Right of access / Highways / Adverse Possession

AndyThilo

Hi

When we moved we knew that a small portion of land at the front of our property was owned by Highways England. At the time there was no mention of this being altered and of course we have right of access at all times to our property. However a new housing estate is possibly being built and part of that is a requirement to widen the road and take away 1.2m of land at the front of our house. Our driveway and garage back on the road so we would effectively lose 1.2m of parking space in front of our garage.

The houses were built in 2004, but I believe we have no rights to adverse possession as it's Highways land. But do we have any rights in terms of personal safety for ourselves and our cars? If planning permission is approved for this estate, we will effectively not be able to park a car in front of the garage. 

Could we seek compensation from Persimmon for this or are we basically stuck with whatever decision the planning office decide? At the moment the planning has been refused, but Persimmon are appealing and the appeal is due to be decided upon on the 11th Jan. No time I know lol. 

Thanks in advance for any advise. 

Soot2006

You don't have the right to park in front of your garage; yuo have the right to access your garage (to park inside it, for example). So this means that you're currently parking on land that you know belongs to someone else. Of course it's annoying and unfortunate - can you park on the road outside your driveway? (or will you be able to to once the building is complete?)

AndyThilo

Soot2006 said:

You don't have the right to park in front of your garage; yuo have the right to access your garage (to park inside it, for example). So this means that you're currently parking on land that you know belongs to someone else. Of course it's annoying and unfortunate - can you park on the road outside your driveway? (or will you be able to to once the building is complete?)

I was pretty sure we don't have any rights, just wanted to see if there were any loopholes. We can park on the road no issues, although I wouldn't as there's too much farm traffic and HGVs. TBH it's totally unsuitable to be developed for this new estate, but their choice of access is another item of contention. The estate at the North end literally backs onto a roundabout/garage/school and the main road. However the council own that land and it appears Persimmon won't pay the asking price.

peter3hg

Have a look at your council's policy around driveways. Most have a minimum required distance between the highway/pavement and a garage to ensure people can open the door and park in the garage without leaving their car overhanging the road in the process.
As an example Manchester council require 6m from the garage door to the pavement/road.
Obviously it is complicated by the fact that it isn't your land, but the same principle should apply as it is a rule put in place for safety reasons.

Gavin83

peter3hg said:

Have a look at your council's policy around driveways. Most have a minimum required distance between the highway/pavement and a garage to ensure people can open the door and park in the garage without leaving their car overhanging the road in the process.
As an example Manchester council require 6m from the garage door to the pavement/road.
Obviously it is complicated by the fact that it isn't your land, but the same principle should apply as it is a rule put in place for safety reasons.

Really? I respect this’ll be per council but there aren’t many houses round here with 6m between their garage and the road, not even close. We looked at a house where it was questionable whether you’d fit even a small car in front of the garage, a big car no chance.

OP, I suspect even if planning permission doesn’t get granted you’ve no right to park there and if Highways England wanted to be awkward they could enforce this. Essentially be careful how much you enforce your rights as it could backfire.

Section62

AndyThilo said:

Soot2006 said:

You don't have the right to park in front of your garage; yuo have the right to access your garage (to park inside it, for example). So this means that you're currently parking on land that you know belongs to someone else. Of course it's annoying and unfortunate - can you park on the road outside your driveway? (or will you be able to to once the building is complete?)

I was pretty sure we don't have any rights, just wanted to see if there were any loopholes.

You do have some rights, for example you may be eligible for compensation under Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 -

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/26/section/1

This is a complex area of law and you'd need specialist advice, but in principle if the road is being widened and will take additional traffic (associated with the development) then you may well be able to show that there is an impact on you which triggers compensation... although note that this is not necessarily because of the loss of parking.

If you've got neighbours along the road who would be similarly affected then getting together with them to investigate the compensation angle might be worthwhile. A co-ordinated approach is often better than one resident going alone.

Also, you say the land is owned by Highways England (now National Highways) - are you sure about that?  They would normally only own land associated with a trunk road, or in some cases residual land.  The land associated with most 'local' roads is owned by the local highway authority, usually the local 'upper tier' council.

Section62

peter3hg said:

Have a look at your council's policy around driveways. Most have a minimum required distance between the highway/pavement and a garage to ensure people can open the door and park in the garage without leaving their car overhanging the road in the process.
As an example Manchester council require 6m from the garage door to the pavement/road.
Obviously it is complicated by the fact that it isn't your land, but the same principle should apply as it is a rule put in place for safety reasons.

This type of 'rule' only applies where people are applying for a crossover/new access to a highway.

It isn't relevant to the OP's situation where the property already exists and has access from the highway.

The situation in the OP's case is whether or not the highway is actually obstructed.

daveyjp

If the original planning documents for your property are available to view, check if the driveway is deemed an off road parking space with a minimum size requirement.

ProDave

Section62 said:

AndyThilo said:

Soot2006 said:

You don't have the right to park in front of your garage; yuo have the right to access your garage (to park inside it, for example). So this means that you're currently parking on land that you know belongs to someone else. Of course it's annoying and unfortunate - can you park on the road outside your driveway? (or will you be able to to once the building is complete?)

I was pretty sure we don't have any rights, just wanted to see if there were any loopholes.

Also, you say the land is owned by Highways England (now National Highways) - are you sure about that?  They would normally only own land associated with a trunk road, or in some cases residual land.  The land associated with most 'local' roads is owned by the local highway authority, usually the local 'upper tier' council.

They do not need to own the land to have at least some control over it.  When we were looking for a plot, there was one that had a clause "no building whatsoever" on the first 3 metres of the plot. That was to allow for a future road widening and presumably then a compulsory purchase.  That clause must have been inserted at their request in response to the planning application. And this was a minor single track road they obviously have plans to upgrade later.

Section62

ProDave said:

Section62 said:

AndyThilo said:

Soot2006 said:

You don't have the right to park in front of your garage; yuo have the right to access your garage (to park inside it, for example). So this means that you're currently parking on land that you know belongs to someone else. Of course it's annoying and unfortunate - can you park on the road outside your driveway? (or will you be able to to once the building is complete?)

I was pretty sure we don't have any rights, just wanted to see if there were any loopholes.

Also, you say the land is owned by Highways England (now National Highways) - are you sure about that?  They would normally only own land associated with a trunk road, or in some cases residual land.  The land associated with most 'local' roads is owned by the local highway authority, usually the local 'upper tier' council.

They do not need to own the land to have at least some control over it.  When we were looking for a plot, there was one that had a clause "no building whatsoever" on the first 3 metres of the plot. That was to allow for a future road widening and presumably then a compulsory purchase.  That clause must have been inserted at their request in response to the planning application. And this was a minor single track road they obviously have plans to upgrade later.

True... planning conditions and/or covenants can protect land for future use, although in this case the OP has said the land in question is "owned by Highways England".

The significance of that is the land is either highway already, or is possibly 'residual' land... that does affect the options the OP has going forward.

Cash-Cows

This raises an important issue for anyone buying a house. ALWAYS check the extent of the highway boundary. This can only be checked using official records (often on line) and you cannot assume the boundary just by looking at the street because highway can include grass verges. 

Secondly NEVER assume that you "own" and can build upon and use everything in your land registry red line plan. This must be read alongside the highway boundary plans mentioned above. It is quite common to own a piece of land with highway over the top in other words you only own the sub soil beneath the highway. 

There's no adverse possession on highway as the adage goes "once a highway, always a highway ".