Access easement and building work

Kitz

Hi, can anybody help. We have an easement to access our property recorded in Land Registry. It says that we can ‘pass at all times with or without vehicles over the driveway which is identified on the plan’. We started building work and unfortunately our land in front of the house is not big enough to accommodate materials, equipment and all builder’s vehicles. We have never parked on the easement land and are not planing to do so but unfortunately the builders do not have a choice and have to park there during working hours. The owner already sent us a letter threatening with injunction not to allow various tradesmen to temporarily use her drive to carry out their legitimate work. The access to her and to other properties has never been obstructed or blocked. Where do I stand legally? Is injunction likely to be successful?

Doozergirl

Seems like quite an effort for them to go to, but your easement doesn't appear to allow parking, only the right to pass for access.  You are in the wrong.  

The builders will have to unload and then go and park elsewhere.  We've had to do that many, many times on jobs, even those with parking - sometimes there's just too many of us and so we have to prioritise who gets a space on a given day!    It's hardly unusual.
 

Try working on any street in Central London.  There's no place to put a skip, even.  

Kitz

This is not the point though, we are not in central London and there’s plenty of space for skips and all sort of other necessary vehicles. Having said this we do not place skips, materials or our own vehicles on the easement land. Our contractors need to park because of the necessity to do so to be able to load and unload their equipment and to be able to carry out their legitimate business. So my point is where is the ‘give and take’ of the landowners for the ‘benefit of the enjoyment of the dominant property’ such as mine?

Wanderingpomm

The point is you have no legal right to park there and so should not. They do not need to park there, they can find somewhere close and walk. The injunction would be granted as you are in breech. 

FreeBear

Kitz said: So my point is where is the ‘give and take’ of the landowners for the ‘benefit of the enjoyment of the dominant property’ such as mine?

The "give & take" would have taken place with a friendly discussion with the land owner before the project commenced. Now that it has got to the stage of threatening letters, you have missed the window of opportunity.

Kitz

What this has to do with a ‘window of opportunity’? The landowner knew about the project two years before the project commenced. It is either legal or not.

Rosa_Damascena

Kitz said:

What this has to do with a ‘window of opportunity’? The landowner knew about the project two years before the project commenced. It is either legal or not.

It really doesn't hurt to keep people in the loop if you know they are going to be inconvenienced, particularly if you are reliant on their goodwill. Sometimes schmoozing is the pragmatic thing to do.

Kitz

She has known about the project for two years, we showed her the plans before we submitted them to the council. We amended the plans to accommodate her request to change the plans. We told her that we repair the drive after the building work is finished. She built three houses herself so she knows very well what it means to have builders on site. I think we kept her in the loop.

This is not relevant to the case but we have been very friendly with her, we helped her a lot on her land, she is 80 years old and lives on her own. We offered to drive her 30 miles to a hospital after she had an operation. We went to see her and offer our help after she returned from a hospital. In exchange for our friendship she placed large logs and and a piece of wood spiked with nails to restrict the width of the drive and make it difficult for us to use the drive…

Doozergirl

Kitz said:

This is not the point though, we are not in central London and there’s plenty of space for skips and all sort of other necessary vehicles. Having said this we do not place skips, materials or our own vehicles on the easement land. Our contractors need to park because of the necessity to do so to be able to load and unload their equipment and to be able to carry out their legitimate business. So my point is where is the ‘give and take’ of the landowners for the ‘benefit of the enjoyment of the dominant property’ such as mine?

It is exactly the point.  You don't have plenty of room because you are parking on someone else's land!  There is no give and take, you have been presumptuous and are taking.  Just having building work done is already something that neighbours have to tolerate, not enjoy.  

The relevance of Central London is that if I can run a building company and give you just one example of carrying out massive building works without any outside access *at all*, your builders can very easily park around the corner somewhere once they have unloaded, because it is a very normal part of what builders have to do sometimes.  Make them do that and the problem goes away.  It doesn't even affect you so it shouldn't be compromising your relationship with the neighbours.  

You are not allowed to park there, the builders are not allowed to park there. If she isn't happy about it, they need to move.  It doesn't matter that you've been nice to her in the past, you haven't approached this correctly and she doesn't want cars parked on the drive.   If you want to try eating humble pie, go and ask nicely, but if she's angry enough to threaten an injunction, the best thing you can offer is an apology.  

plumb1_2

80 yrs old lifting heavy logs, can you put me in contact with her? I need a new apprentice.

fenwick458

how long is the building project going to last?