Right of Access help

chrest

We are moving house and our buyers are not very happy that there is right of access to our neighbours back garden. Which they never use, except for window cleaner access.

They have mentioned that they want a deed of release doing for this, to take those rights away from our neighbour.

Are they being unreasonable/unrealistic?
It is a council property next door, how likely is it that the council would enter into a deed like this?

anselld

Why would your neighbour (or the Council) want to give up such rights? Seems unreasonable to me.

googler

anselld wrote: »

Why would your neighbour (or the Council) want to give up such rights? Seems unreasonable to me.

Exactly. Your buyers are being unrealistic.

chrest

Thank you, that it what I thought. But I dont know how common it is for buyers to request things like this.

I just hope their solicitor explains that this is an uncommon request, and that it is also unreasonable and unrealistic. Which is basically what my solicitor has written back to them saying.

I am worried that they wont be happy with this response, and that this right of access could be a deal breaker??!! And we're all gearing for completion in jusdt over 2 weeks!! Eek!:eek:

DVardysShadow

When and how did they discover the neighbours right of access? If it was as a result of a solicitor's query, rather than being told on 2nd viewing, I can understand the buyers being a bit put out and trying for a deed of release as the last option before pulling out.

G_M

This is why there are delays in buying selling property. So that legal investigations can be made and rights like this made clear.

The buyers are understandably unhappy to find an access right across 'their' property, but there is little they can do. The neighbour (council) will not give it up, so the buyer has to either accept it or pull out. That is up to them.

If they pull out, you could consider offering to reduce the price to compensate them and keep the sale on track but that is up to you.

chrest

DVardysShadow wrote: »

When and how did they discover the neighbours right of access? If it was as a result of a solicitor's query, rather than being told on 2nd viewing, I can understand the buyers being a bit put out and trying for a deed of release as the last option before pulling out.

They have only had one viewing which was carried out by the EA, had they come for a 2nd viewing we would have informed them at this time. They will have first discovered it when they received the forms that I had to fill in, where I mentioned it twice.

Just hope its not enough for them to pull out.

Is it not standard on terrace/town houses that they have access through the back gardens?!

DVardysShadow

chrest wrote: »

They have only had one viewing which was carried out by the EA, had they come for a 2nd viewing we would have informed them at this time. They will have first discovered it when they received the forms that I had to fill in, where I mentioned it twice.

Just hope its not enough for them to pull out.

Is it not standard on terrace/town houses that they have access through the back gardens?!

Their solicitor may have sat on the forms until shortly before you heard about the request for a deed of release. So, not necessarily entirely the fault of the buyers that it has taken so long to get to this point.

With an issue like this, if reality does not match expectations, you can expect the deal to fall apart once the discrepancy is found. If this does turn out to be a deal breaker, you need to be sure that any future viewers get to know fairly early on.

Richard_Webster

It always pays to be upfront about minor negative issues - house being leasehold rather than freehold, the last 20' of garden only having a possessory title ,etc, etc. That way it is no surprise to people and they don't think they've been conned later. So if you are acquiring a title to some extra land at the end of your garden by adverse possession, put a rope across where you full legal title ends and tell the estate agents to explain its significance.

With a point like this access you wonder where these people have been if they didn't realise that this kind of thing was common.

In some parts of the country it is standard. In lots of areas of Sheffield, for instance, people hardly use their front doors. The postman walks down the ginnel between every 4th house in the terrace and delivers the mail to the back doors. To get to two of the back doors you have to go past the back windows of the houses nearest the ginnel.