Extending back garden (we own the land)

Roxanneking21

Hi, just after some advice really -
We are in a row of 5 terraces houses with a lane behind. We own the land directly behind our house (according to deeds) and the land to the left behind our neighbours (they are the end of the terrace one side). 

We would like to extend our garden and eventually build a garage on the land behind our neighbours house. They are 100% on board with us doing this and the neighbours also to the right are supportive; we’ve recently had a spate of break ins using this back lane. The length of the lane runs alongside someone’s back garden wall (if this makes sense).
Our deeds state that we own the land and there is no charges over it; such as right of access (and even if we did this there would still be access from the other end of the row of terraces if you can see what I mean). The back has been so overgrown anyway that it hasn’t been used by anyone except the thieves recently!!!

Im thinking of contacting a solicitor for advice?! It does not state anywhere on the land documents about a right of access or public footpath etc. Also wonder that if this is the case then why hasn’t someone done this before?! So there must be something I am missing?

Obviously would speak to the other 2 neighbours in the terrace to let them know what we are doing but before I did this I wanted to make sure that we were within our rights to do this and there wouldn’t be any comeback?

Thanks!

theoretica

How would you access the garage? Down the lane?  so what if one of the other houses owns that and also wanted garden rather than lane?  It is something that would need to be worked out.

This might need permission as change of use of land.

Roxanneking21

Hi,
The garage would be accessed by a public footpath which is to the left of the neighbours house - lots of garages are on this already from the road you can turn down at the other end of the row of our houses...if that makes sense?! 

Roxanneking21

It basically looks like this - hopefully easier to make sense seeing a picture! The red is obviously our house and what we own except there is currently a wall running at the current end of our garden.
I’m not on Facebook but our neighbours told us today that after we chopped the overgrown-ness back at the start of the lock down someone posted on the local community board saying thank you to whoever cleared the footpath! I think that could be our only backlash; people thinking it’s a footpath even though it isn’t?! Or am I wrong?

Roxanneking21

Sorry - attached now

unforeseen

You need to check everybody else's deeds. Just because yours don't say anything doesn't mean that there is no ROW. 

and even if we did this there would still be access from the other end of the row of terraces if you can see what I mean

If there is one then they can use it from either end and you attempting to block it is a substantial nuisance. 

Be warned, if this is an old terrace then there is a very good chance that all houses have an historical easement across all parts of the lane as this was the normal route for coal deliveries etc. Non use does not extinguish any rights. 

Roxanneking21

It’s 1930’s so perhaps? I have the original deeds which include all of the conditions for the entire row of 5 houses when they were built and there is no mention there of access. 

I’m going to contact a solicitor in the morning to check through it properly. Just didn’t know if there was something I could be instantly missing to save the expense if so. It’s not on the definitive rights of way map for our local council and neither is it classed as an ‘adopted highway’. I just feel like there must be something I am missing or surely this would have been something previous owners would have wanted to do? Although they did park one of their cars round the back of the house.

Last thing we want to do is upset anyone or cause trouble. Just would be fantastic to have the extra garden space for the children and a proper space to store all of the things children seem to accumulate! This is the cheaper option than looking for another house with a larger garden!

Jonesya

Can you do a bit of archaeology and have a look for evidence of previous fences or brick walls which indicate how the boundary was enclosed previously? Was it enclosed as you might hope, or was there a boundary cutting across the bottom of the garden,  which would point to that strip running along the back being a shared access?

Purely a guess but my starting assumption would be that each house was likely to have been built with some sort of access to their back garden, so how does No. 43 get to their back garden? is it shared access with No. 44 and No. 45? Does No. 41 go straight onto the lane?