We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Right of way dispute
EugBurk
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hello everyone,
I am looking for some advice. My family and I live at the end of a small cul de sac which has an unusual layout.
Our cottage is at the end of a row of 3 houses. We own the driveway in front of the houses which leads to a small parking area for our car, to the right of our drive. We are the only people who can park there and we own the parking spot. There is one house built behind ours, which can only be approached on foot. For years we have lived in harmony with our neighbours, with rights of way over our land for the other neighbours across our drive.
Recently the house behind us was sold and the new owner turned up in a large van claiming vehicle rights, even though he cannot actually drive onto his own land. The ROW to his house curves around ours to the right gable end and up some steps. Its only possible to access his front door on foot, with no chance of widening the access way. His deeds say "a right of way at all times and for all purposes over the entrance way coloured brown".
He is using our drive to 'load and unload' for hours at a time, with not a lot of loading and unloading actually occurring but his flashers are on which he interprets as loading/unloading. He's basically using it as a glorified parking space when he can't find a spot on the road.
He's quite an aggressive individual and we have had some distressing exchanges on this matter. He cannot see our point of view and is adamant he is correct and is not misusing the ROW - we have serious reservations that he is even using a vehicle let alone in the way that he is using it.
We are fine with a normal amount of loading and unloading and our other neighbours who do not have any parking or vehicle rights on our the land do occasionally ask us if it ok to get large items delivered etc which we are totally fine with. We are not fine with regularly having to ask the new neighbour to move his van so that we can drive our own car out! He doesn't even answer the door at times! Its impossible for him to turn the van around and must reverse down a narrow drive and out onto a blind bend on the road, which is quite dangerous.
We are meeting with our solicitor next week to discuss our rights here but curious to know if anyone else has had this issue? In my view, if he cannot pass over our land to his land in a vehicle, " all rights and for all purposes" must mean on foot? Would be grateful for your thoughts and advice as we are at our wits end!
I am looking for some advice. My family and I live at the end of a small cul de sac which has an unusual layout.
Our cottage is at the end of a row of 3 houses. We own the driveway in front of the houses which leads to a small parking area for our car, to the right of our drive. We are the only people who can park there and we own the parking spot. There is one house built behind ours, which can only be approached on foot. For years we have lived in harmony with our neighbours, with rights of way over our land for the other neighbours across our drive.
Recently the house behind us was sold and the new owner turned up in a large van claiming vehicle rights, even though he cannot actually drive onto his own land. The ROW to his house curves around ours to the right gable end and up some steps. Its only possible to access his front door on foot, with no chance of widening the access way. His deeds say "a right of way at all times and for all purposes over the entrance way coloured brown".
He is using our drive to 'load and unload' for hours at a time, with not a lot of loading and unloading actually occurring but his flashers are on which he interprets as loading/unloading. He's basically using it as a glorified parking space when he can't find a spot on the road.
He's quite an aggressive individual and we have had some distressing exchanges on this matter. He cannot see our point of view and is adamant he is correct and is not misusing the ROW - we have serious reservations that he is even using a vehicle let alone in the way that he is using it.
We are fine with a normal amount of loading and unloading and our other neighbours who do not have any parking or vehicle rights on our the land do occasionally ask us if it ok to get large items delivered etc which we are totally fine with. We are not fine with regularly having to ask the new neighbour to move his van so that we can drive our own car out! He doesn't even answer the door at times! Its impossible for him to turn the van around and must reverse down a narrow drive and out onto a blind bend on the road, which is quite dangerous.
We are meeting with our solicitor next week to discuss our rights here but curious to know if anyone else has had this issue? In my view, if he cannot pass over our land to his land in a vehicle, " all rights and for all purposes" must mean on foot? Would be grateful for your thoughts and advice as we are at our wits end!
0
Comments
-
Didn't you post exactly this issue a few weeks/months ago? Did you act on that advice?
To add something a little more useful...do you have legal cover on your house insurance? These things have a habit of turning very expensive if you want to fight them.0 -
Didn't you post exactly this issue a few weeks/months ago? Did you act on that advice?
It does sound similar, but it might not be the same.... I'm off to try to find that one.
I was thinking of this one as sounding similar: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5891835/building-a-gate-and-fence-legal-issue
But it seems slightly different.0 -
There y'go, then.His deeds say "a right of way at all times and for all purposes over the entrance way coloured brown".
He is perfectly within his rights to use it for loading and unloading.He is using our drive to 'load and unload' for hours at a time, with not a lot of loading and unloading actually occurring but his flashers are on which he interprets as loading/unloading.
Whether his definition and yours coincide is another question.
IYHO.He's basically using it as a glorified parking space when he can't find a spot on the road.
He'll find himself with a flat battery if he does leave it "for hours on end" with the hazards going, though.
He does not have any right to obstruct you from using the RoW.We are not fine with regularly having to ask the new neighbour to move his van so that we can drive our own car out!
Nope. It doesn't say "only on foot", so it doesn't restrict it to only on foot.In my view, if he cannot pass over our land to his land in a vehicle, " all rights and for all purposes" must mean on foot?0 -
Before you meet your solicitor, i suggest you start taking note of exactly when he's parking and for how long so you can start to quantify it. Get a webcam if it helps.0
-
How about a gate that can part opened for foot access and fully opened for vehicle access, but that half is kept locked?
Actually even one of those retractable pillars like you see to protect parking spaces would probably work just as well, and a lot cheaper than any sort of gate.
It would need to be heavy duty enough to stop a belligerent neighbour simply ramming it down.0 -
Nope - wan't me. Interesting thread posted below tho so thanks for posting.
Yes we do have legal fees on our insurance - we were hoping to solve his amicably but will see what the solicitor says. He seems adamant that he is doing nothing wrong.
We had thought of putting up a gate but were not sure if it is legal if what he is saying is true about his vehicle access. to us, he certainly seems to me to be abusing it. I'd interpret loading and unloading as stopping for a few minutes to take items out, run them to the house and drive back out. Not abandoning his car and disappearing for an hour or two. It seems crazy that someone could have vehicle access when they cant actually take the vehicle onto their land.0 -
The law says one is not allowed to cause "substantial interference" to a Right of Way.
I'd hazard a guess that a gate would be deemed "substantial interference":cool:
Him "moving in" is probably something that is only a very short-lived thing - so it might be best to just "bite your tongue" and leave things be.0 -
A right of way on foot does not mean he has vehicular access for loading or any other reason.
http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/priv-r-o-w.html
Start keeping a diary of when he is "loading" to show the frequency and amount of time his van is there.0 -
Thank you for your reply. I guess we are unsure if he does or doesn't have vehicle access rights given it doesn't expressly mention vehicles in his deeds. It seems that more experienced people than I in these matters on this forum have replied that he does have vehicle access, even if its a little odd that he can't 'pass over' our land to his house in a car.0
-
I suspect vehicular access is normally defined as vehicular access and not simply implied or assumed if there is legal access. The fact it is impractical or impossible to access the property in a vehicle suggests there has never been vehicular access.Thank you for your reply. I guess we are unsure if he does or doesn't have vehicle access rights given it doesn't expressly mention vehicles in his deeds. It seems that more experienced people than I in these matters on this forum have replied that he does have vehicle access, even if its a little odd that he can't 'pass over' our land to his house in a car.
A bar across the access higher than your car but lower than his van would prevent access.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.7K Spending & Discounts
- 244.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.1K Life & Family
- 257.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards