but was involved in something similar about a fence. You might try looking into doing something before they sell but afterwards I am afraid you are probably stuffed. This might be worth getting some real (ie face to face) legal advice about. Make sure you have all the documentary proof that you have. But yes.....silly previous owner.

[suzecruze]

Anything that's shared with other humans can be a problem and it's usually the better off that refuse to contribute. However, when I lived in an area with a communal driveway the lady that organised new shingle did so when it was not needed, to the extent that it was difficult to walk up the drive as the stones were so deep. If you get a new resident, take them a bottle of wine and talk to them about it. I was usually happy to pay especially as I was pre-warned and had included it in my budget. There were 5 of us contributing so it wasn't expensive anyway.

[The Builder]

All 6 of you entered into the agreement when you bought. Legally, it's part of the deal. No one has the option to opt out of it. Any new owner will be made aware that they are also entering into this agreement. Next time the drive is re-surfaced, they should contribute.

To exclude that particular house from the arrangement, it would need the agreement of all 6 to vary the conditions of the existing contract. Easily done, but costs of (potentially) 6 solicitors might make it costly.

[heathfield]

The fact that your neighbour claimed exclusion because he didn't have a car doesn't hold water. Did he ensure that all of his friends, tradesmen, and delivery drivers, were excluded from using the drive when calling at his premises?