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Shared Drive
pinkpig08
Posts: 2,829 Forumite
Hi,
Sorry not sure where to post this. We live in a semi and between our house and nextdoor who aren't attached we share a drive. Only from the front wall of the house to the back wall, not the front drive or backyard. The gap between the house is fairly narrow, so it was written into the deeds years ago that the middle part was shared, mainly to allow car access to the rear. We have a garage but we don't keep the car in it. Nextdoor don't take their car to the back, if anything it's used once in a blue moon by them to park if they have a few people coming to the house.
We've spoken with the neighbour before about restoring the divide so that we each have our own land back. She has been fine about this and agreed to it in principal. A bug-bear we also have is that she has an electric gate across the front of her drive, so if it's shut, then anyone who comes to her house now come through our gate as she has made no provision for them. I don't think she is aware of our problem with this. She is hoping to sell her house in the near future, and has said before that restoring the divide would de-value both our houses. We have no idea how to go about putting the divide back - I think it has to go through the solicitors seeing as it's written in the deeds, but we have no idea how much this will cost. She works in a solicitors office and has said she'll ask at work about doing it, but we would like to find out ourselves too, as I feel she may put it off in order to get more money for the house first.
Does anyone have any advice about how we go about this? The boundary line in question would be our responsibility so we would be putting the fence in.
Sorry not sure where to post this. We live in a semi and between our house and nextdoor who aren't attached we share a drive. Only from the front wall of the house to the back wall, not the front drive or backyard. The gap between the house is fairly narrow, so it was written into the deeds years ago that the middle part was shared, mainly to allow car access to the rear. We have a garage but we don't keep the car in it. Nextdoor don't take their car to the back, if anything it's used once in a blue moon by them to park if they have a few people coming to the house.
We've spoken with the neighbour before about restoring the divide so that we each have our own land back. She has been fine about this and agreed to it in principal. A bug-bear we also have is that she has an electric gate across the front of her drive, so if it's shut, then anyone who comes to her house now come through our gate as she has made no provision for them. I don't think she is aware of our problem with this. She is hoping to sell her house in the near future, and has said before that restoring the divide would de-value both our houses. We have no idea how to go about putting the divide back - I think it has to go through the solicitors seeing as it's written in the deeds, but we have no idea how much this will cost. She works in a solicitors office and has said she'll ask at work about doing it, but we would like to find out ourselves too, as I feel she may put it off in order to get more money for the house first.
Does anyone have any advice about how we go about this? The boundary line in question would be our responsibility so we would be putting the fence in.
Sealed Pot Challenge #817 £50 banked 
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Comments
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I thought i'd reply as noone else has! I would think it would be quite straightforward to have the deeds changed as long as you both agree. You could probably ask a solicitor for a quote.
I think the main problem will be that, as you say, she may not want the drive boundary reinstated. Personally, I would not buy a house with a shared drive, so to me a boundary fence would actually be a selling point. If there is enough space at the front for parking, I would suggest that to her - a shared drive will actually put people off and it may sell better with a fence there.
As for visitors driving over your bit to reach hers - that would drive me nuts.0 -
Not having a shared drive should make the property more desirable - there are many tales of woe arising from shared driveways - the electric gate for instance is just downright laziness. The big question is can you still get a car down the side of each house to the garages if the driveway is split down the middle?0
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Milliewilly wrote: »The big question is can you still get a car down the side of each house to the garages if the driveway is split down the middle?
We are the only ones with a garage - she doesn't have one and so has no need to take her car to the back of the house. No you cannot get a car down the side of the houses if the driveway is split - hence the original reason for it being shared was to allow vehicular access to the rear. We both have parking for 2 cars each on our drives at the front.
The people who have to cut across our drive do so on foot as they can't get through her gate when it's shut. It doesn't happen all the time, but to be honest more than once is too much for my liking. I don't expect my postman/delivery driver/family to have to walk across her drive to get to my house, so don't see why she thinks it's ok the other way around. When my little boy rides his bike I make a point of telling him not to go on her front drive to turn around as that is not our front yard.
I'll phone a solicitor to get a quote, thankyou - do they charge for giving you a quote?Sealed Pot Challenge #817 £50 banked
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This thread reminds me of my parents' advice to me many years ago when buying my first house:
1. no shared drives
2. no flat roofs0 -
I understand where your coming from with ppl going on your drive, my neighbours little boy constantly rides on to our drive on his bike and it drives me mad, one day he will scratch one of the cars.0
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You need to be careful because I've also had situations where neighbours have co-operated in taking down a fence to allow a car through a gap that otherwise would not be wide enough. It will vary with potential buyers - but for some not being able to get to the garage with a car would devalue the property.
Removal of the rights of access requires both mortgage lenders to agree (if there are mortgages) and could cost each of you something around £500 in legal costs and payments to lenders for their admin costs.RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0 -
bristol_pilot wrote: »This thread reminds me of my parents' advice to me many years ago when buying my first house:
1. no shared drives
2. no flat roofs
Yes my dad especially mentioned never get a shared drive if possible. Good general advice although not always possible depending on where you live I guess0 -
Wow £500? That's something to think about - thanks for replying Sealed Pot Challenge #817 £50 banked
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sunshinetours wrote: »Yes my dad especially mentioned never get a shared drive if possible. Good general advice although not always possible depending on where you live I guess
It was an almost instant "no" from me when looking at properties, I really wanted somewhere with my own full-width drive all the way down the side, not just for parking but general ease of access and overall privacy.
The place I eventually got doesn't have a drive, but the side access is enough for a triple-width one!0 -
I understand where your coming from with ppl going on your drive, my neighbours little boy constantly rides on to our drive on his bike and it drives me mad, one day he will scratch one of the cars.
Yes my Dad has this problem - he lives at the end of a cul de sac and as his drive is quite steep the children who think the cul de sac is their own personal play zone ride their bikes up and down his drive.
They also leave their bikes strewn on the bottom of the drive so that if you are reversing off the drive and the bike is laid directly at the back of your car you cannot see it. My sister had a run in with one of the kids telling them to keep off the drive to be told its not her drive its 'God's' drive and anyone can ride on it.
This is one of the reasons I avoid cul de sacs0
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