Shared Drive

housesitter · 23 December 2009 at 2:08PM

If you've got a garage in your back garden with no way of getting a car to it then in so far as a selling point, you no longer have a garage.

As a garage is desirable for many people and access to it is certainly needed, TBH I think you'd be making a really bad move by cutting off access to it for the sake of a fence, which isn't really adding anything to the property but taking a lot away from it.

Vincenzo · 23 December 2009 at 4:01PM

It all depends on your long terms plans. If you have no intention of moving or not for sometime and it is more improtant to you to divide the land than it is to have access by car to your garage (to become shed?) and your neighbour is willing to cooperate then I don't see an issue. As far as market value goes - speak to some local agents to see what difference it might make.

Besides, how many people actually park their car in their garage these days?

If I were your neighbour I would expect you to pay for all the costs including the costs of erecting a boundary (fence/wall). If you are not willing to cover the costs, why would they bother to cooperate? Another point to consider is that if a dividing wall/fence is erected, would you do so on the dividing line (shared boundary) or on your land? This is important in terms of who will take responsibility for maintaining the boundary. Certainly this should be written into the deeds of both properties and ideally measurements of where the boundary lies (referring to a plan) should also be included to avoid potential disputes in the future.

Personally I would avoid shared land/access/easements/rights of way as much as possible. They provide the perfect recipe for costly legal disputes.