Easement problem

AnotherUserName

Hi

Bought this place 4 years ago, it was built in 2009. The property has a path to the side that is the rear access. The other side of the path is empty land, which now has planning permission. The plans for the new build show the rear access using my path and gated off.

I raised this with the planning procedure and it has been noted in the application that the path is not to be used during or after development.

I have plans and deeds that refer to the path, and that I have an easement over it.
I have the planning application for my property which refers to the path as being within the site boundary. The plans show the path inside the marked boundary but the fence that would have seperated it from the adjoining land was never erected.
I have spoken to the lady who sold the plot that my place is built on to the developer, she has confirmed that the path was owned by her father, who used it to access his garages that were previously on the site.
I have spoken to the firm that built my place, they say that as far as they can remember the path was within the plot.
The deeds refer to an easement over the path, I am guessing that this is because the plot used to be the garages for a cottage that is the other side of the current new build land.
I have spoken to a long term resident who has said that as far as he is concerned the path belonged to the owner of the garages.

With me so far?

The guy that now owns the new build plot tried to convince me that the path was not mine. He needs it for his new build rear access. All that he has is his title plan and deeds. The Land Registry General Boundary line is drawn over the path, however as we all know the LR plans are not evidence of anything. There is no easement described in his deeds.

I tried to sell my place last year, at the eleventh hour the guy sends a letter via his solicitor headed by his solicitor that they were not acting for him, merely sending it on his behalf. It claimed ownership of the path, and asked me to make my buyer aware of this.

Clever move?

If I told my buyer that the path was not part of my property then the developer could claim it. However I have no evidence whatsoever that the path is his. To keep things transparent, the buyer was made aware, and as a result they pulled out on the day of exchange.

So, I have a path that is described as being within my site boundary, plus anecdotal evidence that it belongs to the property, plus the easement referred to in my title plan/deeds.

I cannot sell my property as long as the developer is blackmailing me, so can anyone tell me where I can go from here?

Davesnave

It's very early in the day for me, but I find your post somewhat confusing.

You say:

I have plans and deeds that refer to the path, and that I have an easement over it.
I have the planning application for my property which refers to the path as being within the site boundary. The plans show the path inside the marked boundary but the fence that would have seperated it from the adjoining land was never erected.

If the path is inside the boundary of your property, as shown on your Land Registry title plan, how can you have an easement over it?

I don't think you'd need an easement or right of way over your own land.

Being devil's advocate here, if the owner of the adjoining plot owned the land on which the path stands, he would not have an easement, so his lack of one is not proof that you own it.

However, if your title documents give you a right of way over the path, that will be virtually impossible to extinguish without your consent.

Robin9

"Path" usually means to me a narrow strip about 1m wide.

smallholdingsister

I am sorry if I have this wrong from your explanation but just because the path is inside your boundary it doesn't mean there is no easement over it.

Has the developer offered to buy your house? Might be a simple solution.

Norman_Castle

OP. Do you mean prior to 2009 there was an easement over this path to access garages and in 2009 when the plot was sold for your house this path was included in your plot?

Who now owns the garages and how are they accessed?

loveka

If you have an easement then this means the path belongs to someone else but you have a right of way along it. You said you have an easement so is this what you meant?

Even if you meant you think you own the path and the other house has an easement, then they have a right of way over the land.

Either way, both houses can use the path with no restrictions. Neither house can block the path, but both can use it. It can't be changed unless both houses agree. If both agree the easement is extinguished. This will cost about £1k in legal fees.

robatwork

You've contradicted yourself in your OP so nobody here can properly advise:

easement
a right to cross or otherwise use someone else's land for a specified purpose

So is this YOUR path, or do you have an easement to use someone else's path?

AnotherUserName

I have the 1950's deeds.
House 1 owned their house plus a plot 20 yards away.
On the plot was their garage and garden.
A path existed from the house to the plot.
An easement existed between the house and the plot over the intervening land.
Concrete paths were laid at that time. The paths are shown in old photo's.
The intervening land is best described as a private allotment, gardens divided by paths.

The owner of the house died.
His daughter inherited the house and the garage/garden plot.
She sold the garage/garden plot to a builder.
My place was built on the plot in 2009.

