Neighbours caravan against our bedroom wall!

Davesnave

unforeseen said:

Wanderingpomm said:

I would be surprised if that’s the boundary, it would mean your gutters are on their land. I would think that the boundary is the edge of your roof 

If it's a 30s house then there is a very good chance that the neighbour has gained an easement to use their drive all the way to the wall through usage over the last 90+ years. 

It takes 20 years for a prescriptive easement to be created and the caravan arrived 'yesterday.' While it's a movable and temporary object, that's a good enough reason for not accepting its semi-permanent siting under the eaves,

JIL

unforeseen said:

JIL said:

Our deeds specifically state that we are not allowed to park a static caravan or mobilehome on our drive way. Might be worth checking yours, surely the neighbours  would be similar. 

Well, that doesn't look like a static caravan or a mobile home. It looks like a standard touring caravan. 

Words.
Still worth a check of the deeds. The older the property the stranger things appear on the prohibition on the deeds.

Bendy_House

KatieS said:

We live in a detached bungalow. The boundary  with our neighbours is the side wall of our house. They have a narrow driveway between our house and theirs. Our garden access is the other side of our house.  Yesterday they realised it was just wide enough to park their caravan down. When I say just I mean  just. The caravan is actually touching our house. I appreciate I wouldn’t have even known they had  done this were it not for the fact we have a window looking out on their side path (luckily the window cill sticking out stopped the caravan from crossing our window!) 
do I have any rights to ask them to move it? Worried about damp and damage to our house. Plus it’s blooming rude! 

Katie, two things. You, and we (if we're to properly help. That's not a 'royal we', by the way, it just implies anyone on this forum who would like to try and assist, and not suggesting or ruling out any single particular individual per se) need to look at the plans on the deeds, and have a good read of any covenants and/or easements mentioned in there - and ideally your neighbour's; you can download copies from the Land Registry for only a few £ each.

That's one thing. The other is, do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?

Currently, I'm not really sure which walls are of your 'detached' bungalow. Is your house 'L'-shaped, for instance, and one wing of that 'L' runs along the bottom of their drive?

And I guess it's worth asking - what sort of relationship do you have with this neighbour?!

What I think is pretty clear, though, is that they are either ignorant (which can hopefully be corrected once you explain to them how unreasonable this move is, or ideally with some key phrases from your deeds, or with a bit of assistance from your LP), or they are lacking in consideration and empathy.

Have they been parking cars down that drive, and outside your window? If so, I guess you find this 'tolerable', and it's just the sheer vastness of this (very ugly...) 'van that's the issue?

Can you provide more info, please?

1) Deeds plans, and content re this drive.

2) Do you have LP?

3) Have they parked cars/other vehicles on this drive?

4) What's your relationship like?

5) Are there any other neighbourly 'issues' to perhaps be considered?!

Norman_Castle

I'd expect the boundary to be the roof line. The fact the area is unfenced doesn't make it theirs. Is it as close to their house?

FreeBear

JIL said:

unforeseen said:

JIL said:

Our deeds specifically state that we are not allowed to park a static caravan or mobilehome on our drive way. Might be worth checking yours, surely the neighbours  would be similar. 

Well, that doesn't look like a static caravan or a mobile home. It looks like a standard touring caravan. 

Words.
Still worth a check of the deeds. The older the property the stranger things appear on the prohibition on the deeds.

The ones likely to get a mention is no keeping of pigs, no brewing or sale of alcohol, and not to run a brothel. Caravans were not a thing in the 1930s, and commercial vehicles were few and far between.

thegreenone

FreeBear said:

JIL said:

unforeseen said:

JIL said:

Our deeds specifically state that we are not allowed to park a static caravan or mobilehome on our drive way. Might be worth checking yours, surely the neighbours  would be similar. 

Well, that doesn't look like a static caravan or a mobile home. It looks like a standard touring caravan. 

Words.
Still worth a check of the deeds. The older the property the stranger things appear on the prohibition on the deeds.

The ones likely to get a mention is no keeping of pigs, no brewing or sale of alcohol, and not to run a brothel. Caravans were not a thing in the 1930s, and commercial vehicles were few and far between.

I've just checked our deeds.  In 1923 there was a covenant in place that no caravan can be parked on this land.  It also states that the neighbours would be entitled to forcibly remove any such caravan.  The deeds were updated on the next sale in 1931, to again state no caravan and add no business should be run from the property and it cannot be run as a poultry farm and no pigs. I'm guessing the caravans would have been for those travelling around the country for farm work. 

Mojisola

thegreenone said:

I've just checked our deeds.

Where is your boundary on the map?

unforeseen

Davesnave said:

unforeseen said:

Wanderingpomm said:

I would be surprised if that’s the boundary, it would mean your gutters are on their land. I would think that the boundary is the edge of your roof 

If it's a 30s house then there is a very good chance that the neighbour has gained an easement to use their drive all the way to the wall through usage over the last 90+ years. 

It takes 20 years for a prescriptive easement to be created and the caravan arrived 'yesterday.' While it's a movable and temporary object, that's a good enough reason for not accepting its semi-permanent siting under the eaves,

Doesn't need to have been a caravan, it could be anything that was placed next to the wall that will start the clock ticking, probably from the first day the house was occupied. 

unforeseen

thegreenone said:

FreeBear said:

JIL said:

unforeseen said:

JIL said:

Our deeds specifically state that we are not allowed to park a static caravan or mobilehome on our drive way. Might be worth checking yours, surely the neighbours  would be similar. 

Well, that doesn't look like a static caravan or a mobile home. It looks like a standard touring caravan. 

Words.
Still worth a check of the deeds. The older the property the stranger things appear on the prohibition on the deeds.

The ones likely to get a mention is no keeping of pigs, no brewing or sale of alcohol, and not to run a brothel. Caravans were not a thing in the 1930s, and commercial vehicles were few and far between.

I've just checked our deeds.  In 1923 there was a covenant in place that no caravan can be parked on this land.  It also states that the neighbours would be entitled to forcibly remove any such caravan.  The deeds were updated on the next sale in 1931, to again state no caravan and add no business should be run from the property and it cannot be run as a poultry farm and no pigs. I'm guessing the caravans would have been for those travelling around the country for farm work. 

Good luck with attempting to forcibly remove it. I bet the laws have changed enough from the 30s to make any attempt a criminal act.
If you've got really deep pockets you could attempt to go via the courts but I don't rate your chances of success. 

Davesnave

unforeseen said:

Davesnave said:

unforeseen said:

Wanderingpomm said:

I would be surprised if that’s the boundary, it would mean your gutters are on their land. I would think that the boundary is the edge of your roof 

If it's a 30s house then there is a very good chance that the neighbour has gained an easement to use their drive all the way to the wall through usage over the last 90+ years. 

It takes 20 years for a prescriptive easement to be created and the caravan arrived 'yesterday.' While it's a movable and temporary object, that's a good enough reason for not accepting its semi-permanent siting under the eaves,

Doesn't need to have been a caravan, it could be anything that was placed next to the wall that will start the clock ticking, probably from the first day the house was occupied. 

Yes, but there's no indication that anything has been placed there permanently. Clocks only start ticking when things are long term and continuous. Even a short lapse of a month or two can stop the clock too. so when and if it re-starts, it's at zero..