Can we extend garden into alleyway behind our house?

diable

Are there any properties the other side of the alleyway that also have access?

cyclonebri1

Just another thought, the saving grace in this sitution is that if all you do is extend the garden and have immediate neighbours OK, you could do it very cheaply on an almost temporary basis, ie, a few cheap fence panels and pavers on sand or gravel etc, ie, something that wouldn't have cost you an arm and a leg if it had to come up again later????;):money:

ic

point3 wrote: »

^^This.
What about the neighbours on the other side? What if they want to use the alleyway too?
I do remember the deeds to one previous house that mentioned that a horse drawn cart must be able to pass through.

My own deed mentioned "hand carts and barrows" - my solicitor told me this could be read in modern language as cars - I thought it would just be wheelie bins, bikes and wheel barrows.

My solicitor explained to me that the changes I made needed to be temporary - i.e. no buildings, so where the official line lines I have fences, a patio and a shed. If worst came to the worst, it could be lifted and moved - though I see this eventuality very unlikely (in my case there is still an alleyway available to the neighbours, I've just absorbed some of the old alley into my garden to double its size).

In the case of the OP, as long as they provide a path across their garden which is free for use by the neighbours as and when they choose, there should be no problem. Putting in gates, locking them and giving the neighbours keys should be good enough and help protect against any future neighbours that want that access - even though right now it may not have been used for a long time.

plzhelpmesave!

Thanks again everyone for the replies. Will dig out the deeds this weekend and check what it says.

Cyclone - your idea is pretty much what we want to do. We both have kids and wanted more space for the kids. Does mean spending a lot to sort out the garden, level it out, and get rid of our rotting, damp shed. Wouldn't be able to afford it for a while anyway!!

Say I am no 103 - my neighbour at 101 can still access the alleyway to get to her garden.
My neighbour at 105 also wants to extend out so her neighbour at 107 would not be able to access their garden.
We would put panels at the end of the garden to extend it out.

I don't even know how anyone would access the alleyway - we don't have a key so don't know if anyone else does!

Gloomendoom

Have you spoken to the council? You may have to apply for planning permission for change of use.

Mojisola

plzhelpmesave! wrote: »

Say I am no 103 - my neighbour at 101 can still access the alleyway to get to her garden.

My neighbour at 105 also wants to extend out so her neighbour at 107 would not be able to access their garden.

We would put panels at the end of the garden to extend it out.

I don't even know how anyone would access the alleyway - we don't have a key so don't know if anyone else does!

Often people get together to decide it's okay to do something like this and then one house gets sold and the new owner feels differently. If 107 has a right of way past the other houses, then they can legally force you to remove anything you have blocking it. A ROW doesn't get lost through not being used.

If you want to go ahead, don't do anything that would be expensive to undo.

asbokid

Access over neighbouring land is usually defined as an 'easement' in the title deeds.

If you don't own the title to the land that you intend to incorporate into your garden, you can legally acquire that title using the process of 'adverse possession'. This can take 10, 12 or even 20 years, depending on the circumstances.

Mojisola

asbokid wrote: »

Access over neighbouring land is usually defined as an 'easement' in the title deeds.

If you don't own the title to the land that you intend to incorporate into your garden, you can legally acquire that title using the process of 'adverse possession'. This can take 10, 12 or even 20 years, depending on the circumstances.

Even if you adversely possessed the alleyway land, that would not remove the other houses' ROW across it.