Shared Access Path

xpjpx2000

Hi everyone,

I live in a terraced property. Our neighbours have shared access to a strip of pathway that leads to their front door - this was fine as their front garden was all grassed over and they had no other access to their front door. However, they have recently got rid of the grass and had a driveway put in instead. So now they have their own access to their front door and no longer need shared access to our bit of driveway.

We own our property while the neighbour's is a council owned property. What do I need to do to remove their shared access rights to our bit of driveway? I have contacted the council who have passed me from one department to another with no one having any idea what needs to be done. We would like the shared access removed as visitors to the neighbour's property do not stick to the small path the neighbour has access to and use our whole driveway which is intrusive - we often have people strolling right past our lounge window. We have spoken to our neighbour about this and they have requested their visitors not to do this but there is little they can do if their visitors do not comply.

If anyone can give me an idea of what to do to remove this shared access it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul.

Cakeguts

You have to get the agreement of the council. They aren't going to do this though.

Ozzuk

Why would their visitors have to comply? Its a shared access - they have every right to.

I do understand that they don't need to, and this might be annoying to you - and maybe you can get it lifted (but doubtful), but bottom line is they have the right, that right would have been reflected in your house price and you can't stop them whilst its in place.

Fingers crossed you can get it removed though.

Mojisola

xpjpx2000 wrote: »

If anyone can give me an idea of what to do to remove this shared access it would be greatly appreciated.

It's unlikely that the council would agree to this.

If they did, they would probably ask to you to pay a lump sum plus all their legal costs.

Just because a right of access is no longer needed doesn't remove the rights to it.

Mojisola

xpjpx2000 wrote: »

We would like the shared access removed as visitors to the neighbour's property do not stick to the small path the neighbour has access to and use our whole driveway which is intrusive - we often have people strolling right past our lounge window.

We have spoken to our neighbour about this and they have requested their visitors not to do this but there is little they can do if their visitors do not comply.

Could you mark out the pathway that they should be using in some way?

If it's clearly designated, people are more likely to stick to it.

Cakeguts

The fact that they don't need the shared access doesn't mean that they should lose the right to have it.

PasturesNew

As a rule, nothing is "shared" and "shared" is a word the public tend to use too often.

Usually somebody owns the land - and others have rights to pass over it for specific purposes and in particular ways only. e.g. the right for them and their visitors etc to walk along a path to access the front door.

In the main, it is very unlikely that you would ever get any such access removed. It's simply not done.

You need to really understand what's yours and what's the Council's. Are they allowing you to walk over their path, or are you allowing people to walk over your land along the path?

The best you can do is to mark your boundary and territory to deter roamers.... and to do that you need to understand who is the owner and who has the right to walk over that bit and which bit they're restricted to... then think hard about the layout etc and see what you can do to block them from straying outside and past your window.

There's nothing worse than minding your own business in your own house to see the faces of strangers peering in and them walking past on land you own and they have no access to. It's disconcerting.

essjae

Simple solution:
Install a low fence along your boundary. Put a (unlocked) gate at the point where the shared path crosses the boundary.

You will likely find that your neighbors and their visitors now walk only across your neighbor's driveway, as it is now the path of least resistance.

The right of way over your property will still exist, but is unlikely to be used. (But you should make sure it is still available, hence putting a gate in).

No permission from the council required (provided the fence doesn't breach any planning restrictions).

xpjpx2000

Thanks everyone,

The boundary is clearly marked - the bricks on the driveway are a different colour and you can clearly see where they are meant to go. Unfortunately this does not help - it's simply quicker to walk across our driveway to their front door than to walk up and then take a right angle to get on the designated path..

I like the idea of a fence, thanks essjae, will look into it.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Is the path essentially part of the driveway? Is the driveway wide enough to function as a driveway without the path?

G_M

Dig up the sectin of your drive that comprises the 'path' to their front door over which they have a ROW.

Then replace it with sometthing that makes it stand out eg a different colour paving. that way people can seee where the at is meant to be.

Fencing it off is an alternative though without having seen the layout I apprciate this may not be possible if it meant you could no longerdrive your car onto the drive.