Access to Shared Shed - now a rental property

CIS

In respect of council tax the issue was discussed in the case of Goremsandu v Harrow.



In that case it came down to whether or not part of a property was excluded from the tenancy agreement, rather than just being unable to be accessed by the tenant.

In simplified terms - if the whole property less a specified part was rented out then it is a council tax HMO. If all of the property is rented out but the tenants choose not to exercise their legal rights to use part of their property then it is not a HMO.

The other point which would distinguish the case is that Goremsandu was in respect of a conservatory attached to the house and not an outhouse in the grounds. It remains to be seen how that would be treated.

Norman_Castle

Formosa wrote: »

I was wondering how I can enforce access since they are refusing to hand over a key at this point so that I can explain what my next steps would be.

Are the original two doors still in place? No reason you cannot break the lock on your access door.
If they refuse to give you a key I would refit the dividing wall and use it for storage. If they want control of the shed they can buy it from you.

The dividing wall can be battens on the side walls with chipboard as a wall. Very cheap and simple to do. Ask them for access to get quotes for this as the current situation no longer works.

POPPYOSCAR

Have you got legal cover on your house insurance?


If so just give them a ring and get them to deal with it.

moneyistooshorttomention

I would disagree with "asking" for access - I'd "tell" them I was having access to my property in a confident manner.

I most definitely would not tell them why - my land and none of their business and, if they were told it was to put the wall back up again they'd likely find all sorts of excuses to make access impossible.

No - you just want to store stuff on that part of the land you are entitled to because it's yours if they insist on knowing (get some old paint cans or the like handy for what you ostensibly intend to store on your property).

Okrib

Do not let this situation continue as it is. It could cause you major issues in the future when you come to sell the property.

Questions that need answering:

What is the layout? It's difficult to visualise based on what you have said.

Are there doors on your side and your neighbour's?

Whose land does the building sit on?

Get this sorted ASAP. The neighbours sound horrendous.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well the neighbours are certainly dishonest.

They should have been honest and open with OP. Rather than trying to make out to OP that it would have benefits for OP for the two bits of the building to be knocked together - they've treated her (bet OP is a young-ish woman:cool:) as a fool basically.

They've conned her into this arrangement - whilst all along intending to nick the other half of the building. The "tenants - not her" argument is just an excuse and I bet they knew OP would be going abroad (ie not on the spot readily to deal with them).

They should have been honest right at the outset and said "Look the whole building is on our land and we'd like to have ownership of your half of it too. Can we offer you £x to buy your half from you please?".

Not lied/bamboozled/bullied and trying to nick it for nothing.

NB; See the "bumps in the road" thread on this sub-forum at the moment - post 2. That poster refers to their solicitor having blown up their title plan and they can now see there is "cross hatching" on their garage. That cross-hatching proves it is their garage - despite the Land Registry having made a mistake and registered it to neighbour. I am wondering if there is "cross hatching" on OP's half of this building - as the way of showing it does indeed belong to OP.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I wouldn't worry about the tenant for now; they are unlikely to want to visit half a random shed in the neighbour's garden they probably had no idea about.

Long term, you do need to clarify the legal status of this building and your access, and how important it is to you.

Formosa

Thank you for all the feedback so far - it is definitely my land, it just happens to be at the bottom of the neighbours garden. There is a brown access path marked on the land registry and the wording in the document also talks about access to the WC.

The 'new' shed design is such that there is just 1 door into the shed which is essentially full of their stuff - they are under the impression that they are doing me a favour by allowing me to store my few possessions in there. I have definitely not got the amount of space equivalent to the area of the old WC even if I had a key to access the shed! The challenge is that even if I get a key, they can just change the lock and as I am out of the country and it is rented I have no way of enforcing it.

I realise I have been naive, I just assumed that people would be honest and decent and reasonable and this has definitely bitten me in the behind and left me unsure of what to do - I could sell the land and access BUT at this point I am quite keen to make a point as a matter of principle as they have taken advantage of me which is very frustrating! All the more difficult by being out of the country for my work for the last 3 years and the foreseeable future.

moneyistooshorttomention

So - it looks like they are trying to "adversely possess" your land.

If they have the only key - then they can say they have "exclusive use" of the land (as they would be keeping out all others - including the rightful owner of half of this building).

I suggest you start googling the phrase "Adverse possession" and see if it casts any further light on this. Check out, in particular, how long they have to have this "exclusive access" they are trying to get to see at what point they would have managed to steal your land off you if you don't get back into that joint shed and put the wall up.

G_M

Well despite my earlier request you've still not quoted in full, so any legal advice must be qualified with "it appears"....


But 'it appears' from what you say as if you need to take action. That means one or more of:


* come to an amicable agreement whereby you, and all occupants /residents of your property, have un-obstructed access both across the brown access path and into/onto the shed/land that you own.

* take legal action to enforce the access across and into.....

* take physical action to enforce the access across and into..... by that I don't mean violence (!), but I do mean breaking the lock if necessary. The lock is onto your land/property, and the law certainly permits you to break into your own house!