Shared drive insurance and maintenance.

lily_livered

I want to buy a house that has a drive shared between four properties. They were all purpose built in the mid eighties. The land registry plan for the property I want shows the drive outlined in red. On the plans for the other three properties the drive isn't outlined. I presume this means I'd own the drive and the other three property owners can pass over the drive.

My questions are does that leave me responsible for the insurance and maintenance of the shared drive? Would that need extra insurance to the normal household buildings insurance?

I've got the documentation from the seller's solicitors and the drive isn't mentioned. In the property information form section "9.1 What are the parking arrangements at the property" has been left blank. In section 8 "Rights and Arrangements" 8.1 "Does ownership of the property carry a responsibility to contribute towards the cost of any jointly used services, such as maintenance or a private road, a shared driveway, a boundary or drain" has been ticked No. I'm wondering if that doesn't exclude having to pay for all as opposed to a shared cost where I'd just be contributing?

Thanks for any help on this. I'm off to see my solicitor soon and want to make sure I ask sufficient questions.

rosyw

Not sure about the insurance aspect. I'm on the opposite side of this one as I access my property via a driveway shared by 3 others and owned by one of them. There is a covenant giving me access to the driveway which also states that it is the owners responsibility to maintain it in a condition "suitable for the passage of vehicles" and that I am responsible for paying a "fair & reasonable" proportion of the costs of maintenance, in this case I assume that will mean to cost of re gravelling it every now and then. I have no objection to paying my "fair & reasonable" proportion when the time comes, but I do expect an argument over this, I am the only one without a car so contribute far less to the wear & tear, so will argue the point if the owner expects me to pay 25%

I would think all this is covered in the deeds of the property you want to buy.

Leo2020

The best thing to do is speak to your solicitor - which you are going to do anyway. I would have thought that a shared driveway is just that, as in you all use it and you all maintain it (but that's not to say you wouldn't be responsible for all of it). This is the case with our shared driveway. We have no insurance just for the driveway - not sure if you can get any. Our shared driveway doesn't go to a parking space/garage - we just access our backgardens from it so its unlikely to need repairing anytime soon.