Private Road / Community Garden etc.

newsgroupmonkey_

This is probably fairly normal for rural communities (we live in one already and we've seen all sorts!)

FYI, house was built in the 1950s. Additional houses in the street were built between the 1950s and now (we think around the 1980s) but at the other end of the Private Road on some private land.

Part 1.

We're moving to a "Private Road". I say it's a private road - I can't actually find who owns it. Nothing in the deeds. It appears there's all kinds of informalities.

Having asked the Estate Agents......

The owner of each house mows the grass outside their house (even though they're not part of the plot). Apparently, when potholes appeared a couple of years ago, one of the owners, a builder, filled the holes in. I know. Scary, and I thought they would have known better.

The private road is NOT registered with Land Registry.

Part 2.

On a spur from said private road, there was a grassed area which our vendors appear to have done a "Land grab". This grassed area backs on to a "community garden", but fenced off.

Again, no-one knows how this communtiy garden came about, but it was overgrown and a load of locals raised some money to fence it, clear it and put some picnic tables on it. They appear to work together to keep it clear and it's available to anyone who wants to use it.

I've checked the Land Registry map and neither this land or the grassy bit of "land grab" are registered. Are these likely to be owned by the local council? I'm not sure how a piece of land on a private road could be.

I guess the last question is........

If someone came and told us to take the fence down, put it back where it should be, would that be it? Could they sue us?

RAS

What do the deeds say abut your right of access access to the house you are considering buying?

DE_612183

The land on the spur is under what's called adverse possession - you usually have to wait 12 years to claim it as yours.
If you get told to put the fence back, then just do it - I don't think anyone can sue you - what would they sue you for?

newsgroupmonkey_

DE_612183 said:

The land on the spur is under what's called adverse possession - you usually have to wait 12 years to claim it as yours.
If you get told to put the fence back, then just do it - I don't think anyone can sue you - what would they sue you for?

I know about adverse possession. Gets quoted as 12 years loads in here. It's actually 10 and has been since 2002.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

I guess I was worried that someone might ask for rent in lieu of use for the last 5 years.

It's only been land grabbed that I can see since 2017 (I've checked Google Earth)

FWIW, before it was grabbed, it was used by previous owners to store a boat, but not fenced in.

newsgroupmonkey_

RAS said:

What do the deeds say abut your right of access access to the house you are considering buying?

Nothing.  It's very very vague. Stuff about not selling tobacco or alcohol from the site and "noxious business and noise".

No right to light, that kind of thing.

Whereas our current property has rights of way and all sorts (all in different colours).

Slinky

Why is it scary that the builder filled in a few potholes? I grew up in a house on a private road. I've no idea what the deeds say with respect to road maintenance, but each house mows the grass outside their plot, and every now and then when the road needed maintaining, then somebody takes it on themselves to get a few quotes and work out what each house needed to pay. There are a few bungalows where there were elderly ladies who didn't have cars, and it was agreed they paid less as they weren't wearing the road out. The only time my Dad refused to pay was when a builder moved into a house at the top of the road and all his workmen used to drive their wagons up each day to find out where the boss was sending them to work so he was responsible for a lot of the wear and tear.  As far as I'm aware, this informal arrangement continues to this day. It's never caused an issue with regards the saleability of the houses; the estate agents make a point of the desirability of this private road.

Skiddaw1

Snap @Slinky ! The original post took me immediately back to my childhood. I grew up on just such a lane. We had a residents committe which my father chaired and everyone chipped in when work needed to be done. They either did it themselves or found a local tradesman to do it.

newsgroupmonkey_

Slinky said:

Why is it scary that the builder filled in a few potholes? I grew up in a house on a private road. I've no idea what the deeds say with respect to road maintenance, but each house mows the grass outside their plot, and every now and then when the road needed maintaining, then somebody takes it on themselves to get a few quotes and work out what each house needed to pay. There are a few bungalows where there were elderly ladies who didn't have cars, and it was agreed they paid less as they weren't wearing the road out. The only time my Dad refused to pay was when a builder moved into a house at the top of the road and all his workmen used to drive their wagons up each day to find out where the boss was sending them to work so he was responsible for a lot of the wear and tear.  As far as I'm aware, this informal arrangement continues to this day. It's never caused an issue with regards the saleability of the houses; the estate agents make a point of the desirability of this private road.

I don't worry about saleability of the house.

From the builders point of view, it would be about liability.

What if the repair failed and someone ripped their tyre off? Or fell down it and broke their leg? and so on.

Unfortunately, in this modern world that we live in, "Where there's blame, there's a claim".

I quite agree btw - I was brought up in a house in the 70s that had a "courtyard" out the front of the 4 terraced houses where everyone parked. It was a free for all - whoever went to the yard and got the stuff to fill went round and collected a quid off everyone, then that weekend, the men of the houses would go help fill the holes.

Slinky

You can worry about these things, but in reality the chances of that happening are vanishingly small, as the builder probably thought when he repaired the pothole, taking the care and skill of his profession. There's probably way less chance of being sued over a repaired pothole than an unrepaired one.

If this sort of thing is going to worry you, buying in this type of private road probably isn't for you.

canaldumidi

Road I grew up in was a cut through so the residents installed a gate and charged non residents sixpence (if I remember rightly) to open the gate.

newsgroupmonkey_

Slinky said:

You can worry about these things, but in reality the chances of that happening are vanishingly small, as the builder probably thought when he repaired the pothole, taking the care and skill of his profession. There's probably way less chance of being sued over a repaired pothole than an unrepaired one.

If this sort of thing is going to worry you, buying in this type of private road probably isn't for you.

Quite honestly, I couldn't give a wotsit.

The questions above aren't really about that - it's more the "who actually owns what" and how do I find out?