Driveway dispute

bunglesabout

Hi all, I am hoping someone can give me some general advice regarding my rights over my driveway. I bought a detached house 3 years ago in a small square shape cul-de-sac. It took a long while for me to get to this point and I can honestly say, one of the main highlights was that it wasn't a terraced property and (hopefully) we wouldn't have to deal with problem neighbours.
My property is right in the corner of of this cul-de-sac and the front face of my house sits at a right angle to the side of one of my neighbours, so when I look out my front windows I only see my drive and their side wall. My driveway butts directly up to the wall of this house and although there is enough space for 2-3 cars, between one neighbours fence and the other's hedge I have very narrow access to my drive. Enough for a car, but not a van.
i bought the house knowing this, as it had a large back garden and I have dogs, so I was willing to take the compromise of the limited access, and also the concern that the seller had said there was some earlier (resolved) dispute with this neighbour over plans to lay a new driveway. Apparently he had wanted to change it, but the neighbour refused to let him?? And then his wife became an invalid and he could no longer afford to do it whilst caring for her. This was the main reason for putting the house up for sale.
When we moved in, it was a gravel driveway and I have yet to change this.
Since moving in, I have started working on repairs to the property and the rear garden and intended to leave the driveway for a while, but now I am worrying that this was a mistake, because my neighbour has started digging sections of it up without my permission.
Originally there were bushes in my drive alongside the wall of his house which I intended to remove, but I came home from work one day to find that he had done it himself, by hiring a man to pull them up.
At the time i didn't want to get into a dispute with a new neighbour and had intended to do the work myself, so I let it go.
A few months later I once again came home to find a landscaper digging a foot wide trench in my drive, adjacent to their wall. Again, no permission was sought and when I asked what he was doing, he told me that he had damp on this side of the house and was hoping that if he dug some of the gravel/dirt out and replaced it with bark below his damp proofing, this would stop it. I tried to be understanding with this and allowed the trench, along with some wooden trellis to hold back the gravel in my drive. However after a while this wood rotted and fell over, so I removed it, but did not remove the bark.
I want to be an understanding, tolerant neighbour, but once again I have come home to find a landscaper digging in my driveway and this time the trench against the wall is a little wider and deeper. When I asked him what was going on, again he stated the damp as a problem and that this time he was digging deeper to replace the dirt with (cosmetic) gravel and painting the wall with a damp proofing paint to try and correct the issue.
I have no wish to get into an argument with him, but due to the cosmetic gravel and the widening of the trench, I am starting to wonder if this is an attempt to encroach on my driveway and this concerns me.
When I look at my title deeds it appears to show the dividing line between our properties as his house, (side wall) and despite the limited access it gives me, I have never complained about the hedge that lines the side of his front garden and my drive. I also accept that deeds do not give a definite answer as to where our boundary line is, and know that if I took into account the footing for the side wall of his house, this would probably account for a chunk of the ground that he has dug up. I also honestly do not want to get into conflict with him, but as my home is an all female one, I am starting to get the feeling he is taking advantage of this and believes he has the right to walk on to my drive and do what ever he wants, because the side of his house is adjacent to it.
I just want confirmation that by allowing him to make this trench, marked by a wooden trellis border and gravel, that I am not giving him any rights over my driveway, especially since when I mentioned getting the drive replaced next year, his response was 'well we'll see' as if he could prevent me?
Am I doing anything wrong allowing this? I know damp can be a costly problem and I want to help, but none of our other neighbours have this issue and the gravel in my drive was already below his damp proofing, so this cannot be the cause of the damp he is claiming.
If I am inadvertently allowing him rights to my drive, that I am unaware of, can someone advise on how I can protect us from this?
I have tried talking to him, but he can be extremely condescending and talks to me like I am a 5 year old with no rights. None of my other neighbours like him, as he parks his cars in front of everyone's drives and blocks access, yet he has a perfectly good driveway of his own that rarely uses.
The only thing that has stopped my temper exploding is that I intend to live here for a good long while and really don't want conflict over half a meter of land. I am just concerned that I am letting him do something (in the spirit of being a good neighbour) that could bite me in the bum in the future.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bungle

princeofpounds

Hi there.

You may wish to ask your question on gardenlaw forums, which are more specialist than here but a bit slower in terms of activity.

The title plan is only an indication of the location of the boundary on the ground (it kind of has to be - a thin red line is probably a couple of feet on the ground).

Boundaries are generally (but not always) determined by physical features present in reality that are described by the red line on the plan.

In your case, the real problem is which is the relevant physical feature? There is a strong possibility it is the footing of his house, rather than the wall. It could possibly be the wall, it is highly unlikely to be any further than the footing.

