Can neighbour force us to change our garage?

muffle123

Hi

We own a terraced property and our garage is located on an alley behind our house. The garage was converted by previous owners to a workshop so the front door has been sealed up. There is an alleyway leading up to and small patch of land next to the garage which was bought by a guy who now wants to build a garage on it, attached to our garage by the side wall which is a party wall. However our side door to the garage is on that wall and we have right of access in our property deeds. The land owner has offered to pay to move our side door to the front so we still have access but we aren't keen as that would alter the building and mean it couldn't be converted back to a garage if we wanted to in future. Can we be forced to accept loss of the side door due to it being a party wall? We are a little confused about our rights as he does own that land and has right to build and says no planning permission needed for a garage. The land is so small that there is no option for the owner to leave a gap as the garage would only fit if attached to ours. 

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Wanderingpomm

I believe that he has to maintain your right to access, he can’t just force you to move it 

WaywardDriver

But if you converted back to garage, you wouldn't need the front-located access door.

David713

WaywardDriver said:

But if you converted back to garage, you wouldn't need the front-located access door.

But a side door is still very handy for a garage so that you don't have to open and close the main door to gain access and if there is a vehicle parked in the garage, getting things out through the main door can sometimes be a bit tricky and a separate door can help make this easier.

mrschaucer

muffle123 said:

Hi

We own a terraced property and our garage is located on an alley behind our house. 
 There is an alleyway leading up to and small patch of land next to the garage which was bought by a guy who now wants to build a garage on it, attached to our garage by the side wall which is a party wall. However our side door to the garage is on that wall and we have right of access in our property deeds.
Can we be forced to accept loss of the side door due to it being a party wall? We are a little confused about our rights as he does own that land and has right to build and says no planning permission needed for a garage. The land is so small that there is no option for the owner to leave a gap as the garage would only fit if attached to ours. 

Thanks in advance for any insight!

If there's no garage currently next to your garage, then your garage wall is probably on YOUR SIDE of the boundary rather than ON the boundary?  Why are you assuming it straddles the boundary - because he says so?  If your wall is on your side then he doesn't have the automatic right to attach anything to it even though it makes it more convenient for him. 
You don't have to give up your access rights in your deeds.
Why is he saying there is no planning permission needed? 

elsien

mrschaucer said:

muffle123 said:

Hi

We own a terraced property and our garage is located on an alley behind our house. 
 There is an alleyway leading up to and small patch of land next to the garage which was bought by a guy who now wants to build a garage on it, attached to our garage by the side wall which is a party wall. However our side door to the garage is on that wall and we have right of access in our property deeds.
Can we be forced to accept loss of the side door due to it being a party wall? We are a little confused about our rights as he does own that land and has right to build and says no planning permission needed for a garage. The land is so small that there is no option for the owner to leave a gap as the garage would only fit if attached to ours. 

Thanks in advance for any insight!

If there's no garage currently next to your garage, then your garage wall is probably on YOUR SIDE of the boundary rather than ON the boundary?  Why are you assuming it straddles the boundary - because he says so?  If your wall is on your side then he doesn't have the automatic right to attach anything to it even though it makes it more convenient for him. 
You don't have to give up your access rights in your deeds.
Why is he saying there is no planning permission needed? 

Because there may not be if he stick to the prescribed parameters. 

muffle123

Thanks for all the replies and help. In reply to some of the comments:
- he said no planning permission needed as it's a garage- I looked this up and seems to be correct?
-we know side access isn't essential to a garage but it is a small garage so would make it easier to get out if a car was in it. As it stands with it being converted and the front sealed up that is the only door. What we weren't sure of is whether if it went to party wall dispute that we could be told we don't need the side door. 
- i assumed it's a party wall as it borders/lines the boundary to his land. I thought all border walls were party walls but don't fully understand! 

mrschaucer

muffle123 said:

-we know side access isn't essential to a garage but it is a small garage so would make it easier to get out if a car was in it. As it stands with it being converted and the front sealed up that is the only door. What we weren't sure of is whether if it went to party wall dispute that we could be told we don't need the side door. 

If you have the right in your deeds to access the side of your garage and you are saying that the side of your garage is at or on the boundary, then it would seem that you also have a right of way to walk over the neighbouring property to get to that door?  Is that correct?  You currently have a right of access across the land that the buyer wants to build on and he is proposing to obliterate that right?

Ectophile

He can't force you to give up your right of way.  He should be offering you enough money to make it worthwhile to give it up.

muffle123

mrschaucer said:

muffle123 said:

-we know side access isn't essential to a garage but it is a small garage so would make it easier to get out if a car was in it. As it stands with it being converted and the front sealed up that is the only door. What we weren't sure of is whether if it went to party wall dispute that we could be told we don't need the side door. 

If you have the right in your deeds to access the side of your garage and you are saying that the side of your garage is at or on the boundary, then it would seem that you also have a right of way to walk over the neighbouring property to get to that door?  Is that correct?  You currently have a right of access across the land that the buyer wants to build on and he is proposing to obliterate that right?

Yes we have right of access via the land - his argument is we could still access it cos he would pay for a walk in door at front of our garage but we don't want that. Other houses also have right of access to their gardens from it as do we but that wouldn't be affected by the build. He doesn't live here and has never previously used land or wanted to build so there has been no issues previously.  Don't want to be awkward - have no issue with a garage being built as long as we can still get to ours and we don't want to change ours which I don't think is unreasonable. The space is just too small for him to build it away from ours so Im just unclear on if we could be forced to if it came to a dispute. Advice here has been helpful though - thanks all!

[Deleted User]

muffle123 said:

Thanks for all the replies and help. In reply to some of the comments:
- he said no planning permission needed as it's a garage- I looked this up and seems to be correct?
-we know side access isn't essential to a garage but it is a small garage so would make it easier to get out if a car was in it. As it stands with it being converted and the front sealed up that is the only door. What we weren't sure of is whether if it went to party wall dispute that we could be told we don't need the side door. 
- i assumed it's a party wall as it borders/lines the boundary to his land. I thought all border walls were party walls but don't fully understand! 

 He cant attach anything to your wall without your permission. 

 Do you have legal cover on your home insurance?