Right of way amendment - advice please

insomniac_ut

Hello,

We live in a semi-detached house that's split into two units and has an alley running down its side. The house has a large garden at the back that is also divided.

We live in the top half flat and in order to access the alley we need to go through our neighbour's half, as we don't have external access to the outside alley directly from our own half. We access it fairly infrequently - once a month or less for 5 mins just to remove garden waste or outdoor deliveries.

The downstairs flat is being sold and the buyers want to renegotiate the right of way. We are open to an amendment, but am curious whether this could have any negative effect on our own property's value.

Thank you.

AdrianC

Just to clarify, you mean you have a specific right of access, not that there's a public right of way?

If the former, then there's no reason at all why a potential future buyer shouldn't be happy with a decent alternative.
If the latter, your opinion is the least of your neighbour's worries.

princeofpounds

Your description is slightly confusing.


However, if you currently have a right of way over ground-level access to your garden, and you give that away, of course it will have a negative effect on your property value.


If you are merely talking about rearranging the right of way to a mutually more convenient layout, that might make sense.

insomniac_ut

The former - it's not a public right of way, we have specific access rights to their half in order to get to the alley outside.

What exactly is a decent alternative? Should the alternative stipulate how much advance notice we need to give them before access (24 hours, etc) or should it be less rigid?

More importantly, would amending the right of way have a negative effect on our property value?

I'm told that the current right of way is structured very loosely, we don't need prior approval, and can access their half willy nilly.

Thanks.

insomniac_ut

princeofpounds wrote: »

Your description is slightly confusing.

However, if you currently have a right of way over ground-level access to your garden, and you give that away, of course it will have a negative effect on your property value.

If you are merely talking about rearranging the right of way to a mutually more convenient layout, that might make sense.

Hi, I'd be happy to clarify any points you find confusing.

To be clear, we are not considering signing away the right of access. Merely amending it.

I've been informed by the buyer's solicitors that it's current structure is very loose and gives us virtually unrestricted access with no prior approval required.

I'm more than happy to amend it so that it's mutually beneficial to both ourselves and the new owners.

Thank you.

AdrianC

insomniac_ut wrote: »

What exactly is a decent alternative?

Why would whatever is acceptable to you not be acceptable to a future buyer?

Should the alternative stipulate how much advance notice we need to give them before access (24 hours, etc) or should it be less rigid?

Are we talking about removing a right of access in favour of requesting permission? Or just amending the route?

More importantly, would amending the right of way have a negative effect on our property value?

How long is a piece of string?

I'm told that the current right of way is structured very loosely, we don't need prior approval, and can access their half willy nilly.

Spend a couple of quid on the LR website, and find out for sure. Get your details. Get their details. Compare notes.

insomniac_ut

AdrianC wrote: »

Are we talking about removing a right of access in favour of requesting permission? Or just amending the route?

The former, not the latter. The route can't be amended.

What is the LR website?

G_M

First you need to know exactly what you currently have. Get it out and read it, then quote the exact wording here.

Any reduction in your rights is likely to be reflected in the value of the property.

You suggest a requirement to give 24 hours notice. Many future potential owners would be unhappy about having to give notice before visiting their own garden! This will reduce the number of people wanting to buy your property and/or reduce the price they will pay.

I suggest
a) you wait till buyers downstairs actually own the place before even considering this
b) you wait and see what proposal they make for new wording - after all, it's them that wants a new arrangement
c) you consider the impact on yourself and future buyers of your property
d) you tell them how much £ you want in return for agreeing OR
e) you make a counter-proposal OR
f) you tell them 'no'.

Any new wording needs to very clearly state what rights you have and what limits or conditions there are on those rights.

Consider the worst case scenario: new owner tries to stop you going through their garden completely - you need a legal right that is clear and unambiguous so that you can continue to use the access.

princeofpounds

I've been informed by the buyer's solicitors that it's current structure is very loose and gives us virtually unrestricted access with no prior approval required.

That is normal. Most rights of way are for 'any and all purposes', though sometimes with restriction over the type of traffic or a stipulation on width.


You should not burden yourself with time restrictions or anything else silly without proper compensation in either money or alternative proposals. There is a reason why in law your land would be considered 'dominant' and their 'servient'. The whole POINT is that it is very flexible for you.


As to helping us understand the layout:


- To be clear, you live on the first floor and your neighbour on the ground floor?


- The property is semi-detached; if we face the house from the road, is the alleyway and the left and the neighbouring house on the right, or vice versa?


- When you say the garden is split, do you own the right half/left half (from the same perspective above), or the back half/front half?


- How far back does the alleyway extend?


- How do you access your part of the garden currently?


- How exactly do you travel from your garden to the alleyway over the neighbour's garden?


- How do you both enter the front of your house?


To put it bluntly, having ground level access to a garden is a valuable thing. You might want to bring plants in. Soil. Wheelbarrows. Gravel. A shed. This is all very difficult to traipse through your house, up stairs, down stairs.

LateStarter

insomniac_ut wrote: »

I'm told that the current right of way is structured very loosely, we don't need prior approval, and can access their half willy nilly.

Thanks.

And why on earth would you want to surrender any part of this right?

insomniac_ut

G_M wrote: »

You suggest a requirement to give 24 hours notice. Many future potential owners would be unhappy about having to give notice before visiting their own garden!

Thanks for the information, perhaps I haven't been clear. So I'll try to re-state the situation.

The house we live is semi-detached with an alley running down the side. It is split into two units - the ground floor flat has a garden adjacent to the alley. We live in the first floor flat, whose garden is adjacent to the downstairs garden. Each flat has it's own independent access to their respective gardens. There is a dividing fence between both gardens. There is a connecting door in this fence, which we can use to go through the neighbouring garden into the alley outside.

Because it was originally one large house, it was originally one large garden. Both the house and garden are now divided into two units, both completely independent of each other save for the connecting door in the dividing garden fence.

The current right of way doesn't require pre-approval for us to go through the neighbour's garden into the alley. It is this agreement that is being amended.

Thank you in advance.