Shared driveway & Use

kardella

Hi
i have a shared driveway with my neighbours who rent. They use their side to pack their 3 cars which I don’t have an issue with even though it makes it difficult for me to get in/out of my garage. The issue I have is that because my neighbours take up their side of the driveway with their cars they are using my side to do their diy and car maintenance which has stained my side of the driveway with oil etc. can I legally request that they use the driveway for access purposes only and request they stop using my side for their diy tasks?
many thanks for your help.

SpiderLegs

Do you actually have a ‘side’?

The drive is part of the property. Inform the landlord that they are causing damage to it.

MoneySeeker1

Well on a shared road/driveway as I understand it - there is no right to "park" - other than temporarily for the purpose of loading/unloading people or goods.

So - no right to "park" per se.

It seems to me they are infringing that and are "parking" per se - rather than "loading/unloading".

LoveSauce

I'm guessing you have approached them with your concerns?

kardella

Yes I have approached neighbours several times and ask them to be for mindful and thoughtful... I’ve even damaged my car due to their bad parking and causing an obstruction. The diy issue is a new behaviour . I am an easy going person but it appears they just want the whole use of the driveway. I park my car in the garage but getting in and out is an obstacle and I have highlighted that to them but it’s just being ignored 

kardella

There are two garage at bottom of shared driveway. It is clear by the brick wall of the garage the side of main access.

greatcrested

The term 'shared driveway' is legally ambiguous. You need to look at at your, and their, title deeds and establish

* the entire driveway belongs to one or other property, with the other property having a Right of Way over it. If so, what kind of ROW? Exact wording needed

* the boundary between the two properties goes down the middle of the driveway. In this case, neither property has any right to do anything on the other's half.

* the boundary between the two properties goes down the middle of the driveway, but each property also has a ROW over the other's half. As above, what kind of ROW? Exact wording needed

You need to spend £12 at the Land Registry here, and download

* your property Title £3

* your property Title Plan £3

* your neighbour's property Title £3

* your neighbour's property Title Plan £3

princeofpounds

As greatcrested says, you need to look at the deeds to see what right you both specifically have over the driveway.

The most likely situation is that both houses have the rights to pass across the entire driveway, up to a certain point. On your side, you of course own it. On the other side, you will have a granted easement to pass. You cannot park on their side, as you do not have a right. You cannot park on your side because it would interfere with their right to pass. The mirror situation would apply on the other side.

If you want to enforce your right, you would ultimately need to apply to court for an injunction. With enough evidence of them blocking you, you would win. The downsides are it would cost a bit of money, and it would count as a dispute which you might have to declare if you ever sell your house. However, it may be enough to simply discuss this with tea and cake, or informally threaten.

As for the DIY mechanic - if they have damaged your property with oil spills, you can make a small claims court claim to get it cleaned up (not quite sure how that's done in practice but I'm sure it can be).

Semple

greatcrested said:

The term 'shared driveway' is legally ambiguous. You need to look at at your, and their, title deeds and establish

* the entire driveway belongs to one or other property, with the other property having a Right of Way over it. If so, what kind of ROW? Exact wording needed

* the boundary between the two properties goes down the middle of the driveway. In this case, neither property has any right to do anything on the other's half.

* the boundary between the two properties goes down the middle of the driveway, but each property also has a ROW over the other's half. As above, what kind of ROW? Exact wording needed

You need to spend £12 at the Land Registry here, and download

* your property Title £3

* your property Title Plan £3

* your neighbour's property Title £3

* your neighbour's property Title Plan £3

As above, need to know the ownership status of your driveway to determine what you can do next.

I have a "shared" driveway with my neighbour, as in the driveway is one big square of block paving. Although we own our respective sides, and neither has a ROW over the other. We do have an 'assumed agreement' that we can both walk down the middle of the driveway/move bins down the middle, as the driveway isn't wide enough to move bins down with our cars in the way and keeping to our own side. But in my case there's nothing stopping me putting a small fence down the middle of the driveway, which would mean both of us having to move our cars out of the way.

If your neighbour has no ROW over your driveway, then you could look at putting up a small fence so as to not make it possible for them to work from your side.