Advice please re neighbours' electric gates

Norman_Castle

If the intercom and remote were working properly would you be happy for the gates to be closed?. I expect nutjob is annoyed at you as you have left the gates open, which she believes has cost her £400. If the gates use £400 worth of electricity when open it's likely they are faulty.

I asked whether she was sure that was the reason for her increased electricity bill (I thought it sounded rather implausible), her response was, "well, you'd better go and get some advice hadn't you?"

Contact gate instalation companies and get some advice. Preferably the company that installed the gates.

Mr_Thrifty

If they use that much electric, they would be getting VERY hot indeed.

Perhaps the £400 would be better invested in repairing the gates?

kazwookie

When were the gates / motor last serviced?

Does the nutjob use the gates? or just the now left parents?

Mojisola

rich_jtg wrote: »

Yes, the electricity angle is irrelevant... what do your deeds say? is there a covenant about access/gates?

Please look at your deeds. The electricity could be completely irrelevant. If your ROW says that you and visitors to your house have access at all times, there shouldn't be locked gates there at all. She could have gates that could be opened by anyone - so no zapper or combination needed - but you may have no responsibility to shut them after use.

Acc72

My advice would be to try to resolve this amicably - neighbour disputes can go on for years and become destructive (both emotionally and financially).

I am not sure how old the daughter is, but do you have a contact number / address for the parents who used to live next door to you?

If I were you I would try to speak to them first and explain the situation.

If that doesn't work then you need to start looking at the actual legalities of the gate - but at least give them the opportunity to get this sorted first.

Norman_Castle

Strangely, I feel better for using that slightly insulting nickname for my excitable neighbour.......

A few of my neighbours have nicknames. Some are slightly insulting, some are offensive. They wear them well.

armour

Why not suggest that your neighbour monitors her electricity consumption whilst the gates are open and whilst they are shut and compare the two. You can pick up a suitable monitor for around £20. I would imagine that they wouldn't use electricithy at all whilst at rest (open or shut).

DVardysShadow

armour wrote: »

Why not suggest that your neighbour monitors her electricity consumption whilst the gates are open and whilst they are shut and compare the two. You can pick up a suitable monitor for around £20. I would imagine that they wouldn't use electricithy at all whilst at rest (open or shut).

I know nothing about electric gates. But I can imagine.

There would be 2 way of doing electric gates

• motor open, motor close
• motor open, spring close

Now it might possibly be cheaper to do motor open, spring close. But it would require the motor to run continually against the spring to keep the gates open.

Helen1971

Thanks for the helpful replies everybody. DVardy'sShadow, respect for the applied physics!

So we checked the deeds and we do indeed have a right of unimpeded access through the gates. I agree that it's weird that our house is behind them and yet they aren't ours and we have no responsibility for them. This is how it came about (we spoke to our previous occupants to get the full saga):

When the houses were built, there was no gate. The people who had our house were happy with that. A few years later, the houses on either side of ours were bought by the couple and their daughter. They really wanted an electric gate to bar the three houses from the road. The people in our house, who were an older couple, weren't happy but were, I quote, "basically bullied into it" and reluctantly agreed on the grounds that they had full rights of way, would be provided with remotes and that the gates would be the responsibility of the neighbours on each side, i.e. the couple and their daughter, with no responsibilities for e.g. gate shutting incumbent upon the occupants of our house.

A decision they say they later regretted!

I agree that the cost of the electricity is a red herring (although loved the kettle/space satellite analogies) and that the claim that the gates are using power when open means that they are either faulty (in which case, the neighbours' problem) or the nutjob is talking out of an orifice.

We've decided that rather than engaging with the nutjob again, my husband will contact the parents, since we still have their mobile number, and suggest in a friendly way that it might be to everybody's advantage if the gates weren't there any more since they are causing us inconvenience, are likely to be faulty and are allegedly eating electricity. We're prepared to contribute towards the cost of removing them if necessary. Let's hope it works. Thanks again.

DVardysShadow

Helen1971 wrote: »

... We've decided that rather than engaging with the nutjob again, my husband will contact the parents, since we still have their mobile number, and suggest in a friendly way that it might be to everybody's advantage if the gates weren't there any more since they are causing us inconvenience, are likely to be faulty and are allegedly eating electricity. We're prepared to contribute towards the cost of removing them if necessary. Let's hope it works. Thanks again.

Given the history, before you go too much further, I suggest you think about what your bottom line is. As the deeds give you right of unimpeded access, I suggest that the bottom line is that the gates are made to work or are removed and that you prepare to play hardball.

At this point as part of setting the bottom line, see if your household insurance provides legal assistance - and involve them in the problem now, before you do something which will invalidate your support.

Yes, you may end up going down a path which leads to a legal confrontation which has to be declared. But equally, if you do nothing, any astute potential purchaser guided by a solicitor will note the gate arrangement and ask whether access has ever been impeded.

As I see it, the gates should remain open [rather than closed] and switched off if the motors are driving against a spring closer, to such time as nutjob gets them fixed so that the electricity bill is to her liking