Shared driveway

nickson

After some advice please:
I live in an ex-council house (which I have bought) it has a shared driveway with 2 garages at the end, the house next door is still council. The tenant has reported a crack in the driveway to the council. They came and said that they will need to do all of it which I am legally obliged to pay half! I have looked in the paperwork from when we bought the house and it doesn't state anything about maintenance.
Can I refuse to pay half? Or can they take me to court for it as I havent got the money to pay for it?
Thanks in advance

Dan-Dan

dunno about half , but doesnt the word `shared` mean anything to you?

nickson

The damage is on the neighbours side

Dan-Dan

what do your title deeds tell you ?

jjlandlord

It seems reasonable that 'shared' means just that because it leads to the garages, one of which is yours and the other belongs to the other house, I presume.
As such I don't think that there is "their side" and "your side": You share that driveway and also share the costs of maintaining it.

However, I would think that you should have also an equal say on the selection of the contractor based on quotes. (can we trust the council to be the best value?)

nickson

The deeds say nothing just that can't block access, when the house was originally bought (way back when) there wasn't garages there then. It just seems unfair that the damage is the neighbours side caused by leaky guttering that has lifted the concrete, but the council won't patch it, they want to do the whole lot in Tarmac costing nearly £5000! I have some-one coming friday giving me a quote in concrete. Ah well if the worst comes to the worst let them do it and I will offer to pay them £5 a week!!!

Dan-Dan

You dont have any plans? , i have a shared access road , and the plans i received from the solictiors clearly show boundarys , private (unadopted) areas etc etc

Dan-Dan

i second JJ though , if the councils `attempts` at filling pot holes round our way are anything to go by it will only last 5 minutes anyway

nickson

looking on the plans red line around my house n garden then a green line where the driveway is

pinkshoes

nickson wrote: »

It just seems unfair that the damage is the neighbours side caused by leaky guttering that has lifted the concrete,

If the leaky gutter belongs to the neighbour's house and you can prove that it is this that has caused the damage to the drive way, then I would be telling the council that the damage is due to their failure to maintain and repair the property, not through wear and tear, so it is their responsibility to fix any damage caused by their negligence.

If you can't prove the damage was due to this, then get some quotes to have it fixed and/or patched.

nickson

I doubt I'd be able to prove it, and the council chap refused to patch saying that the whole lot has to be done!