Alleyway dispute

vicmildew

Hi Guys,

Hoping those in the know can advise please.

I live in an end terrace with a large alleyway between mine and my neighbor’s house. The alleyway provides access to garages at the rear of our gardens for 4 properties including mine and my neighbors. All 4 properties have done away with shutters/car access to their garages and bricked these up over the years, so no real reason for anyone to be driving up the alleyway.

- My neighbors deeds state the following.

The land has the benefit of a right of way over the passageway tinted red on the filed plan the expense of maintaining and repairing the same being borne in equal shares by the Proprietor of the land in this title.

- My deeds state

This register describes the land and estate comprised in the title. The Freehold land shown edged with red on the plan of the above Title filed at the Registry and being 123 Some Road, Somewhere.

My deeds include the entire alleyway up to the neighbors property outlined in red, so my understanding is this is my land as outlined in my deed and they simply have right of way.

We have an issue whereby we’re in dispute over who can park their car at the entrance to the alleyway, they believe the drive is shared and they have a right to do so (first come first serve), I believe it’s my land and only I have the right to do so – as they have bricked up their garage entrance so don’t need access by car.

Where do I stand with this – am I in the right? I’m hoping a bit of advice here and then contact a solicitor to outline the facts if I’m not wrong. Nobody has driven up the alleyway in over 20 years and I’m the only one of the 4 houses that maintains the alley at my own expense.

Mojisola

vicmildew wrote: »

We have an issue whereby we’re in dispute over who can park their car at the entrance to the alleyway, they believe the drive is shared and they have a right to do so (first come first serve), I believe it’s my land and only I have the right to do so – as they have bricked up their garage entrance so don’t need access by car.

Neither of you have the right to block the right of way - it doesn't matter that the neighbours have blocked up their garage - that doesn't remove their rights.

Linton

It would seem that you own the alleyway and the other householders have ROW over it. ROW does not give one any right to park on the land. And presumably you can only park on the alleyway as long as you dont prevent their ROW. However you talk about the "entrance to the alleyway". Is this different to the alleyway? Where is it?

AndyTails

It's your land.

They have a right of way over it; that means a right to "make way" over it, i.e. travel over it. They do not have a right to park their car there.

Because of their right of way, even though it's your land, you can't block access across it. Parking your own car there would be blocking access to your neighbour, should they wish to drive over it.

Your most obvious option is tea and cake and show them your title plan. Though I guess you've already tried this. If they don't believe you, then ask them whether they'd be open to discussing it with a solicitor - if they're not then there's not much point spending your money.

A reasonable option would be to open up the land to parking by everyone who has access over it; with an agreement that whoever's blocking other people in has to come and move their car when someone they're blocking wants to get out. This can cause problems if e.g. someone wants to get their car in the middle of the night.

Beyond those options, your neighbour is unreasonable and you can't deal reasonably with them. You could always threaten them with chasing them for their proportion of the maintenance costs, providing you've kept receipts from any maintenance you've had done. (I'm assuming you're not just talking about doing the weeding.)

As you own the land, you could engage a parking enforcement company. I'm not a fan of them in general, and you'd want to make sure you understand what rights you're giving them, and ensure they act legally.

This could become a neighbour dispute, which you'd have to declare when selling your house. Not good, but if they're not reasonable people there's not much you can do to avoid it, short of rolling over.

Mgman1965

Mojisola wrote: »

Neither of you have the right to block the right of way - it doesn't matter that the neighbours have blocked up their garage - that doesn't remove their rights.

This ^^^^


You cannot park there even leaving enough room to walk through as a neighbour may wish to drive up to unload or some such thing.


And you can bet if you stop a neighbour parking there, and then do yourself, they'll want to get up there with their car.


This applies to all parties with a right of way and whoever owns it.

vicmildew

Thanks all, very helpful information.

I should have stated the entrance to the alley way is very wide, more than two cars width, narrowing towards the end – so I could feasibly park on one side allowing room for another car to pass around and to the rear if required. I just want to be absolutely sure being the landowner I can still park there and they ONLY have the right to pass regardless of how much room is left.

I’m might sound unreasonable but these are the kind of give them an inch and they’ll take a mile kind of people. If the above scenario sounds like it’s in accordance with our deeds then I’d be happy to take this to a solicitor to formalise.

Ozzuk

Hmm I'd probably make sure they have uninterupted acccess, so your vehicle isn't blocking them in any way (so if you can park without blocking them, all good IMO). In parallel let them know they have a right of access, not a right to park and if they have any access issues to let you know.

Technically if the RoW covers the full area then you can't legally park there (I think).

Red-Squirrel_2

vicmildew wrote: »

Thanks all, very helpful information.

I should have stated the entrance to the alley way is very wide, more than two cars width, narrowing towards the end – so I could feasibly park on one side allowing room for another car to pass around and to the rear if required. I just want to be absolutely sure being the landowner I can still park there and they ONLY have the right to pass regardless of how much room is left.

I’m might sound unreasonable but these are the kind of give them an inch and they’ll take a mile kind of people. If the above scenario sounds like it’s in accordance with our deeds then I’d be happy to take this to a solicitor to formalise.

What if they wanted to drive through with a van to drop something off at the back?

If you want to get them to stick to the letter of the law on it, you have to as well and stop parking there!

vicmildew

Useful - thanks.

The RoW in their deeds only covers half the width of the entrance to the drive - the bit where you could have two cars parked side by side - so i guess i could park on my side without being contested and we must all keep the RoW clear.

On a side note, the alleyway 'was' all grass, bit of gravel at the front but over the years the chap has laid cement and slabs on the side closer to his property without consulting anyone - again, my land - what right does he have to do this? and what right do i have to enforce removal of this. I have slabs 'placed' on the grass on my side and i guess he assumed he has the right to do the same - does he?

Great resource this btw, very knowledgable bunch.

Red-Squirrel_2

vicmildew wrote: »

Useful - thanks.

The RoW in their deeds only covers half the width of the entrance to the drive - the bit where you could have two cars parked side by side - so i guess i could park on my side without being contested and we must all keep the RoW clear.

Might be an idea to create some kind of physical boundary between the ROW and the land that is exclusively yours to use. Make sure it is exact to the deeds so there can be no questioning!

mrschaucer

vicmildew wrote: »

On a side note, the alleyway 'was' all grass, bit of gravel at the front but over the years the chap has laid cement and slabs on the side closer to his property without consulting anyone - again, my land - what right does he have to do this? and what right do i have to enforce removal of this. I have slabs 'placed' on the grass on my side and i guess he assumed he has the right to do the same - does he?

If it's your land, then no he doesn't have any right to lay cement and slabs on it! You can enforce removal, but at a price - the first thing would be writing him a letter, the second would be getting a solicitor to do the same, then comes expensive legal escalation which is probably not worth while. If it's your land and you don't want the cement etc then remove it yourself (after giving him the option to remove it all as above). It WILL get nasty.