Shared Driveway

Phil_GT

hi all,

im in the process of buying a house which has a shared driveway and im at a problem

on the land registry deed's the house has a boundary running down the centre of the driveway.

while to me this doesnt seem a problem as the neighbours have cars and use their garage as i will be.

my question is what rights do i have to use this?

the solicitor say's there is a lack of easment indemnity policy to cover the use but that means nothing to me.

anybody have any suggestions?

confused31_2

That is one thing i would never buy a house with a shared drive, my mom had a nightmare with their neighbours, they decided to build a lean to on there side of the shared driveway, so my dad could not get his vehice to the garage.

They had to remove it in the end but it took years for them to take it down after going to court it took its toll on my mom and dad, i was only a kid and it was going on for most of my childhood.

Dont take the risk if you ask me, having said all that you might have decent neighbours, but its a buyers market so why buy something you have to share, to gain accsess.

Rockporkchop

In our first house our next door neighbours had a shared drive. All was absolutely fine until the neighbour became a scaffolder and from then on parked his whopping great van with all the incredibly loud scaffolding poles in the drive at all hours of the night and day. They also had loads of visitors who always seemed to park just enough over the boundary line so the neighbour had to knock and ask them to move just to get access to his own garage.

Be really careful - if you are set on buying the house please make sure you go round loads of times, night and day, to see how the neighbours are using the drive. I agree with confused31 though, in a buyer's market I would think twice about going for a property with this sort of set up.

bingibongi

Basically it appears the deeds dont grant you a right to use the neighbours part of the drive. The indemnity policy is meant to pay out if anyone ever trys to stop you using the drive.

But how much is the polciy cover? If it was taken out ten years ago it may not now be sufficient.

In the event of a problem you will have to make a claim on the policy - is the policy issuer still in business. Will it still be in business in 5 years time ? How difficult will the claim process be - you know how slow and difficult Insurance companies can be.

When you sell you will have the same problem.

The solution is that your seller and his neighbour should rectify the problem by entering into a deed of easement which sets out the rights of access and this be registered at the Land Registry.

But the seller wont do that will he - it takes time and money.

Oh and there might be a clause in the indemnity policy stating that you must not disclose the existance of the policy to anyone who doesnt need to see it or discuss the lack of rights with anyone who might be able to take action in conection with the exercise of those rights - so by even mentioning the problem with the neighbour your seller might actually invalidate the polciy !!!

You need to see a copy of the policy and read it.

Mrs_Bumble

In my second house there was a shared driveway and we were lucky it was a new build and nobody moved in whilst we were still there but the people who bought from us had an absolute nightmare, which ended up with a court case and injunction! Because of the problems with neighbours and then having to declare it at sale she had a real problem selling.

The story has put me off for life!

lincroft1710

Some shared driveways were created by neighbours demolishing boundary fence between the 2 houses so there was enough width for car access. In such cases there probably wasn't any officially documented right of use/access granted to either neighbour.

All the other posters are saying avoid or proceed with caution, so do I.

Doozergirl

We own two houses with shared drives. One is exceptionally clear on which part of the drive is ours, which belongs to the neighbours, which is shared and how that is split for maintenance.

The other does have a line down the middle which means we actually own half the drive, because we border half of it; yet the deeds clearly state that we are only responsible for 25% of repairs because four houses share the drive. We actually use less of the drive now than anyone else now after moving the garage; the mother in law still wants us to have a gate at the other end - apparantly because it's easier to put the lawnmower through :rolleyes: why I'd put the lawnmower through there anyway or bring my shopping in that side of the the house I don't know - I know her motivation is purely a random and pointless act of territory marking that I'm just not interested in!

We all have our own private parking areas as well so perhaps lucky enough that if one of the neighbours were a scaffolder it would only be snobbery that caused an issue, not the van.

waynehayes

Is there the posibility to widen the driveway on your side? That would make your side more usable?

Romani_Ite_Domum

do you have access "with or without vehicle" over the neighbours half ?

After 12 years of trouble free living in a previous property, my neighbour started playing games over the driveway that he had a right of access over.

Just remember that neighbours change and sometimes people change.

Richard_Webster

Even if there was a right in the Land Registry to use the neighbour's half of the drive, if the neighbour decided to be difficult you might still have to go to court - there is no magic way that difficult neighbours suddenly collapse quaking in a heap when shown Land Registry entries!

In this case if there is a lack of easement indemnity policy it will usually be for the full present value of the property and if taken out years ago the the seller should be asked to upgrade it by paying an extra premium. The indemnity insurers are either Lloyds syndicates or Norwich Union or Royal Sun Alliance and none of them have gone out of business.

If the seller can show 20 years use then the neighbour won't be able to take any action and the indemnity insurers will pay for the case, which in a way is a a better position than having to pay for it yourself even if your rights are quite clear.

poppysarah

Shared driveway put me off buying a place. Neighbour had a huge caravan too, but have also since moved. However new neighbours also park like dogs across shared drive. Would have been too annoying for words.