Neighbour issue I need advice as he is blocking my front door access!

tandraig

right - so he cant block the land coloured yellow as you have right of access! on foot yes! but he has to let you have access. and your guests or tradesmen or anyone authorised by you.
he may well OWN the land but you have the right of access and he is denying it. get on to management company hun. they have solicitors who can write to him. they must have sold the flats with access rights and surely it is down to them if rights are being denied? are you the only one affected? if your neighbours affected then you should get them to complain too.

mikey72

The local council may also help deal with this. A lot of properties around here have "right of easement" to gain access for wheelie bins, entering, leaving properties etc, and they soon sort out examples like you have.
You may also have the right to move the obstruction.
Personally I'd walk over the car, but I'm not a heavily pregnent woman to be fair.
You can request a copy of his deeds to see what clauses are in his, if you want to be forearmed.

PasturesNew

Saying you have the right to pass and repass on foot means that he should never ever park or leave his car over that piece. If his vehicle is there ever, then you don't have the right to pass (unless you walk over it).

Although a lot of idiots are 4rses about pass/repass and think it's OK to park where they like.

You should get a copy of that document (copy, not the one in your hand, in case he rips it up) and try to approach him with a smile to go over the problem.

If you have pedestrian rights to pass/repass, then you wouldn't have the rights to drive a vehicle over that "path", and a vehicle would include a bicycle; however, your OH carrying a bicycle is a pedestrian (it's only a vehicle when the wheels are on the ground). I don't know what a pram/buggy are though, legally; if (legally) a pram/buggy IS a vehicle, then obviously you'd have to either carry that over the right of way, or hope he doesn't get picky about it/doesn't realise.

You need to establish where your right to pass/repass are - and to agree that with him, show him your deeds and get him to agree or get his out to prove to you that he believed otherwise.

Obviously, only an utter !!!!he4d would start whining that a pram/buggy is a vehicle if the width of the right of way were sufficient and if you never parked the pram/buggy on the right of way yourself.

A pram/buggy might come under the peculiar phrase of "a usual accompaniment" so not be an issue at all.

Crapgame

Poor you. This will probably take weeks/months/years to resolve. He could well die of old age before you can legally impose your right to free access. (actually, that in itself is a result)
So, what can you do?
1. Write to him, send it recorded (or something that means he has to sign for it) Tell him how inconvenient and distressing his actions are, and ask him nicely to respect your right to live there.
2. Negotiate. Could you perhaps offer him an opportunity to use your washing line when you won't be using it? Those rotary ones are cheap enough, perhaps get one if you have room for it.
3. If he has a lease from the same owner as you, ask them to help find a satisfactory resolution.
4. If you can afford it, try to get a solicitor to write to him. Be prepared to go to court and assert your rights.
5. Contact your local police (or PCSO if thats what you have) They should, if they are any good, be willing to speak to the old git and try to persuade him to have some respect for others.
6. Keep a log/diary of everything you do to resolve this. It may be a waste of time, but if you end up in a court, it will show you going the extra mile to solve this amicably.
7. If you try any/all the above unsuccessfully, get something big and heavy and put it in a suitable place near your door so he can't park there. I suggest a great big tub, filled with soil, with some nice shrubs and flowers. Make sure it is too heavy for him to shift. In any case, even if it is on his private property, he can't touch your stuff without your consent. Even if he calls the old bill, they will probably point out it is a domestic dispute and they are not interested. He would need to get a court order to make you move it.
Don't worry about blocking his access. He is not bothered about blocking yours, is he? If he wants to do something about you blocking his access, he would have to follow the above points himself, wouldn't he. I doubt he will be alive long enough to get you as far as a court.
8. If he blocks your access to your garage he commits an Obstruction offence under the Road Traffic Act. You would actually have to be in a position where you are trying to go in or out of your garage to/from a road as a legitimate journey, (that is, not moving your car for the sake of making him move his) AND you have to (at least) try to ask him to move, and he refuses. Therefore a wilfull obstruction, so you can call the old bill out (and they should respond fairly promptly, but remember they might have other more pressing stuff to do first) and expect them to make him move his car , or gve him a FPN and maybe even tow his car away if he won't move it in a reasonable time.
9. There is no 9.
10. Good Luck.

