Right of Access - End terrace HELP PLEASE!

stuart_faust

i know that , my partner is in most of the day so they have options there.

is it the Title register that i need to look at from the land registry site?

GlynD

It's not when your partner is in which is the issue - it's the "right of access" which is the legal issue. I believe they're entitled to it. You need to get a copy of your deeds from your mortgage provider or conveyancing solicitor and have them examined by a solicitor. I'm not sure which part of the deeds would be relevant but it does no harm to have a full copy for the future. To be honest, a good solicitor would have provided that anyway.

angrypirate

If, on the review of the deeds, you discover they arent entitled to access, then simply use a bike lock chain / cable to keep the gates closed if you're concerned about them opening the gates when you arent there.

casper_g

I think it is possible for the OP's neighbours to have a right of access that is recorded on their deeds but not on the OP's. Of course, it would be better if the right was recorded on both sets of deeds but sometimes for historical reasons it isn't.

Stuart: Assuming your neighbours house has changed hands since land registration came in, you can download a copy of their deeds from the Land Registry for £4 and check this for yourself. It'll be a lot cheaper than getting solicitors involved and, in my opinion, £4 in cash is less than the cost in neighbourly goodwill of insisting they produce their documents for you. I'd just have a look myself and take it from there.

Desperado99

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/

There is a lot of info on this site, and a very good forum.

HTH

jjlandlord

casper_g wrote: »

I think it is possible for the OP's neighbours to have a right of access that is recorded on their deeds but not on the OP's.

Pardon my ignorance, but how can anything recorded on a third party's deeds possibly bind OP to anything? I would have thought that OP is only bound to what is on their deeds.

GlynD

jjlandlord wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance, but how can anything recorded on a third party's deeds possibly bind OP to anything? I would have thought that OP is only bound to what is on their deeds.

That's a very good question and a valid concern. The problem is: situations like this do exist and at times can only be resolved by either diplomacy and agreement or court action. There could be 100 reasons why something is on one set of deeds and not on another. It could be as simple as a property built earlier having rights at that time which were negated by the construction of further properties on the adjacent land.

Fangg27

For peace of mind would it not be a solution to fence off the dog area and allow them access?

stuart_faust

Fangg27 wrote: »

For peace of mind would it not be a solution to fence off the dog area and allow them access?

The dog area is about 30ft long and i cant afford to do that.
the fence would have to be 6ft high and then would block any light coming into my living room and kitchen window.

Seanymph

jjlandlord wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance, but how can anything recorded on a third party's deeds possibly bind OP to anything? I would have thought that OP is only bound to what is on their deeds.

My current property has had gates put in both sides of the rear garden. One sides gates open up in such a way as to restrict access to the house next door - and his gates open to restrict mine (it's a 90 degree corner - his garden is shorter).

Lodged with MY deeds is a letter from a previous owner back in the 1970's giving permission to a previous owner of MY property to install the gates and have 'free and unhindered access through the gates adjacent to his garage entrance.'.

That gate is still there, although in 7.5 years I have never used it - both times the house has changed hands the people buying have visited me because there is nothing registered on the deeds to THAT property giving me access. However the letter I hold with mine is legally binding, and old enough to secure access that way according to both mine and their solicitors.

Both times I have assured them I do not use that access (onto the unmade road) but use the access the othere side onto the highway - I have also said I retain the right to use it should I change my mind in the future, and that the permission will go with the deeds to the next owner. (one took exception which is how I know their solicitor told them I had the right to use the gates).

Permissions CAN be lodged with one deed and not the other - in my case it is in my interest to have the permission, so the owner here, and subsequent owners have retained the letter and been careful to pass the permission along - it gives opportunity to halve the building in future and give seperate entrances and seperate parking to seperate flats ............. the person who gave the permission and the subsequent owners do not have the motivation to perpetrate the permission. So therefore no copy of the letter is lodged.

In this case the neighbours are served by proving access is legal and necessary (and I think they are probably right) - the end terrace has no need to lodge anything with the deeds to say they have to have access - they have no incentive to prove it.