Garden Access Rights

karinelleno

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me or point me in the right direction.

We live in a mid terrace house. To get out of our back garden we need to go through the neighbours garden, we do this when we put the bins out, for my husband to load/unload his van of work equipment and also for the kids to go out and play on their bikes.

The man who's garden that we have to go through has told my children that they are not allowed to go through his garden as it is private property and they should take their bikes through the house. He also spoke to my husband to say that we are only allowed to use his garden to put our bins out and that my husband should not use his garden for access to load/unload his van.

Surely this can't be right? How do I find out what rights we have?

Yorkie1

Are you in rented or owned property?

If owned, you should look at the original conveyancing documents to see whether you have any easements (rights) over your neighbour's land. Or if all else fails go back to your solicitor.

I assume that your garden can be accessed through your house?

karinelleno

Sorry, we are in a rented property. We have been here for 3 years now.

We can get to the garden from the house but the way the kitchen is laid out means that it would be extremely difficult to get any awkward objects like my husbands machinery through the house. He is a gardener so has a lot of big machinery.

iamcornholio

These access rights are common on the older terraced properties, and are stated in the deeds - copy from land registry

Normally, access is access and the neighbour can't pick and choose. But check the deeds

saver_1_2

I lived in a end terrace house like your neighbour does and our neighbour use to use it like you do to put the bins out, their kids used it for bringing bikes round etc in fact everything you and your family are using it for.

There is nothing he can do at all about it. He should do what we did and that was build a fence around his part of the garden but he must give you and your family at least a 3ft wide access for bins and daily use. It is not his land it is a shred access.
I got in touch with a solicitor because our then next door neighbour's teenage Sons were letting all his friends use it a lot. so i just built a 6ft panneled fence for privercy. then after about 6 months i sold up and moved.

CharlieBilly

Surely you have right of access only so if you want to wheel your bikes so be it providing you dont damage is property and respect his privacy as much as its reasonable to do so ie dont stare into his house for example

dander

Strictly speaking, I think you probably have rights to take anything you like through there, but it is still somebody elses garden. I think it's not really fair to be trekking through endlessly with large machinery and kids and bikes etc. It is most neighbourly if you can keep use of his garden to a minimum - maybe take the bikes through in the morning and back at night, but keep them in the front garden during the day.

These things are also for domestic use and if your husband is loading and unloading machinery for his business through this garden, then I think there may well be issues. Strictly speaking you may be falling foul of planning regulations if you are using a domestic property to run a business in this way - and I think your neighbour would have a valid complaint about his property being used as access to business storage.

karinelleno

Thank you everyone for your responses

karinelleno

dander wrote: »

Strictly speaking, I think you probably have rights to take anything you like through there, but it is still somebody elses garden. I think it's not really fair to be trekking through endlessly with large machinery and kids and bikes etc. It is most neighbourly if you can keep use of his garden to a minimum - maybe take the bikes through in the morning and back at night, but keep them in the front garden during the day.

These things are also for domestic use and if your husband is loading and unloading machinery for his business through this garden, then I think there may well be issues. Strictly speaking you may be falling foul of planning regulations if you are using a domestic property to run a business in this way - and I think your neighbour would have a valid complaint about his property being used as access to business storage.

Dander - We don't go through the property very often and it is certainley not daily useage. My kids use it a couple of times a week maximum and my husband only uses it on a Monday and a Friday.

vaio

We have the same layout, a row of four with access to the back being down the side of the end house and across the backs of the others. The rights in our deeds for the first bit is “at any time and for all purposes” which, when we had a stroppy neighbour, I argued meant I could back a van in there to unload. The access across the back is “at any time and on foot only”

As others have said, it will be in the deeds & you can get a copy for a couple of quid from the land registry.

saver_1_2

dander wrote: »

Strictly speaking, I think you probably have rights to take anything you like through there, but it is still somebody elses garden. I think it's not really fair to be trekking through endlessly with large machinery and kids and bikes etc. It is most neighbourly if you can keep use of his garden to a minimum - maybe take the bikes through in the morning and back at night, but keep them in the front garden during the day.

These things are also for domestic use and if your husband is loading and unloading machinery for his business through this garden, then I think there may well be issues. Strictly speaking you may be falling foul of planning regulations if you are using a domestic property to run a business in this way - and I think your neighbour would have a valid complaint about his property being used as access to business storage.

Dander, it is not somebody else's garden it is a path that is a shared access. I got a bit peed off with it so i put a fence up when i lived in one of this sort of property.
If the neighbour does not like his neighbours using the path who have as much right as himself he should erect a fence thus enclosing his garden from the shred path.