Wheelie bins

Jessjess

Hi everyone

Hope I’m posting in the right place sorry if I’m not

We’ve just bought our first home,
It’s a small end terrace
It’s been empty for over 20 years so it’s been a project!
Anyway On our land dead’s we own the alley that runs down the side of our house and it seems the neighbours are storing their bins down the alley, they are sharing them between them for their recycling
We’ve asked them to move their bins to their own properties and they have refused, they do have access down the alley which we do not want to restrict we just don’t want their bins on our land !
We’ve contact the council but as it’s private land they’ve said they can’t help
Without paying for crazy legal advice what can we do?
We feel so threated by the neighbours they’ve all had a go at me in front of my 1 year old and we’re at a loss as what we can do
Any advice?

AdrianC

"We've been storing our bins in the alley between us and next door for years, as the people before us did. Now this crazy woman's moved in, and told us we can't, because she owns it! What can we do? She won't even try and reason with us, because every time we see her she has her baby with her, and she claims she can't possibly have a conversation in front of the baby. It's not even old enough to understand what's being said!"

Seriously, if this is your biggest problem in life, count yourself lucky.

Then go round and apologise to your neighbours for being so ridiculously petty.

PasturesNew

Have you shown the neighbours your deeds?
Have you found/highlighted the bit where their rights are listed (to pass/repass ..... which won't mean keeping bins there)...

You say, they say, he said, she said ..... all means nothing unless you've got a bit of paper to wave about and you've shown it to relevant people and pointed your stabby little finger at it and said "My land.... get your bins off my land".

You might also check with the Council, although unlikely ... they might have an official "bin placement map". I was surprised where I live when some neighbours weren't putting their bins where they were supposed to be - and the Council wrote to all 12 houses saying they'd done it wrong, enclosing a map with the dots on showing where each individual house had to put their bins....

Jessjess

Yeah we’ve shown them the land registry dead’s with a big fat red line showing our land, They’ve still told us to get lost

The council have written to the row asking them to move them but they can’t enforce it so have said there’s nothing more they can do...

silvercar

If they have been leaving their bins there for a long time (12 years springs to mind) they may have established a right to do so.

da_rule

Can you restrict the alley by putting some form of bollard system in that makes it possible for people to still pass through but not the bins?

If not, get an injunction ordering them to stop (a bit of a waste of the Courts time but certainly doable).

Also, what is the wording of their right to use the land? Do they have to contribute towards the maintenance of the alley?

Exodi

OP, I think realistically there's not much you can do (albeit, there's surely more important things to worry about than bins in an alley?)

AdrianC wrote: »

Seriously, if this is your biggest problem in life, count yourself lucky.

Then go round and apologise to your neighbours for being so ridiculously petty.

I actually agree with you but talk of hypocrisy, it was less than a week ago you agreed vehicle tyres sitting over painted lines was encroachment....

stator

You need to post the exact wording of your deeds that gives your neighbours access.


Depending on the wording, there may be things you can do to restrict something as large as a wheelie bin.

AdrianC

Exodi wrote: »

but talk of hypocrisy

I don't think that word means what you think it means...


Do you have any proof of me doing either of those things myself?

it was less than a week ago you agreed vehicle tyres sitting over painted lines was encroachment....

And both are, yes.


The difference is that this is very long-established encroachment being complained about by the new arrival, not vice-versa. Both are trivial in the grand scheme of things.

CarrieVS

Are the bins causing an obstruction? Are they preventing you from putting your own bins out of the way? Are they smelly? Are they in a spot where they're obvious from your windows or garden and creating an eyesore?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, or anything else that makes them a real inconvenience, I suggest if you haven't done so already that you talk to them very politely about why it is that you're so upset. Make it clear that you understand that you're asking them to give up a convenience they were used to using while your property was empty, but now that it's occupied they're creating a problem for you. Even if you think they're being unreasonable over it and you're seething inside, you'll be more likely to achieve your goal if you pretend not to.


If the bins aren't a problem and you just want them off your land because it's your land and they have no right to put them there, then you'll have a decision to make. No, they probably (subject to whatever the deeds actually say about their rights) shouldn't be storing their bins there, but in life you have to pick your battles, or else die prematurely of stress. Is it really upsetting you enough to go to a lot of trouble, potentially expense, and sour your relations with your new neighbours?


Incidentally, suggestions that OP do something to physically prevent bins being moved through are unlikely to be helpful - I'd give you good odds that the right of access is primarily intended for putting the bins out - not for storing them, but bringing them round from the back. That's very common in terraces that don't have a back lane/alley.

CarrieVS

AdrianC wrote: »

The difference is that this is very long-established encroachment being complained about by the new arrival.

Do you not think it's at all relevant that OP's property has been standing empty for two decades? There was no-one to be inconvenienced or annoyed by the bins - or to notice and object.

I don't think it's beyond the realms of common sense that encroachment that's fine and dandy while a property is unoccupied becomes less reasonable when it becomes someone's home.

I don't know what the law says about a habit established over twenty years (if it has been that long that they've been doing this) even if circumstances have clearly changed: perhaps legally speaking they've acquired a right to do this and if OP didn't find it out before buying then it's tough cookies for them. But I always feel legal enforcement ought to be the last resort over this sort of dispute - this really ought to be able to be sorted out between individuals by a bit of common sense and patience.