gordikin

Crapgame wrote: »

Poor you. This will probably take weeks/months/years to resolve. He could well die of old age before you can legally impose your right to free access. (actually, that in itself is a result)
So, what can you do?
1. Write to him, send it recorded (or something that means he has to sign for it) Tell him how inconvenient and distressing his actions are, and ask him nicely to respect your right to live there.
2. Negotiate. Could you perhaps offer him an opportunity to use your washing line when you won't be using it? Those rotary ones are cheap enough, perhaps get one if you have room for it.
3. If he has a lease from the same owner as you, ask them to help find a satisfactory resolution.
4. If you can afford it, try to get a solicitor to write to him. Be prepared to go to court and assert your rights.
5. Contact your local police (or PCSO if thats what you have) They should, if they are any good, be willing to speak to the old git and try to persuade him to have some respect for others.
6. Keep a log/diary of everything you do to resolve this. It may be a waste of time, but if you end up in a court, it will show you going the extra mile to solve this amicably.
7. If you try any/all the above unsuccessfully, get something big and heavy and put it in a suitable place near your door so he can't park there. I suggest a great big tub, filled with soil, with some nice shrubs and flowers. Make sure it is too heavy for him to shift. In any case, even if it is on his private property, he can't touch your stuff without your consent. Even if he calls the old bill, they will probably point out it is a domestic dispute and they are not interested. He would need to get a court order to make you move it.
Don't worry about blocking his access. He is not bothered about blocking yours, is he? If he wants to do something about you blocking his access, he would have to follow the above points himself, wouldn't he. I doubt he will be alive long enough to get you as far as a court.
8. If he blocks your access to your garage he commits an Obstruction offence under the Road Traffic Act. You would actually have to be in a position where you are trying to go in or out of your garage to/from a road as a legitimate journey, (that is, not moving your car for the sake of making him move his) AND you have to (at least) try to ask him to move, and he refuses. Therefore a wilfull obstruction, so you can call the old bill out (and they should respond fairly promptly, but remember they might have other more pressing stuff to do first) and expect them to make him move his car , or gve him a FPN and maybe even tow his car away if he won't move it in a reasonable time.
9. There is no 9.
10. Good Luck.

Oh Dear oh dear!

rsykes2000

elfen wrote: »

It doesn't matter, as you've said you have pedestrian rights. Why not get OH to get some white exterior paint and draw you a path that would fit you and a buggy (and allow OH to get his bike) whilst not stopping him from parking. If your neighbour doesn't like it, tough luck. You have as many rights as he, especially when you're due a little one and he's parking right up your door. Or, you could get some posts and mark out a path, then he can't say he hasn't seen it.

Please don't do this, as it's criminal damage to do this to someone else's property.

Reggie_Rebel

Just let the door get blown out of your hand by a gust of wind and smash into his car, damaging it.

Just bad luck

littlemiss8084

My deeds show the whole driveway coloured in yellow, which according to my interpretation of it should give me free and unrestricted access to walk across the whole thing without any obstacles?!

Thank you for all your advice.

I have decided to write to the management company, they will write to him and clarify the situation. I have tried over almost 5 years to resolve this and have had enough, he wont even come to the front door to discuss it I have to shout up at him as he peers out of an open window so showing any documents will be impossible!

He has his own garden and own rotary washing line! He only wants to use mine because I have a long rope one, if he wants one he should erect his own he has plenty of space to do so. I dont have a garage its only his garage at the end of the driveway We spoke to the previous owner yesterday and he never used to do this to him so looks like its just us he's taken a dislike to! And the place he parks only really blocks access to our garden and his. The person who lives below him can access their garden through their lower level property so they dont usually use their gate.

He does usually move the car when asked but not immediately its when he is ready, which isnt really acceptable when I am trying to get in with a small baby in a car seat. I cant be expected to sit in my car or stay in the house until he is ready to move?

Laz123

I had an elderly neighbour who regularily let car tyres down at night if drivers parked outside his house. Hint, hint.

terryw

Laz123 wrote: »

I had an elderly neighbour who regularily let car tyres down at night if drivers parked outside his house. Hint, hint.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)