Shared Driveway

Gd17

Hello   
I was wondering if anyone had any advice please?

We have recently moved into our first home. We were told by the previous owners numerous times before we moved in, on the day we moved in and even now once we are in that there is an agreement with the neighbours who we share the drive with that we park on the drive and they park in front of their house which has been paved for doing so. Unfortunately there is nothing in writing this has always been done verbally. 

Since we have moved in, the neighbours friend has been constantly parking on the driveway, either blocking us in so we have to knock at their house to so we can leave the house or parking down the drive so we are having to park in front of them (which is not ideal as then they have to knock at ours to get out). It is really not fair and not convenient at all. The tenant of the house next door never does this, they park on the paved area in front of their house it is just always their guests and most recently when politely asking them to move they refused to and suggested that we should park on the street if we don't want to knock or have them knocking to move cars. 

The previous owners and our other neighbours who have seen what has been going on have said there has never been a problem and this agreement has always been followed! 

I know we don't have a legal leg to stand on as it is a shared driveway but it seems like they are just taking advantage of us as we are new. We know there is an agreement so why should things suddenly change now? 

The whole thing is really stressful and really getting us down. We are not argumentative people and don't want any trouble but being polite about it all doesn't seem to be doing anything. Does anyone have any experience of this themselves? or any tips please!! 

Thank you

Stratus

Gd17 said:

I know we don't have a legal leg to stand on as it is a shared driveway 

Maintenance and access rights may be shared but are you sure about ownership. 

I suggest you download a copy of their title deeds from the Land Registry and see if there is a requirement on them to ensure access for your property is maintained at all times

Is any reference made to access in your own deeds?

I'm surprised this wasn't flagged by your solicitor before purchase.

Jeepers_Creepers

As Stratus says, download the neighb's deeds and compare them with yours.

I suspect, tho', that this is a 'shared' drive for 'access' only. In which case, neither of you should be parking on it. I presume you both have garages at the end of this drive?

"there is an agreement with the neighbours who we share the drive with that we park on the drive and they park in front of their house which has been paved for doing so. Unfortunately there is nothing in writing this has always been done verbally." an agreement that, almost certainly, holds no water - even if it were written down.

Do you have LegProt on your house insurance? Good. Once you find out what the deeds say - eg. no-one parks on the shared drive - you may need to enforce this, but it also means you won't be able to do it either.

Mickey666

I agree with JC.  Check your deeds and neighbours deeds (£3 each from land registry) and look for something like the right of access or the right to 'pass and re-pass' over the designated piece of land.

The right to 'pass and re-pass' is pretty much self-explanatory and excludes stopping on the land in question. 

It's the same sort of thing that allows you to be charged with obstruction when loitering in a public place where there is usually only a right of access, ie you can move along a public path but you can't stand still because that causes an obstruction to others who also have a legal right to pass over that piece of land.

But all that is just the legal dimension.  What's usually more important in such circumstances is the diplomatic dimension.  Being in the right is one thing, falling out with a neighbour is quite another.

princeofpounds

As the others have said, it's all speculation until you establish both of your legal positions. You should have done this during the property purchase, at the very least you would have been shown your own title plan and deeds. You need to find out which land you own, which land they own, and who has rights of way where.

Most rights of way over shared drives are just for access and obstruction is not permitted (either explicitly or implicitly). But precisely how you deal with it does depend on whether they are obstructing you on land they own and you have ROW over, or land you own and they have a ROW over.

Ultimately the solution is legal - an injunction and the costs associated with it (or hopefully, just the legal threat of one). If you don't have legal protection on your house insurance, get it.  

A diagram or picture would be helpful too, clearly explaining what you own and where the access runs and the problem occurs.

Gd17

Thanks everyone for your replies. 

When we did purchase the house the deeds just just show a straight line down the middle. 

The drive is just in between the two houses with our gardens at the back. So it does block access but you can still fit besides the car which is on there to get to your garden and bins etc. 

When we did question (and the solicitor did too) the shared drive situation, as mentioned previously we were informed that there is an ‘agreement’ that the neighbour parks their 2 cars in front of the house and we use the the drive for our one car. Apparently not been any problems until we moved in! It’s also only the neighbours guest who stays over and does this. 

We really don’t want to fall out with our neighbour over something like this but it’s just awful and so stressful! 

I will get the lands registry from their house to have a look over that! Thank you all again! 

sevenhills

Gd17 said:

The drive is just in between the two houses with our gardens at the back. So it does block access but you can still fit besides the car which is on there to get to your garden and bins etc. 

When we did question (and the solicitor did too) the shared drive situation, as mentioned previously we were informed that there is an ‘agreement’ that the neighbour parks their 2 cars in front of the house and we use the the drive for our one car. Apparently not been any problems until we moved in! It’s also only the neighbours guest who stays over and does this. 

It sounds like an agreement that is not written down, so they can change it if they want.

So they are parking 3 cars, meaning that you cannot park yours. You need to chat to the owner, not the householder, not his friend.

So this shared driveway is not meant vehicles, but you want to park on it

GrumpyDil

I'd be asking your solicitor to explain the situation in more detail as that's what you pay them for.

Also I'm struggling to picture the arrangement as shared driveways normally lead to garages/parking areas so what does, yours lead to?

Rdwill

I had a similar situation in a previous house. I owned the drive, but my neighbour had right of way over it. 

So neither of us could park on it, me because the neighbour could come and go as he pleased and him because it was my drive.

It worked quite well as we both understood the agreement.

Rdwill

We both had garages / parking areas at the end of the drive.

princeofpounds

Hi again OP. You still haven't established the situation. You have noted where the boundary is on your title plan - that's great. But you need to read the deeds for a ROW (if one is granted, may not be). As you know, you need to do the same for your neighbour's property.

Please note also that just because no ROW has been granted in the deeds it does not mean one does not exist - they can arise in other circumstances. Or it is possible that this is just a casual agreement, a license to access. But we can get into that when and if it proves relevant.

Also, I'll repeat again, you'll get a lot more help with a diagram and/or photo.