Shared Drive ways and house near a wood

johna999

What have been people's experiences living on a shared driveway ie I mean a shared access driveway that isn't the road.

What happens when repairs are due? do all pitch in fairly? is there formal agreements? do all get involved in who gets the work? or does a few people decide and give it to a mate at a higher price and demands all share the price? What have your experiences been?

Secondly, has anyone lived in a house right bang next to a wood or loads of big trees. Have roots been a problem? I have heard that in dry seasons/periods roots go searching for moisture and can cause subsidence issues under the house. Or at the very least the roots force the tarmac up on the shared drive way/access bit. What would you feel is the minimum the property should be away froma tall wood?


thanks all :T

J

missk_ensington

I doubt that the driveway is shared, I would think one person owns it and others have right of way over it. In which case you don't contribute.

You would need to go to Land Reg (call them) and get up the plans, make enquiries and see who owns that actual land, but I feel fairly confident it isn't shared land. I know this because my Mum did a Personal Injury claim for someone who fell on their bike into a pothole on an off-road road (if that makes sense) between McDonalds and a car garage.

McDonalds said it wasn't their responsibilty and so did garage. It wasn't Councils land either. It had to be someones because barely any land in England is unclaimed (and if it is I'll be going with my flag to claim it!).

Anyway, after much digging and delving it was McDonalds land and they didn't even tknow, and had to pay out damages to the Client.

The point is, someone owns pretty much every bit of land.

johna999

In most modern estates these days you have the tarmac main road then these little cul de sacs with say 3 or 4 houses in that share an access bit. Theres a house at the end of a set of around 22 houses that share an added cul de sac attached to the main road but not part of the main road. I hear stories about the drains going and the council not willing to pay for it as it isn't the main road and not owned by them.

lju

I live at the end of a shared drive and it states in the deads that the four houses that access from it share the costs of its upkeep. Hope that helps.

dunstonh

There are three of us that "share" our driveway. As the middle house, we have the biggest chunk and it is owned by us with a right of way for the other two. When it comes to repairs etc, it is down to me to do the bits I own but not the bits which go into their boundry.

The only way to know for sure is to check the deeds as there are different ways of doing this.

Debt_Free_Chick

johna999 wrote:

What have been people's experiences living on a shared driveway ie I mean a shared access driveway that isn't the road.

What happens when repairs are due? do all pitch in fairly?

Depends on what's in the deeds. We have right of access over our neighbour's drive, but we are not required to contribute to maintenance.

is there formal agreements?

Yes - should be in the deeds/title register to the property. You are only interested in the deeds for your own property.

do all get involved in who gets the work?

Usually, the owner handles everything - after all, it's his drive. If you have a right of access over it, you don't normally get a say in who does the maintenance. If the deeds require it, you just stump up some dosh.

or does a few people decide and give it to a mate at a higher price and demands all share the price?

I think you may be confused with a management company, owned by all the leaseholders e.g. a block of flats with communal areas. The management company - essentially, all the owners/tenants will jointly decide what needs doing and who does it.

Secondly, has anyone lived in a house right bang next to a wood or loads of big trees. Have roots been a problem? I have heard that in dry seasons/periods roots go searching for moisture and can cause subsidence issues under the house.

Depends on the area - is it prone to subsidence? - the soil - is it affected by prolonged wet or drought? Clay is the usual culprit! And the trees - some e.g. willow, have thirstier roots than others

Or at the very least the roots force the tarmac up on the shared drive way/access bit.

If it's not your drive, it's not your problem.

What would you feel is the minimum the property should be away froma tall wood?

Depends - see above.

Your surveyor should be able to advise on these things. Otherwise, is there a Tree Warden in your area?


HTH

rio

If you have potholes at the bottom of the drive that also encroach onto the road, it is the councils responsibility to fill them in and bill you for the work covering your driveway. In our experience this amounted to a chap turning up with a bucket of tar and a flattening tool. Two years later and the council still hasn't billed us.

aloiseb

johna999 wrote:

I hear stories about the drains going and the council not willing to pay for it as it isn't the main road and not owned by them.

Isn't this the case in almost all houses? At least, our water company (Southern Water) have been trying very hard for the last few years to get us to buy insurance against any repairs to the mains water pipes between our house and the road - apparently the house owner is responsible for repairs, not the water company.

So not just people with those little cul-de-sac parking places, if that's correct?

Ems*Honie

We are just buying a bungalow with a shared driveway (3 houses). We all have to contribute equally to repairs. The Bungalow is surrounded by big tree's so it will need to be kept an eye on , any early signs of damge etc investigated early. Bear in mind that tree roots sometimes damage drains too.

Hth a little