Easement problem

lincroft1710

Oh for the days when deeds contained a plan and description,"the parcel of land herein referred measuring 30ft 6ins on the south boundary, 152ft 7ins on the west, 33ft 1in on the north and 147ft 4in on the east"

Hoploz

Is the path directly beside your house? Would the planning permission drawings of your house show that the plot includes a gap between the side wall of the house and the boundary?

AnotherUserName

The path is attached to the house wall.
The planning permission plans show the property, with a space to the side where the path is.
The Design and Access statement that accompanied the planning application for my property refers to 'side access that is within the site boundary'.

The problem isn't 'do I own the path', historical records, satellite imagery, title deeds and plans, personal statements from previous owners etc etc all support ownership.

The problem is how do I stop the owner of the adjacent land disrupting the sale of my property by simply claiming, without any evidence, that he owns it, and continuing to do so unless I agree to give it to him?

loveka

You could call his bluff. Say you will go to court if that's what he wants. I considered doing this.

Something I discovered during my research is that you can claim Adverse Possession even though you know the land is yours. We nearly went down this route too.

Another thought- could you give him the path as long as you are given a right of way over it? He would not be able to fence it off, and the path would in effect become shared?

Another thing- while you don't let him have his way he can't build presumably? So maybe this is a way to leverage compromise? We compromised in the end, though it almost killed me. It was becoming too stressful though.

You are in a horrible situation and my heart goes out to you. It's just not fair that you can be held to ransom like this

bouicca21

If you are absolutely sure that the path is yours, then go and talk to a solicitor about sending a cease and desist letter.

AnotherUserName

I am getting the feeling that this may be my only remedy.

Davesnave

A relative of mine had a similar experience, although in that case the neighbour objected to him building and raised a false claim.

It went to the Ajudicator at the Land Registry, when the neighbour backed down, as they had no evidence to submit.

By that time my relative had spent approximately £6.5k on legal advice and assistance. Whilst this was annoying, he reasoned it was just an unexpected cost, such as one sometimes has with development.

He resented the worry and the time wasted much more.

AnotherUserName

Oh deep joy, that is exactly what I am trying to avoid, but what he is hoping I will fear so much. He could have lodged a Boundary Dispute but in two years he never has. I even suggested he do so last year. It wouldn't do him any good if he did, the easement would still exist whatever the outcome. I suspect that he is aware of that. Basically he is up a pole without a flag. If he goes ahead and builds, he won't be able to sell as he will have to declare that a Boundary Dispute exists...or drop the idea.

robatwork

This would be a good time for the Land Registry Representative to drop in and confirm about the Adjudicator - and if it's possible for you to do something legally binding without resorting to costly court action.

Good luck with it - sounds like a nightmare.

Are the previous owners still contactable ?- their evidence may be useful as and when it comes to it.

AnotherUserName

I did some research last year. The lady that inherited the house that owned the garden area that my property is now built on lives locally. I went to see her. Lovely lady, very friendly.

She confirmed that her father owned the house, the garages, and the garden. I asked her if he owned the path at the side of the garages. She said yes of course, that was how he got to the garden and the garages, I asked her if the path was included in the land sale to the builder, she said yes.

I asked her if anyone had a right of way over the path, she told me that as there were two garages another resident also used the path to get to the garages. He has long since expired.

I asked the building firm that built my place if the path was indeed part of the plot. They said yes. It is shown on the architects plans, and referred to as rear access in the Design and Access statement that accompanied the planning application.

In reality what 'should' have been done when the garden plot was sold off, was for the easements to have been extinguished. Thus my path would have no easement over it from the original house, and neither would I have an easement over the path on the original house land. This would have allowed the path to be fenced off/sealed off. I can see why the builder left the path open, they avoided any dispute over easements by doing so.

The path is fenced off in the architects plans, and the council has confirmed that I can erect the fence at any time I wish, I don't need planning permission.

Ironically, having been here four years, and whist chatting on here, the current owner of the original house has got builders in and has completely fenced off her garden area to isolate it from the proposed new build.

She didn't look at her deeds, never knew anything about the easements, and was quite shocked when I explained to her that we both have an easement over each others paths, even though we don't and never will, use them. Her builders now have to figure out how to erect the fence to comply with the easements. I tried explaining to her that if she ever tried to sell her house, and the solicitors/building society spotted that there was a blocked easement she may well lose the sale. She wasn't a happy bunny, but the easements are there in black and white in her deeds/plans, I have a copy of them.