Right of way?

Greenbanana_2

ic wrote: »

I live in an end terrace, and have to provide a right of way for the other three houses in the terrace, including the house at the other end of the terrace which have their own access down the side of their house. My deeds actually show a marked path - its location and width.

Talking to the solicitor when buying the house, he explained that I should build nothing but temporary structures on the right of way (fence and shed), as all it takes is for one person to move in later and demand their right of way - and as their deeds would show it, they'd be entitled to it. If I wanted to build over the right of way, or adjust it, I'd have to talk with my neighbours and probably get all the deeds changed to show the new agreements.

In my case, the house at the far end have blocked off their access to the path that I provide, but there is nothing to stop them getting a gate put back and walking round my way.

So does the path show a direction or is it just access both ways?

Greenbanana_2

Thanks for all replies, very helpful. Can I look at deeds if the property is not mine?
And the general consensus is that I could not move the fence further down , by a few feet.
I guess a call to planning etc may be in order in the future to be clear as would not want to do something wrong
Many thanks

vaio

Greenbanana wrote: »

Thanks for all replies, very helpful. Can I look at deeds if the property is not mine?.....

vaio wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]I live in the middle of a similar terrace and our deeds say the right of way goes both ways, you really need to check the deeds. Land registry will give you a copy for a couple of quid [/FONT]

Greenbanana wrote: »

And the general consensus is that I could not move the fence further down , by a few feet.
I guess a call to planning etc may be in order in the future to be clear as would not want to do something wrong
Many thanks

The right of way isn't really a planning matter, if you want to move it you need to agree it with everybody affected

Greenbanana_2

thanks vaio, I had read your posts about the deeds, but was not sure if it was clear the property was not mine as I have had trouble wording everything clearly! Many thanks

ic

Greenbanana wrote: »

So does the path show a direction or is it just access both ways?

There's no direction. The deeds essentially state that my neighbours have full unimpeded access for whatever reason they deem fit. Reality is it translates to them bringing their wheelie bins round each week and for the odd bit of gardening.

PDF copies of deeds can be purchased for any house on the https://www.landregistry.gov.uk website. I did this for my neighbours before putting up fences to be sure exactly what was said on each. When I started work I discussed what I was doing with my neighbours to ensure they were happy.

In the end they're all happy as we now share keys to a gate at the back of my drive, previously the path round was wide open and just looked like a public right of way which kids did use to short cut through to property behind. Driven by my work my neighbours have each replaced their own fencing resulting in all our properties becoming far more secure.

boliston

vaio wrote: »

The right of way isn't really a planning matter, if you want to move it you need to agree it with everybody affected

"agree it" is probably more complicated than it may sound. Each party would probably need to take advice from their own solicitor, with associated costs as anyone would be crazy to agree something informally that could impact on their ability to sell their property on in the future.

ic

boliston wrote: »

"agree it" is probably more complicated than it may sound. Each party would probably need to take advice from their own solicitor, with associated costs as anyone would be crazy to agree something informally that could impact on their ability to sell their property on in the future.

Yep - unless any agreement is put in writing in the deeds, then those agreements are worthless, especially if somebody else moves in later. I had some apprehension from my neighbours as they all had informally over the years agreed on what the land at the side of my house was for. When I moved in I got a driveway laid and fences put up. They only calmed down when they checked their own deeds to see exactly what the situation was, and realised they had no claim on the land, only the right to cross it. Previously they'd all shared it for parking - no more!