I have a right of way - advice please

trevormax

Others have given a good reply to your query but I will try to explain it in a different way.

Imagine if you live in the end of a set of terraced houses and your neighbour has a right of way through your back garden to access their own back garden and the right exists for any reason that they have to access their garden. They have a right to walk through to take their rubbish out, to take a bike through to get to the street etc etc.

How would you feel if they start storing their rubbish in your back garden? They have plenty of space in their own garden but decide to use your garden. They then decide to let their friends start storing rubbish in your back garden.

Then they decide to have a BBQ with a group of friends, in YOUR back garden. When you say something they tell you they have a right of way and continue with the BBQ. Or maybe they leave the garden but they continue to let their friends use your back garden.

Do you see now why the neighbours are kicking up a fuss?

150940

Guest101 wrote: »

Because this is simply tresspass.

Harassment requires more than just a course of conduct.

Probably safer if we ont comment on one anothers posts. I have zero repect for your view point, best we dont interact.

I agree and if it's distressing the neighbours the offence is complete is it not?

I'm glad I've educated you in the past 24 hours. Yesterday you showed very little understanding for the criminal offences you suggest someone commits. Today you know a little more.

davidmcn

theartfullodger wrote: »

OK: Lets assume YOU have right of way over that land: Your friends don't (unless they hold a document providing it). On the face of it if you want friends to visit you must transport them & not park your or their vehicle on land that is not yours, to whit the road...

Anyone else??

Eh? Obviously visitors to your property are entitled to use your rights of access. Otherwise anyone coming to my flat would need to bring a helicopter.

Guest101

150940 wrote: »

I agree and if it's distressing the neighbours the offence is complete is it not?

I'm glad I've educated you in the past 24 hours. Yesterday you showed very little understanding for the criminal offences you suggest someone commits. Today you know a little more.

No. It's the reasonable person test. Would a reasonable person be distressed by these actions.

Otherwise you might suggest me replying to your posts was harassment, as it distressed you.

But a reasonable person would not consider these replies to be harassment.

Don't get big headed though, you didn't 'educate' me. And no doubt you'll be gone from here soon enough.

moneyistooshorttomention

theartfullodger wrote: »

OK: Lets assume YOU have right of way over that land: Your friends don't (unless they hold a document providing it). On the face of it if you want friends to visit you must transport them & not park your or their vehicle on land that is not yours, to whit the road...

Anyone else??

That is inaccurate - it is the HOUSE that has the ROW and not the owner of it personally iyswim. The HOUSE can allow its visitors to "pass and repass" however often they want and for whatever purpose they want. The HOUSE, however, cannot allow its visitors to park on the ROW. The ROW is to cover all visitors to the house, as well as the actual house-owner. Restrictions on visitors allowed to visit the house "may" apply - ie as to only certain type of vehicles allowed to visit the house or certain frequency of traffic generally allowed to visit the house. Such restrictions would not be that likely and, if they did apply, then they would be written in the deeds of the house.

It is also fair to say that the house owner is not entitled to base their conduct on the road-owners being "Clampits" (even though I was nodding in sympathy with that comment - ahem...) - but one must ignore the personal aspect about what they are like and stick strictly to the law about respective rights and duties between the servient and dominant tenement. They can be absolute ill-mannered/impecunious louts - BUT that should not influence your conduct towards them.

The fact that they are totally useless with money personally only has bearing on whether they are handling the "road's" finances as well as their own personal finances. So - for that reason - you need to ensure any road maintenance money you hand them gets safeguarded against their disastrous handling of their own personal finances (ie so that it doesn't "go down the drain into the maw of their own personal finances" - if their own finances totally crash at some point). You don't want to have "your" road maintenance money getting grabbed by "their" personal creditors if they crash land.

Norman_Castle

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/priv-r-o-w.html

martindow

What you don't want is for this to escalate to the stage where you would have to declare a neighbour dispute if you decided to sell.

As you have got parking space off the road then it seems to make sense using this and asking visitors to do so as well.

You seem to have an easy solution to this.

moneyistooshorttomention

It just sounds a bit odd to me to be determined to park on a ROW (ie illicitly) when there is plenty of space not to even feel the need to do so realistically. That is not logical.

Hence wondering whether OP has been upset by the "Clampits" about something else and this is retaliation so to say - rather than they've done nothing wrong (other than being personally useless with finances - which wont affect OP, as long as he protects his share of any road maintenance money he has to cough up ever).

OP - is there something they are doing which affects the use of your own property?

ilikecookies

From previous experience I'd agree with the position that you have the right to drive/cycle/walk over the land to access your property but it's very unlikely this would include parking on it.

As others have said, given that the neighbours are difficult, it's definitely not worth the hassle of either a dispute or potential" retaliation" (eg. whilst not blocking access, which would be illegal, they could start to make access difficult, etc).

Personally I'd grin and bear it and hope for new neighbours soon enough. I'd then ask the new neighbours if you can park on it on occasionally perhaps saying the old neighbours let you A bottle of wine once a year always helps too

deaston

littlebranshill wrote: »

I have a right of way over an unmade road that is eventually a dead end. This track runs beside my house and I have to use it to enter my property. On the deeds it says that I have a "right of way for all purposes". My horrible neighbours that live quarter of a mile down the track own it and have said that I am not allowed to park my car (or my friends) car on this track. Surely if it says in the deeds that I have a right "for all purposes" this includes parking? Can anyone help?

I live on a private road, so know a little bit about this.

If you have right of way, you don't have a right to park. However, there's very little the owner can do to stop you. He would need to have clear signage that say no parking and detail the penalties for doing so. If you then ignore them, it's up to him to pay to have your car towed and then take you to court to recover the costs.

The only way the law really applies is if you block his access to a public highway. That is illegal.

Contrary to what other have said here, tresspass is not a legal matter. The law would only be interested about forcing entry or damage to property.

As it's his land, he could legally move your car off it, but if he damages it at all, you could take him to court to get damages.

Of course, I'm no legal professional, so I could be wrong. And don't forget, there's a lot to be said for just not parking there and keeping positive relations between you and your neighbour. Did you ever try asking if you could park there? He may have said yes.