The deeds for both properties contain the same wording, eg easement over the paths that join the two properties still exists.
One part of the path still belongs to House 1.
The other part of the path belongs to my property.
The part that belongs to my property does not go anywhere. It runs alongside my property. Blocked off at both ends.

Hence, when my place was built, the land was divided off, but the easements between the two remained in the deeds for both.
There is no problem between our two properties, we have no reason to use any section of the path that isn't on our respective land.

Along comes Mr New build. He assumes that because the edge of the path that runs alongside my property has no fence, then his newly acquired land includes the path. He draws up his plans and submits them. This was two years ago.

His deeds do not refer to any easement over his land. If the path was within his boundary, then the deeds would have to refer to the easement.

He knows this, he is a qualified surveyor. I invited him to raise a boundary dispute if he wished to do so. In two years he has never done so. He threatened to cause problems with the sale of my property, and did so in a way that was rather clumsy. He knows that he cannot claim the path, so sent the email telling me to tell the buyer that he owned it. The mere suggestion of a boundary issue scared my buyer off.

How do I prevent him from doing this if I put it back on the market?

ProDave

I would turn this around and use it to your advantage.

So you "own" the path and have a right of easment over it? I presume someone else also has a right of easment over it? So it is a shared path?

I would ask the developer next door how much he will offer you to buy a right of easment over it (note a right of easment not ownership of it)

That would give you a little income, solve the issue as the developer would have a right to use if to access his development, and it would still be a shared path.

AnotherUserName

The problem is that his plans not only gate off the path, they take the whole path and incorporate it into the garden of the house that he wishes to build. Hence, he has to buy the whole path off me, in which case I lose my rear access.
If he can't gain the path the value of his proposed build is diminished. It's two of the smallest houses I have ever seen, he is also severely restricted as he also failed to realise that there is an underground drainage culvert running across his plot that will cost him £30k to get diverted. Neither I nor the owners of the houses on the other side of his plot have any intention of agreeing to huge excavation works to divert the pipeline.
Money being a prime motivator in all of this, he has made no mention of buying the path, he is attempting to get the path for free, and assumes that by blocking the sale of my property, I will give it to him.
Hence, I am trying to figure out a way to halt these tactics. If I seek legal advice, injunctions etc, I am going to get a huge legal bill. I was quoted £400 by a Boundary Surveyor for a statement of ownership. Solicitors fees would rapidly mount up as he merely has to keep writing letters to rack my bill up. He knows this, and quite openly bragged about it. He can disrupt any sale of my property quite easily.

glentoran99

AnotherUserName wrote: »

I have the 1950's deeds.
House 1 owned their house plus a plot 20 yards away.
On the plot was their garage and garden.
A path existed from the house to the plot.
An easement existed between the house and the plot over the intervening land.
Concrete paths were laid at that time. The paths are shown in old photo's.
The intervening land is best described as a private allotment, gardens divided by paths.

The owner of the house died.
His daughter inherited the house and the garage/garden plot.
She sold the garage/garden plot to a builder.
My place was built on the plot in 2009.

The deeds for both properties contain the same wording, eg easement over the paths that join the two properties still exists.
One part of the path still belongs to House 1.
The other part of the path belongs to my property.
The part that belongs to my property does not go anywhere. It runs alongside my property. Blocked off at both ends.

Hence, when my place was built, the land was divided off, but the easements between the two remained in the deeds for both.
There is no problem between our two properties, we have no reason to use any section of the path that isn't on our respective land.

Along comes Mr New build. He assumes that because the edge of the path that runs alongside my property has no fence, then his newly acquired land includes the path. He draws up his plans and submits them. This was two years ago.

His deeds do not refer to any easement over his land. If the path was within his boundary, then the deeds would have to refer to the easement.

He knows this, he is a qualified surveyor. I invited him to raise a boundary dispute if he wished to do so. In two years he has never done so. He threatened to cause problems with the sale of my property, and did so in a way that was rather clumsy. He knows that he cannot claim the path, so sent the email telling me to tell the buyer that he owned it. The mere suggestion of a boundary issue scared my buyer off.

How do I prevent him from doing this if I put it back on the market?

I don't understand this part, If the path is yours then there is no need to tell your buyer otherwise surely?