Right of way

northernireland10

Hi all,
I've a right of way which runs from the side of my house and round the back of the house (between my house and garden gargage) it goes behind all house on my row of terraced house.
However, since moving in a few years ago, some parts of it have pot holes and very mucky in places.
I've been on to LPS, DRD Roads and local council, all have no knowledge who owns it, and have no details about it.
Who would have authority over the right of way?
Just with get car out and in of garage, it sometimes get a bit bumpy with the pot holes

saverbuyer

Check land registry to see who owns the land in question.
Costs a couple of quid.

northernireland10

been there, looked at maps and they say no one.

I have looked on http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/public-rights-of-way

looks like council should but they have said ...

'The laneway in question is not the responsibility of the Council, nor would we have any information concerning its ownership. It is a private right of way serving the properties. Accordingly, if you have any legal issues regarding same, I would encourage you to seek your own legal advice.

saverbuyer

northernireland10 wrote: »

been there, looked at maps and they say no one.

I have looked on http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/public-rights-of-way

looks like council should but they have said ...

'The laneway in question is not the responsibility of the Council, nor would we have any information concerning its ownership. It is a private right of way serving the properties. Accordingly, if you have any legal issues regarding same, I would encourage you to seek your own legal advice.

How do you know it's a right of way? Is it just implied?
What is it providing access to?
Can you claim the land? Block it off and maintain it?

northernireland10

I live in a terrace house, the houses in our row, approx 10-12 have then a garden, and some have garages/sheds. However this is across the laneway (right of way - to access gardens/garages).
One of the access ways to the laneway is right beside my house.
Im sure if I claim the land and block it off then the neighbours would be quite angry at me blocking off access to their property (albeit gardens/sheds/garages)

warmhands.coldheart

I would think then everyone in the block would have right of access and thus I suppose you all own it jointly....... Could be a case of going round everyone and seeing if they would be willing to contribute to having it tarted up a bit..... inevitably you'll get a few who refuse but it could be a case you can't do anything about them as they have right of way but it'd be hard to force them to cough up to help maintain it...

saverbuyer

How old are the house? I would have thought one of the deeds on the row shows ownership. Did you check the land registry documents for all houses on the row?

irishjohn

As the majority of houses are sold leasehold with an annual ground rent to be paid then the land probably belongs to whoever owns the land your house is built on. Most ground rents are collected on behalf of the leaseholder by an agent.

Mine are collected by Brown McConnell in Montgomery St in Belfast, and if you pay yours in this way it may be worth approaching your agent as they are likely to have the ownership information and details of any right of way agreement etc.,

Here is what it says on the website.

McConnell Chartered Surveyors is one of the largest managers of Ground Rents in Northern Ireland, collecting in excess of 45,000 individual ground rents and advising on all aspects of ground tenancies such as negotiating the waiver of restrictive covenants; granting development consents; ground rent redemption and boundary and other disputes.

Their telephone number is 9020 5900. If would make a change to be getting some information from them instead of just handing over annual ground rent to them.

warmhands.coldheart

IrishJohn.......... just on the whole ground rent thing, sorry to Hijack the thread. I bought our house over 2 years ago now and I know there was something in the deeds about £6.50 ground rent (Think there is an old Fee farm grant on our house..... really old) Anyway. no one has approached us about it, solicitors mentioned it but never really gave us any details to pursue it further so haven't paid anything to date. any idea's on whether I should just leave it and wait for someone to come looking for it or should I go looking for them.... it's only about £6.50 and I do wonder if the company is even around any more!! any ideas??

bingo_bango

Eventually you will get a bill. I think they wait for LPS to update the registry and then buy access to it every couple of years. Took around 30 months for my first ground rent bill to come through. Have a feeling mine is from Macfarlane Smyth, so may just depend on the management company though.

almillar

Ownership - Land Registry - Great Victoria St, Belfast - will cost a few quid, but far faster than running round lots of places asking them if they own land.
This piece of land isn't registered, so the next place to go would be Registry of Deeds, much more difficult to search. If there's no owner, then it's down to you and anyone else that uses the laneway to maintain it.