Access?

missb123

Hi, i wonder if anyone can give me some advice. I am buying an end terrace house, there are four houses in the row and i know for a fact that there is no right of way for the mid terrace next to me. on both our land registry plans our houses are marked in red with no rights of way, access or easements.
Our future neighbour installed a new fence with gate to gain access round the back of our our house (because owner moved away and rented house out, she didnt know about his gate), he states he asked the then owner to sign something giving him right of way but she would not.
Our solicitor has told us we can allow him to use the gate if we wish but there is no right of access and he advised we do not sign anything.
The fence and gate he has up is a bit of a mess and we intend to put our own new fence up alongside his and all the way around the rest of the garden because the original fence is falling down.
I want to be a good neighbour and allow him to put his bins out so i am going to put a gate next to his, but one matching our new fence, i wont lock it.
I dont really want him in my garden, he has no rights to be there and i will lock the gate if he takes advantage of this.
I assume most people would just fence it right up, our solicitor told us to do that.
Am i being soft?

PasturesNew

Yes you're being soft. He's renting, he chose a house where bins had to go through the house. Give an inch, he'll take a mile at some point (they usually do - and he already has) .... sometimes it doesn't pay to be nice.

The time to be nice would have been if you'd built up a proper friendship/relationship with that neighbour and if the request had come as part of a natural conversation, over time.

S0d 'em.

G_M

I would talk it through with him before doing anything. You have to live next door to each other for years to come, so a 'neighbourly' relationship is advisable.

Make it clear you are granting no formal rights. Explain you are happy to turn a blind eye to him putting his bins out once a week but that access to your garden is not a right and if you problems develop you will fence over the gate. Do NOT put anything in writing, but DO be friendly!

missb123

He owns his house, he bought it from the council. the reason i know so much is because when we went to view it he came out with letters he had written to parliment asking for right of way!!! i thought, oh dear here we go!!! thats why i clarified it with the solicitor.
He showed me his title deeds, his house has no right of access round mine but he mentioned something about his right to take the bins out?.
I thought it would be a good idea to put a gate up on our side just so he understands we have a right to privacy, i will lock it if he becomes a pest but at the moment i want to get on with him.
The other end house also does not need to give right of way and i fear he brings other mid terraces bin through my garden too.
Hes in his 60s and if he moves out (or pops off) i will deffo panel the fence right up.
I love the house and have waited ages to move in, we put our ofer in Sept 09!!.

Owain_Moneysaver

Be careful that he does not gain a right of access by default as it may be difficult to revoke permission later.

As he's in his 60s (and presumably you're not) the neighbourly thing to do would be to wheel his bin through for him. That way you control what goes through your garden, and when. But you might not want that commitment.

missb123

He still works, and was pretty keen to take my bin out for me, as he is passing by anyway. I feel he has taken advantage of the fact the house was a buy to let after being repossesed. the two previous owners didnt grant him anything but were not around so he just came and went as he pleased, he has also taken a bit of the land at the bottom of the garden, fenced it off and put a greenhouse on it, however he admitted he shouldnt have and it has to come down.
I want to be a good neighbour, i understand he has lived there for ages but i can forsee trouble if i am not clear on his boundaries, thats why the gate idea seemed good, he states its just him who wants to use it, for his bin, once a week and even though i dont have to allow that.. (after all he has a large front garden too), i will let him do it if he sticks to his word.
This is a new situation for me, and thats why i needed other peoples input.
Myself and kids all work full time during the day so shouldnt even see him on bin day!! The suggestion of me putting his bin out was good, i wouldnt mind doing that. thankyou

JonathanA

Be very careful. We now learn he has also taken some land from the bottom of your new garden. Why can he not keep his bin in his large front garden, thus not needing any access at all through your garden.

I think you need to start as you mean to go on, otherwise you will be letting yourself in for trouble later down the line. What do the people at the other end of the terrace do in terms of access?

I think he has got away with quite a lot over the years (and I'm generally very neighbourly and all for being friendly) and I suspect he will anticipate that to continue.

He has in effect stolen land, and put a fence around it. I would seek to get the garden reinstated to how it should be prior to completion. Listen to your solicitors advice, you are paying them good money for a reason!

Blacksheep1979

As others have said be very wary of this, especially the fenced off land, as whilst he may be nice as pie at the moment you could suddenly find he's putting in a claim for this land as he's been maintaining it.

PasturesNew

If he has a large front garden, then there's no reason why he can't keep his bins out the front... if he can afford a greenhouse and has the energy to go fencing off extra bits of garden etc, then one can assume he is mobile/wealthy enough to be able to afford an attractive-looking bin shed if he considers it would look untidy out there.

missb123

Yeah, very helpful replies there, i agree. I am going to reinstate the garden as per land registry plans, the fence is going to cost a fortune but its one of the first things i am going to do, if he takes his time removing the green house i will take down any fencing on my land, im sure he wont like his garden being open!
I was worried if we make the access thing an issue he may dig his heels in about claiming the land so i will sort that then do the last bit of fence. i have given this a fair bit of thought.. how to approach it, i agree start as you mean to go on, im sure he will be annoyed at me putting a gate on my side, taking back a bit of control but if he doesnt like it then i will fence right up. so give him the chance to just take the bin out, if he starts to take advantage or complain about a further gate on my side i will just fence it up. The greenhouse issue has been sorted by solicitor but the access issue was down to my decision. i want to be a good neighbour but just have a bad feeling about this!!!!!

BitterAndTwisted

I think you're right to have a bad feeling about all this, it was proven when he dashed out waiving his letters to parliament as soon as you showed up! In your position I would pop round and have an exploratory chat with the other end-of-terrace neighbour and try to out what else he's been up to.