Shared Access Road Maintenance

Kaymum_2

Hoping someone here can advise. The access road to our property is via a shared farm track. The track is owned by a neighbouring farmer (although we suspect that in truth he doesn't actually own it as he claims!) The farmer rarely uses the track, however another neighbour does who uses it daily. Our problem is the track is badly in need of repair and neither neighbour is prepared to contribute towards the cost. We are not too concerned about the farmer as, as said previously, he rarely uses it, we are concerned however that the other neighbour has refused point blank to contribute. We are talking about a track of at least 450 yards in length therefore the cost will be quite signifcant. Does anyone know whether we have any right to insist that the neighbour pays for half the costs that will be incurred? Could we go ahead and make good the track and then subsequently invoice the neighbour?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

G_M

You need to find out who owns it.
You also need to know what conveyance gives rights to non-owners to use the track. That conveyance may well stipulate who has to maintain it and/or who has to contribute and by how much.

Start with the Title for your own and your neighbours' properties, downloadable here for £4 each (+ £4 for the related Plan if you want to see where the boundaries are in relation to the track). The conveyance may not be held at the Land Registry, but should be referred to in the Title for each house.

When you bought your property there would probobly have been a bundle of documents/conveyances in addition to the Title deeds. You should have them, or your solicitor might, or they might have been passed to your lender if you have a mortgage.

Simply sending an invoice to your neighbour without knowing the legal position is a high-risk strategy. Additionally, you might actually have no right to interfere (upgrade in your eyes!) with the track if you don't own it.

Kaymum_2

Thank you GM for your prompt reply. The neighbouring farmer claims he owns it, although, as said before, we suspect that he might not. It is one of those situations where farms have been split in the past and land sold on to neighbouring farmers and we have a feeling that the track may have been left off of someones title transfers in the past. We can't dispute ownership though as the land registry has no info on the farmers property and subsequent land purchases (as it was all done before 1990 when land registry came into play). I can say however that both our deeds and I believe those of the other neighbour who refuses to contribute, both state that we have the right of access over the track plus the right to maintain it. They don't say however who is responsible for paying for it.
Thanks again for your response.

G_M

plus the right to maintain it.

I find this most unusual. An obligation to maintain, yes, a right - hmm....

What is the exact wording on your deeds?

I would speak to the farmer if possible. He claims ownership in which case he would probobly be responsible for maintenance. However given that he doesn't use it he is unlikely to be interested. However if you show your willingness to contribute he might
a) show you proof of his Title and/or
b) agree to demand (as owner) an equal contribution from the other neighbour

Or he might say "not my responsibility as it's not mine" if he really doesn't want to get involved. But a nice cup of tea and a chat seems to be step one!

edit - just a thought, but if the track is actually dngerous there is a risk that the owner (farmer?) could be sued for damages eg if a car was damaged/had an accident due to lack of maintenance. I'm not suggesting you start threatening the farmer, but this could be a fall-back position. Might need to discuss with a solicitor down the line whether the owner, whoever that is, has responsibilities in such a scenario.

Kaymum_2

Thanks again GM for your input. Have really tried very hard at the nice approach to both sets of neighbours involved but neither want to know unfortunately. The farmer definitely would not allow access to his documentation-he can be really difficult. We can't access our deeds etc at the moment but will try to get them tomorrow to read the exact wording. I wouldn't say the lane is dangerous at the moment however it does have almost crater like potholes and will certainly damage our car probably sooner than later.
We are such amenable people and really wish we could sort this out on a fair and friendly basis, but it is just a no go. We think maybe the other neighbour who uses the access to his property daily is simply waiting for us to cave in, bite the bullet and pay for the lot! We think we probably will have to take legal advice and see where to go from there.
Many thanks again

Ulfar

Or you could buy a nice big 4x4 car and watch the neighbours faces when they next see you trundle up the track.

It will probably be cheaper to get the car than for you to pay for the track yourself.

martindow

Or drive slowly. Surely there is no scope for claiming for damage from potholes you know are there.

Richard_Webster

edit - just a thought, but if the track is actually dngerous there is a risk that the owner (farmer?) could be sued for damages eg if a car was damaged/had an accident due to lack of maintenance. I'm not suggesting you start threatening the farmer, but this could be a fall-back position. Might need to discuss with a solicitor down the line whether the owner, whoever that is, has responsibilities in such a scenario.

This may be the way you have to go - and it won't be pleasant.

You must check what rights you have. If the track has got into such a state that the exercise of your rights are effectively prevented then he may be liable - but it could be an expensive business to prove anything. You would probably have to take or threaten action against the farmer so that he would then take or threaten action against the neighbour - but if your neighbour's title doesn't contain anything giving him an obligation to contribute towards maintenance you are no further forward.

Don't assume any of this will be easy - it is unlikely that there will be any magic wand that will produce results - you may have an expensive court case with hundreds, probably thousands of pounds, spent on legal costs and expert witnesses - that is assuming you have any real rights in the matter in the first place.

ItMightBeUsefulOneDay

Kaymum wrote: »

it does have almost crater like potholes and will certainly damage our car probably sooner than later.

The easiest quickest option (and potentially the cheapest) is to get a few bags of hardcore / cement mix and fill the worst of the potholes. I will only cost a few pounds and it will save lots of strife with neighbours.

Oh and buy a monsterous 4x4.

As Ulfar said, it will probably cost you less doing this than fighting through the courts to force the owner to nicely tarmac the thing (which he won't, it will get done with 1" of tarmac by the local travellers because they do cheap)

princeofpounds

You must go and look at the deeds to find out who owns it, then you must look and see if anyone has an obligation in their documents to maintain it.

If not, then the properties than use the track almost certainly have an easement to use the track. If the owner does not keep it in acceptable condition he is trying to block that easement and would very likely end up on the losing side in court.

Mallotum_X

Agree with the suggestion of a few bags of hardcore and cement. Fill the worst and leave it at that. simply not worth falling out with neighbours over it, you could have an expensive court case and even if you win the neighbours will quite reasonably take a dislike to you, these disagreements can last years and be much more unpleasant and stressful than spending a few quid and a bit of time on some cheap repairs.