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Buying a House with a Footpath - Advice/Thoughts
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My thoughts are if you do nothing, and say nothing then walkers will carry on using the alternative path if there is an obvious one. If there is an alternative, then a simple sign at each end saying "path this way" would work wonders.
As soon as you start trying to legally divert the path, you are likely to attract the attention of some ramblers groups who will then organise mass walks to walk the path to the inch regularly and in numbers just because they can, and they want evidence the path is in regular use to contest it's diversion.
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My neghbours have a footpath, with stiles and finger signs, from the road right across their side garden to the farmers field at the rear.
It is occasionally used (I've used it myself occasionally on walks, but walkers are generally friendly and as unobtrusive as they can be. They pass through quickly perhaps with no more than a brief smile if the neighbours are in evidence.
Only you can decide if something like this is a show-stopper in terms of your lifestyle. I'd consider that aspect rather than ay unlikely impact on future sale price.0 -
Have you spoken with the neighbour whose garden and drive were part of the original route? Do they get people using it? If people are currently using the old route occasionally, it's hopefully unlikely that the neighbours are going to get arsey about you pushing people in their direction. If nobody is using is because they are using the new route, the neighbours are going to probably be more difficult to get onside.
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Your choice of course but personally I wouldn’t buy this house. Never underestimate how determined ramblers can be to enforce their right to use a path. If they feel you’re blocking access to the path they could become a huge nuisance and you could end up with hordes of people walking across your land every day.It might be wrong but the official documentation states it isn’t then you’ve got a difficult legal battle on your hands which you’ve already highlighted. It’ll be even more difficult if you’re attempting to reroute it through a neighbours house as they’re likely to strongly object and battle it as much as possible. After all this would likely significantly reduce the value of their house. Even if you were successful I expect neighbourly relations would be extremely sour from that point on.
You also have no right to reroute the path. Of course if you provide a reasonable alternative it might be OK but similarly it might not. People have used the example of whether they’d enforce a footpath that went through the middle of a house. Well yes, they could, up to and including demolition of the property.
It might be OK if you bought it but similarly it could be a huge disaster. I wouldn’t take the risk.5 -
Thank you for all replies so far, this is really balancing things out for me and some interesting comments as well. Greatly appreciated.
Just to clarify, the original footpath went across the property garden we are looking to buy, then deviated across the fence to the neighbours house and down their drive but was never signposted and hasn't been used as far as we know (as it appears on the 1850-1989 maps). But since the latest map since 1989 shows the path just on the property we are looking to buy, then the neighbours would be unaware there was a historic footpath passing over their property as they purchased their house since 1989. It's where the footpath was historically so - it would be correcting a more recent error to put it back to it's longstanding historic route (in the absence of any legal paperwork moving it elsewhere). It has to be said that the footpaths issue generally is of such startling importance, surely the original routes and integrity of the historic routes should be upheld.0 -
ProDave said:My thoughts are if you do nothing, and say nothing then walkers will carry on using the alternative path if there is an obvious one. If there is an alternative, then a simple sign at each end saying "path this way" would work wonders.Not a good idea, even if there is an alternative route.There's an offence of maintaining a notice "containing any false or misleading statement likely to deter the public from using the way". Usually this gets referred to where farmers leave up "Beware of the bull" signs, but a sign or notice which suggests the route of a public RoW is different to that shown on the Definitive Map is another example.Even if you do it with the good intention of encouraging use of a more convenient or prettier route, it could still be an offence if the statement was false or misleading and was capable of deterring use of the Definitive Map route.Signs of this type are a red-rag to avid footpath users... there's a good chance one of them will take matters into their own hands and remove the sign on sight.3
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You could erect a enormous heavy gate across it and no signage at all, after all if it’s good enough for the gentry it should be ok for everyone else…. https://www.freeblenheim.com/free-entry-to-blenheim/1
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At the moment, Gail, there is no actual way of crossing the property's boundary without scaling a fence?0
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There is a place near me valued at £2m and it has a public footpath right of way running directly down the driveway and past the front of the house.
You can't block them so they have put a sign on the front gate (next to the gap in the wall for the path) asking walkers to use the next entrance 100 yards up the road. As far as I know most people do, but if the option wasn't there I imagine most people would walk on though.
Is it a popular walking route? Personally I wouldn't buy it because people are entitled to use it and I wouldn't like that.0
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