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Driveway Access - Pinch Points - Knowing My Rights for Right of Way

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  • MattFurious
    MattFurious Posts: 35 Forumite
    10 Posts
    I am wondering if Ath_Wat is actually my neighbour!! LMAO!!

    Initial chat with the solicitor...  His first comment was that "They cannot park on the drive, just as much as you cannot park there with a full RoW".  I am hoping his experience of dealing with these type of issues, means that is accurate.

    I have provided all the document deeds and letters, and will wait for a more formal reply on the situation.

    Section62, you have it nailed on, getting an amicable balance based upon each of our rights is the key. Also, for selling the house, confirming to potential buyers where they stand (if more favourable) could prevent the house from losing value due to the "shared drive".

    If I have no rights, and they are parking fairly based on deeds information, then I will drop the case and know where I stand.  If however, I have some rights (as potentially listed above), then it means discussions can open up to a fair trade usage for all.

    Having the ability for the kids to ride their bikes safely on the drive and not on the street is way more priority than me washing my car!! I can take it to the local car wash :P  

    Ideally, I would open up my car parking bay for their visitors, just as much as mine, and everyone could use the drive for anything and everything (within reason) and there would ideally be no disgruntled people at all.  That is my plan.
  • Ath_Wat
    Ath_Wat Posts: 1,504 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I am wondering if Ath_Wat is actually my neighbour!! LMAO!!

    Initial chat with the solicitor...  His first comment was that "They cannot park on the drive, just as much as you cannot park there with a full RoW".  I am hoping his experience of dealing with these type of issues, means that is accurate.

    I have provided all the document deeds and letters, and will wait for a more formal reply on the situation.

    Section62, you have it nailed on, getting an amicable balance based upon each of our rights is the key. Also, for selling the house, confirming to potential buyers where they stand (if more favourable) could prevent the house from losing value due to the "shared drive".

    If I have no rights, and they are parking fairly based on deeds information, then I will drop the case and know where I stand.  If however, I have some rights (as potentially listed above), then it means discussions can open up to a fair trade usage for all.

    Having the ability for the kids to ride their bikes safely on the drive and not on the street is way more priority than me washing my car!! I can take it to the local car wash :P  

    Ideally, I would open up my car parking bay for their visitors, just as much as mine, and everyone could use the drive for anything and everything (within reason) and there would ideally be no disgruntled people at all.  That is my plan.
    That's nice of you, to want to reach an agreement whereby you can use their land, with no reciprocal give from you at all.
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 9,720 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Ath_Wat said:

    That's nice of you, to want to reach an agreement whereby you can use their land, with no reciprocal give from you at all.
    The land is a driveway, it isn't like Matt wants to take his family into the neighbour's garden and have a picnic on the lawn or let the children cycle through the flowerbeds.

    It hasn't been confirmed by Matt, but my understanding from the plan is this is a driveway installed during the construction of a pair of houses.  The developer could have given each house a 50% share of the ownership of the land the driveway is on, to mirror the 50% maintenance liability.  The developer instead opted to give one property ownership of the whole driveway and the other one nothing.

    There is nothing wrong with that approach per se, but when it is used it does create a risk of a power trip kind of thing with the 'owner' feeling they can control the activities of the other property owner(s).  Equal ownership has the advantage of making the feeling of omnipotence less acute, because it is more obvious to all parties that cooperation is necessary.

    The situation is not disimilar to the examples where people discover they own 'amenity land' as part of their property.  Yes, they own it, but that doesn't mean they can dictate what other people do with it.
  • peter3hg
    peter3hg Posts: 372 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Ath_Wat said:
    I am wondering if Ath_Wat is actually my neighbour!! LMAO!!

    Initial chat with the solicitor...  His first comment was that "They cannot park on the drive, just as much as you cannot park there with a full RoW".  I am hoping his experience of dealing with these type of issues, means that is accurate.

    I have provided all the document deeds and letters, and will wait for a more formal reply on the situation.

    Section62, you have it nailed on, getting an amicable balance based upon each of our rights is the key. Also, for selling the house, confirming to potential buyers where they stand (if more favourable) could prevent the house from losing value due to the "shared drive".

    If I have no rights, and they are parking fairly based on deeds information, then I will drop the case and know where I stand.  If however, I have some rights (as potentially listed above), then it means discussions can open up to a fair trade usage for all.

    Having the ability for the kids to ride their bikes safely on the drive and not on the street is way more priority than me washing my car!! I can take it to the local car wash :P  

    Ideally, I would open up my car parking bay for their visitors, just as much as mine, and everyone could use the drive for anything and everything (within reason) and there would ideally be no disgruntled people at all.  That is my plan.
    That's nice of you, to want to reach an agreement whereby you can use their land, with no reciprocal give from you at all.
    They are paying 50% of the upkeep of said land.
    To turn it on its head the neighbour wants to deny them access to part of the ROW and potentially increase the maintenance requirements by always parking on it while expecting half of the maintenance to be paid.

    If you are paying 50% towards maintaining some land then I don't think it is entirely unreasonable to expect somewhat equitable use of that land.

    Obviously that isn't the legal position though and the developer should have better arranged the legal status of the shared driveway in the first place.
  • MattFurious
    MattFurious Posts: 35 Forumite
    10 Posts
    O

    M

    G

    I have to laugh :smiley:

    I'm going to the pub to start an argument with a drunk person!  Have some more fun!!!

    Thanks S62...  Not sure if any benefit, but I know.  Thanks.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,194 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I keep coming back to this thread, even though I vowed not to.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,562 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think the overriding thing that would irk me if i were the OP is that I have to pay 50% of the upkeep of the RoW while the other chap uses it for parking his car on so is gaining an advantage over the OP.

    Most of the other stuff from both the OP and the RoW owner seems a bit bun fighty and a real shame it cant be resolved over tea and cake.

    Having said that if the other issues were resolvable in a friendly manner I would not loose much sleep over the upkeep thing as i am sure in reality there is little impact on wear and tear due to the car parking where it is.


    YNWA

    Target: Mortgage free by 58.
  • Woolsery
    Woolsery Posts: 1,535 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 20 May 2022 at 9:58AM
    GDB2222 said:
    I keep coming back to this thread, even though I vowed not to.
    I did the same with 9/11.
    Eventually I found the solution thanks to physics and physicists; something I hated at school. It was simple, but I'd spent years going back and forth, thinking one thing, then another. I expect there's a simple solution here too. Like you, I keep hoping someone will come along and reveal it.


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