neighbours having access rights over land u own?

bs0u0128

is there anywhere i can go to find this out?

bs0u0128

Biggles

Perhaps if you made it clear exactly what you are asking.......

Solar1

These details should appear in the deeds to the property and the deeds to their property.

tonydee

We had a similar issue with a neighbour being able to use our driveway to access their back gate.

We was told that because nobody appealed against this within a certain time period it was deemed ok to do it.

There was no mention of it on the deeds either.

clutton_2

Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 allows access over someone elses property for very specific reasons such as maintainance of their own property.

deary65

What is an easement ?( right of way)

An easement is a right benefiting one piece of land (known as the dominant tenement) that permits the rightful users of that land to perform specified actions over an adjacent piece of land (known as the servient tenement). Probably the most commonly used easement is one that allows the underground services (water, drainage, gas, electricity, telephone and TV cables, etc) of one property to pass beneath the land of one or more neighbouring properties. Perhaps the most widely known easement is the private right of way. There are others, such as the right to light, right of support.

Usually the "rightful user" I have referred to in the preceding paragraph is the owner of the dominant tenement. In the case of a private right of way it is anyone with a legitimate purpose for visiting the land (which could be the rightful owner, his immediate family who live there, any servants or staff who work there, anyone visiting the land for social or business or duty reasons). This explains why the postman (for example) may make use of the private right of way even though he does not own the dominant tenement.

An easement may be created in a number of ways. One is by "express grant". In this case there may be a Deed of Grant that states the terms of the easement, or the grant may take the form of a clause in a conveyance deed or a transfer deed.

An easement may be created "of necessity". Thus a piece of land will have a right of way of necessity over a road, track or path leading to it if that route is the only means of access between the public highway and the land.

An easement may also be created "by prescription". This happens when someone carries out an act (that is capable of being an easement) repeatedly, openly and without the (potentially servient) landowner's permission for a period of least twenty years (sixty years if the act is carried out on crown or church land).

If there is a doubt as to whether or not an easement exists then the law tends to favour the existence of the easement. As the Law of Property Act 1925 puts it: "62.(1) A conveyance of land shall be deemed to include and shall ... operate to convey, with the land, all ... liberties, privileges, easements, rights, and advantages whatsoever, appertaining or reputed to appertain to the land, or any part thereof, or, at the time of the conveyance ... enjoyed with or reputed or known as ... appurtenant to the land or any part thereof. "

An easement cannot be created as a result of an illegal act. Thus the driving of motor vehicles across common land does not create a private right of way.

An easement is very difficult to extinguish and should be thought of as existing forever. The land of the servient tenement is burdened with the easement. The owner of the dominant tenement should not forget that the owner of the servient tenement has a right to the peaceful enjoyment of his land and the legitimate development of his land, and the performance of the easement should not interfere with the servient owner's peace nor prevent him from exercising his right to develop his land (provided that the development caters for the easement).

An easement is said to "run with the land", i.e. it cannot be sold separately from the land but must be passed on with the land whenever the land is transferred to a new owner.

bs0u0128

so by that, if the neighbours have a right of way/access over part of my garden for example, to get to a path they own, then thats that? and it may not show on the deeds?

Debt_Free_Chick

bs0u0128 wrote:

so by that, if the neighbours have a right of way/access over part of my garden for example, to get to a path they own, then thats that?

If it's in the deeds yes. And if it isn't in the deeds, they may have acquired the right (under common law) over a period of time.

This situation is very common where the two parcels of land were originally one. Subsequently, the land was split and because of the layout, the access was necessary i.e. no other way to access the other party's land.

and it may not show on the deeds?

It won't, if it's a right that's been acquired. However, it might be possible to challenge the right. If a neighbour is using your land, the onus is on them to prove that they have the right. Until they prove it, they are probably committing a tresspass.

Once they've proved they have right of access, I would expect the deeds to be amended - otherwise, the problem could keep recurring in the future.

Thinking about it .... if the current neighbours have a right of access, but it's not on the deed, their right of access won't pass automatically to any future owners - which is why the deeds are usually amended, so that the right goes with the property, rather than with the occupiers.

Do you have an actual problem? Or is this just speculation?

bs0u0128

on a property im wanting to buy, if the neighbours can come onto the ground that we own then its daft buying it as we need it to let the pets roam about in, it was one split into 2 but the land seems to all belong to the house we want, and they just have a path left, ill be talking to them as well but want to know rights etc incase

Paul_Herring

deary65 wrote:

What is an easement ?( right of way)

An easement is a right benefiting one piece of land [snip]

It's customary, when using someone else's work, to quote a bit, then point to the relevant source, not copy wholesale without attribution.

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/maineasements.htm for the original source (and further explanation) for anyone who's interested.