Neighbour's drive

whitmak

My neighbour and I have a good relationship.

He offered a small unused corner of his land that sits essentially on my driveway and has allowed me to tar over it so I can get 2 cars in.

Ideally, he would like to have a legal transaction to cover this in the event of any issues if they ever sold up. I have looked into the costs and they are prohibitive, i.e., solicitors fees, change of 2 sets of deeds, etc.

Is there anything I can write up or draft and get witnessed and just give it to my neighbour that says - if the unlikely event occurred that it was requested back - that i would do just that?

I'm not precious about it, but really appreciate that they have allowed me the use.

Head_The_Ball

You really need professional advice. Land ownership and rights are a complex subject. Don't rely on the opinions of random strangers on a forum. It has to be worth spending a bit of money with a solicitor experienced in this matter.

Perhaps you could set up a rental agreement whereby your neighbour agrees to rent to you that section of land for a peppercorn rent, say £1 per year, with a termination clause on both sides.

Whatever you do, you and your neighbour, should make sure that it is watertight legally.

Your neighbour needs to be careful that he doesn't lose ownership of that piece of land.

You might get on now but could fall out at some time in the future or one or other of you could sell up and move.

whitmak

Many thanks

stator

Draw up a simple tenancy for £1 per annum. That is all that is needed really

Mojisola

stator wrote: »

Draw up a simple tenancy for £1 per annum. That is all that is needed really

That should be enough but someone I know who was the owner in a similar position was advised to also block use of the strip for one day a year to prevent any claims from constant use - a letter saying 'don't use the land on X day' was sent with a copy kept for his records.

The agreement was for 364 days and a new one signed each year.

Head_The_Ball

stator wrote: »

Draw up a simple tenancy for £1 per annum. That is all that is needed really

You and Mojisola are probably correct but I would still advise Whitmak to get the opinion of a solicitor to ensure that what is being suggested is sufficient and watertight.

Whitmak, you might be able to get a free 30 minutes meeting or telephone call with a property rights solicitor.

If you end up in a dispute with your neighbour or a future owner over the rights to that piece of land, it could end up costing you a lot of money to sort out. Unlikely but possible and something that is worth spending a bit of money now to insure against.

Perhaps your neighbour is the one who is most at risk as he owns the land but it would be a nice gesture on your part if you paid the costs of drawing up a proper legal document.

Head_The_Ball

whitmak wrote: »

..He offered a small unused corner of his land that sits essentially on my driveway and has allowed me to tar over it so I can get 2 cars in.........

It also occurs to me that you should make sure you have given the correct information to your car insurance company.

If you have told them that they are normally parked on your own property, things could get awkward if say the car parked on your neighbours land is damaged or stolen and you make a claim.

Insurance companies will look at anything to avoid paying a claim.

A small risk but one not really worth ignoring.

moneyistooshorttomention

Agreed to the idea of a tenancy with token rent as the way forward.

At some point the owners of both your houses will change. At that point the owner of neighbours house might decide to terminate the favour and the owner of your house try and make out they have the "right" to keep using the land.

It happens....and then the owner of neighbours property has a fight on their hands to block a stranger from using their property.

J_B

Am I right in thinking that a 'simple tenancy' has no 'end date'?

Probably needs to be a 'shorthold' tenancy.