Gravel will not be a cause of damp, so IMHO he clearly is attempting some kind of encroachment if he is going further than the footings - is he?

If you have people, and especially vehicles, on your driveway digging uninvited, you should have thrown them off the property and called the police if they would not leave. That is simply not the sort of thing you do without consultation. Not being firm on that point make you look like a pushover.

Even though people do have the right to access neighbouring property for maintenance purposes they have to go to court to enforce that right if they cannot make a normal agreement.

By allowing him to establish new features that might be interpreted as a boundary, you have put yourself in a slightly weaker position.

You probably need to take legal advice over this. Take along an plans you have, photographic evidence of before and after if you have it. Concentrate on whether the boundary or the wall is likely to be the border, and then defend your line.

If it's just a question of the footings, then this may end up being a solveable issue. If it's more than that, then it will probably have to go legal.

----

Sorry, just to make it really clear I do not know if the boundary is at the wall or the footing (or even any overhang - is there one?) but depending which it is it changes the nature of the dispute. There is probably a legal convention to decide, but I am not familiar with it.

SplanK

I would be telling the landscaper to stop as he does not have your permission to work on YOUR drive, and advise the neighbour that if they wish to do any work for maintenance that they must speak to you first to seek permission.

Another things, it's a bit off that a landscaper is doing this work rather than a demo specialist or builder. To me, it does sound like they are wanting to pick at your land and try to retain it as theirs. Personally I would have told the landscaper on the first instance to return the drive way to its previous condition as he had no right do essentially vandalise your drive! I would find it extremely offensive that they removed the bush without prior permission, regardless of the fact you would have removed it anyways!

You need to be all over this and not let yourself be walked over... If it was me I would be asking them to reinstate the drive to its previous condition and replace the bush!

societys_child

I had a neighbour like this, tried to be pleasant, but in the end I had to er . . "put him in his place".

Give 'em an inch, they'll take mile.

bunglesabout

Thank you for the replies. I know I should be firmer about these things, but I don't want to get all hett up over basically a piece of dirt. I am fairly easy going and waaay too trusting according to 'she who must be obeyed!' But the main problem is he seems to wait until I go to work to get someone digging and by the time I come home it is either finished or nearly there.
Also, I genuinely don't want to be a nasty over this, as if I were experiencing damp issues, I would be grateful if my neighbours would be willing to help me out in this way.
I'm an easy going person, but the fact that he doesn't even ask really gets my back up and also I am worried that he can 'claim' part of my drive if this border is left there for any length of time. I plan to get the driveway block paved next year, but didn't know if this was too long to wait, or whether (as per his hints) he could do something legally to stop me doing this?

Bungle

princeofpounds

You don't have to be nasty. It is not nasty to tell people driving diggers up your drive to leave. You could even let them back again when a) you are clear on your position and b) you get a polite request/agreement.

The fact is that on some level you already have a dispute. It may turn out to be minimal. But when you read enough threads about people like this I sense that he has past history (your vendors may well have been less than honest about him but proving it may be hard) and will push it.

The longer you wait to resolve this, the weaker your position will be. It takes many years for him to gain adverse possession over land he does not own, but the real danger is - as I said before - that he establishes a new boundary that changes the facts on the ground.

mouthscradle

I don't think I'd be able to help myself, I'd have to put a gate at the driveway's entrance, with a lock on it... Then he'd have no choice but to arrange with you in advance if he wants to do anything to it.

princeofpounds

This leaflet is obviously promotional material to a degree, but it gives you an idea of what it actually means to resolve one if these things:

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/b-p-images/jmb_33_solvdisp.pdf

warehouse

OP, in the meantime I'd suggest you install a camera to monitor this area that you can access remotely when away from the house. That way you can check daily if any workmen turn up and get back there bl**dy quickly.

stator

Perhaps ask your other neighbours to tip you off on your mobile if they see he lets anyone else on your land.
I don't like trouble any more than the next guy, but this sort of thing would make me livid. He is exploiting you and he will keep on doing it for as long as he can get away with it.
Anything he has put on your land I would remove and dump back over his side of the wall.

rosyw

mouthscradle wrote: »

I don't think I'd be able to help myself, I'd have to put a gate at the driveway's entrance, with a lock on it... Then he'd have no choice but to arrange with you in advance if he wants to do anything to it.

This is exactly what I've done! I had a neighbour who thought it his "right" to use my driveway to turn so he could back into his, I didn't say a word as he could be quite nasty at times, just had a pair of gates put in while he was at work, he nearly demolished them when he came home, only missed them by millimeters as he sped down the shared part of the drive :rotfl: it solved the problem without a word being said :T