Neighbours obstructing my right of way - anything I can do?

ET1976

I own a leashold property which is the upstairs of a converted house, with its own entrance on the ground floor. It has its own private front and back gardens. It is in the middle of a terrace of four, and there is a path that runs under the house between both the middle 2 houses for access to the back garden. On my lease, it states that this path is mine, but the neighbours (next door and downstairs) have right of access over it, as it also leads to their gardens.

The problem is, both sets of neighbours are completely blocking the path with their bikes and associated paraphenalia.

I have owned the place for 8 years, I lived in it for the first 5 and now I have tenants. I spoke to the neighbours twice when I was living there and asked if they could keep the path clear as it is my only way of getting to my garden, and moving the bins and mower etc between front and back gardens. They were all nice about it and said 'oh yes no problem' but this lasted for about 2 weeks each time, before they started storing stuff there again. In the end I let it go and just moved it when I needed to get stuff through, but now it is getting worse (there are now 4 bikes in there instead of 2), and it is annoying the tenants. Clearly it's not bothering the neighbours nearly so much as they don't actually use the path for access, they can just go out of their back doors to get to their gardens.

Is there anything legally enforcible I can do to get the path cleared? I don't want to sound petty, or start communictating by letter, but I have tried asking them and it is really a genuine problem now. Both of them have large gardens they could easily store bikes in.

Thanks for any advice.

N79

ET1976 wrote: »

Is there anything legally enforcible I can do to get the path cleared? I don't want to sound petty, or start communictating by letter, but I have tried asking them and it is really a genuine problem now.

These two paragraphs are contradictory. You either want to resolve the issue or you don't. Clearly an informal approach has failed. Let us know when you make your mind up and I'm sure people will ideas for you.

ET1976

er... OK... let me rephrase that since it has clearly obstructed the meaning of my entire post, making it unfeasible for people to help..:

"I am reluctant to start communicating by letter but it seems as though the situation may have come to that."

is that clearer?

Doozergirl

If they don't respond to polite requests then I would write to them, enclosing a copy of the title plan showing that the passage clearly belongs to you and is not shared.

You need to reinforce the fact that it is a Right of Way for them only and this does not mean that they are able to store items at all. If they don't move their stuff then tell them you will remove it for them. Frankly, I'd gate the access, give them a key and if they put stuff in there, take it out again change the lock and withold the right of way until they respect it - I'd rather them have a problem than me! It sounds like they don't even need the right of way

If you don't live there any more then it's fine to play 'bad cop' as your tenant can just plead ignorant.

MissMoneypenny

I would do what Doozer said if it was me.

Could you download a copy of their deeds from Land Registry and see if they have a restricted Right of Way? It might be that they are only allowed foot access over the RoW anyway.

ET1976

surely I'm not allowed to block of their right of way though, equally as much as they aren't allowed to block min?

as it's leasehold, I think I will ask the council (the freeholders) if I'm allowed to do this first!

N79

ET1976 wrote: »

er... OK... let me rephrase that since it has clearly obstructed the meaning of my entire post, making it unfeasible for people to help..:

"I am reluctant to start communicating by letter but it seems as though the situation may have come to that."

is that clearer?

I'm sorry for my previous post but since the next step really has to be to write as per doozergirl's suggestion I though it worth pointing out that your refusal to do this was going to make providing practical opinions a problem.

ET1976

ok point taken.

olly300

ET1976 wrote: »

surely I'm not allowed to block of their right of way though, equally as much as they aren't allowed to block min?

as it's leasehold, I think I will ask the council (the freeholders) if I'm allowed to do this first!

You can't block there right of way however as you have a freeholder there is nothing stopping you from:
1. Writing to them as suggested and end your letter by stating that if the problem persists you will have to inform the freeholder of their breach of the lease.
2. Then if the problem starts up again within a 3 month period, write to the freeholder informing them of the breach of the lease by the other leaseholders.

You will get a better response from the other leaseholders and the freeholder if you state in your letters the reason why the path needs to be cleared is due to safety issues i.e. trip hazards.

ET1976

one of the neighbours is not a leaseholder - myself and the downstairs neighbours are leaseholders, the neighbour adjoining is a freeholder (their house is a complete house, not converted).

surely the reason why the path needs to be cleared is so it can be used for access? will it really hold any more weight to mention safety, or won't I just look like a petty moaner?

Doozergirl

ET1976 wrote: »

one of the neighbours is not a leaseholder - myself and the downstairs neighbours are leaseholders, the neighbour adjoining is a freeholder (their house is a complete house, not converted).

surely the reason why the path needs to be cleared is so it can be used for access? will it really hold any more weight to mention safety, or won't I just look like a petty moaner?

Hello? It's your passageway, why would you look like a petty moaner? It's not their land to put their stuff in. I wouldn't put my stuff in my neighbours garden!

I'm not suggesting you deny them access permanently and no of course you are not allowed to do it - if they asked I would let them through for bins etc which is what it is for; equally they are not allowed to use your land as a storage facility. It's a last resort that makes it their problem rather than them making this your problem to fight. They are depriving you and your tenant access to what is your own land and they may need to be taught to use it respectfully.