Neighbour has access to my back yard. Could this be a future problem?

anticlaus105

Sorry if this isn’t quite the right place but here goes:

I own a terraced commercial property. The property next door has a flat above and an extension that opens into my back yard. My back yard then has a gate opening onto the street. The person in the flat tends to use the yard as theirs. I don’t really use it but they have a dog that messes in the yard and they are not the best at clearing it up. On a couple of occasions when the back yard has been accesses dog dirt has been trodden in. That perhaps is one reason we never use it much now.

While I’m quite chilled out about this someone has mentioned to me that if I allow use of the back yard to next door for long enough they will gain permanent rights to the usage.

Now I understand sometimes people who take over a piece of land for long enough uncontested can be granted the land. In my case I am simply letting them use it for access. Could this in time render it a communal area?

Am I being naïve here? Should I remove their access or perhaps get the owner to sign something saying the yard remains mine no matter what and I can rescind access at any time.

Anyone know how the law works around this?

evoke

Tell them to stay off your property and not to allow their dog to sh*t on your property. End of.

Some chancers will take a mile if you give them an inch. It's best to nip things in the bud early on.

whitewing

I agree with not letting the dog mess on your land anyway.

Do you have access to a legal helpline as part of your business insurance? If so, could be a question for them.

anticlaus105

Will look into the insurance helpline thing. I bought the property mid 2006 and so did the owner of next door. I am not sure how long the extension has been there. Someone mentioned 8 years may be the time required to gain a right of access or whatever it is. I may have to examine the deeds in case there is any mention of shared access. Nothing was mentioned by the solicitor when purchasing and oddly enough despite feeling a bit stupid about it now, I never thought to ask.

Running_Horse

If it is your yard, is there anything stopping you putting your own lock on the gate?

Perhaps you need to store some crates in your yard to stop dogs using it as a toilet.

C_Mababejive

If it is your yard then fence it off.

If it is a communal yard to which you both have right of access then why was the extension allowed to be built?

Check your landreg/deeds.

missile

It obviously concerns you or you would not have posted. Maybe the neighbour thinks this is communal yard?

I don't understand how his back door opens onto your yard. This cannot be correct unless you have granted permission. I would speak to council planning officer, then the dog warden and then my solicitor.

If it is your yard I would suggest you lock that gate and tell neighbour to excercise his dog elsewhere.

chris_m

missile wrote: »

If it is your yard I would suggest you lock that gate and tell neighbour to empty his dog elsewhere.

I've corrected that for you

gratefulforhelp_2

anticlaus105 wrote: »

Sorry if this isn’t quite the right place but here goes:

I own a terraced commercial property. The property next door has a flat above and an extension that opens into my back yard. My back yard then has a gate opening onto the street. The person in the flat tends to use the yard as theirs. I don’t really use it but they have a dog that messes in the yard and they are not the best at clearing it up. On a couple of occasions when the back yard has been accesses dog dirt has been trodden in. That perhaps is one reason we never use it much now.

While I’m quite chilled out about this someone has mentioned to me that if I allow use of the back yard to next door for long enough they will gain permanent rights to the usage.

Now I understand sometimes people who take over a piece of land for long enough uncontested can be granted the land. In my case I am simply letting them use it for access. Could this in time render it a communal area?

Am I being naïve here? Should I remove their access or perhaps get the owner to sign something saying the yard remains mine no matter what and I can rescind access at any time.

Anyone know how the law works around this?

It is called adverse posession I think and the time frame for it has recently been increased to, I think, 20 years.

Are you clear that it is your yard, and are you clear about whether there is an easement allowing them access through it?

Having been a victim of a neighbour who made excessive and agressive use of an easement through our garden, I would be wary at the very least.

anticlaus105

I was going to get deed copies from https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search but it is down till Monday.

The properties are all terraced and each seems to have its own back yard. All have been extended at the rear but most still possess various amounts of back yard still. My neighbour has a metal type extension that goes up to the street. Instead of having a door opening onto the street it opens into what I would have thought was my yard. All other properties have bricked off yards and the other side of my yard has a brick wall.

We both bought the properties around the same time. They used our yard for access (I say we as I originally bought with a business partner who I eventually bought out). When they had finished the changed the lock on the gate for a Yale lock and gave us a key. We thought it a bit cheeky at the time but as I say were pretty chilled about it.

Eventually someone moved into the flat conversion. This person has a dog. I have put a note on her door about the dog once before after I had trod in it but it only helped a little. On one occasion a couple of summers ago I had an electrician friend around installing some fire lighting. The lady actually asked us to close the back door to the shop as she was going to be having a barbeque with some friends. We had it open as it was hot and we had the electricity off. Again this was a bit cheeky.

I have come across the 20 year reference. I have also read that charging for access will prevent it becoming a permanent thing.

olly300

The fact that you have not said anything until now is going to cause a major dispute particularly as the flat doesn't have any other access to the outside apart from the yard.

I suggest once you get it confirmed they cannot use the yard you take legal advice, as if you enforce your right to refuse access immediately you are in effect making the person in the flat homeless.