Potential Driveway boundary problem

worthy64

Hello!
I am a first-time buyer and am in the process of buying the house in the attached picture, right side of the picture with a white gate.

My  Surveyor mentioned that "The driveway provides off road parking. The driveway is likely to be partly shared with your neighbour. You should ask your legal adviser to check your rights and responsibilities."

I asked the solicitor about any shared driveway arrangement, solicitor mentioned that  "Driveway is not shared, There are no restrictions which would prevent you from installing a fence at the front boundary subject to the height of the fence not exceeding 5 feet in height.  I would recommend that you discuss this with your neighbour before installing the fence to avoid any disputes.  You would also need to ensure that installing fence would not interfere with the neighbour’s parking on their driveway."

It is obvious from the picture that both house has the same paving, I think, there is a possibility of dispute in the future regarding the maintenance of the driveaway, as well as dispute in the boundary.  when  I placed the offer I did not know about the concept of a shared driveway.  I don't want to place myself in any future dispute or issue with selling the house in the future. 

Should I walk away or ask the vendor to put a fence in the driveaway?  or if I am worrying over nothing. Any advice is gratefully received.  Thanks. 

Brie

The front of the drive looks narrow to me. Could you get a normal car on just your side if there was a fence? Do you want the hassle of possibly scraping your car if it is a tad narrow?

What difference does it make if neighbour has to repair their side?

user1977

Is that a driveway at all? It looks a bit on the narrow side to drive down, even when you get to the gate.

Where, in practice, would you and your neighbours park? Looks from the pic like the neighbours plonk a car in front of their house?

loubel

Doesn't look like a driveway. Surely that's not wide enough to fit even one car, let alone two! 

ETA or are you referring to the parking spaces in front of the houses?

worthy64

It is narrow in entry but one car can be parked, but  It can not fit two cars, You can see the neighbour has parked his car.   I don't have a plan to park car inside this but I would like park in front of this space including in front of the house but in that case no car can enter in this space.  I am thinking all this scenario and it may cause a dispute.  so  I am confused should I proceed and buy this house, or walkway or ask the vendor to install a fence before compilation? 
I also did not consider this scenario during the offer so the offer price is not adjusted for this. 

user1977

How would installing a fence help any? Surely that would just put the driveway out of action for both properties?

I suspect this is a scenario where you don't formally share ownership or maintenance, but in practice you need to encroach on the neighbouring property to get in or out. I presume you could have figured the last bit out from a viewing? How were you expecting the parking to work in practice?

loubel

Sounds like a neighbour dispute just waiting to happen.

worthy64

Parking space is wide enough in the front of the house, easily two cars can be parked. I did not think to park inside that space during the house viewing but did not think about possible disputes. Now Surveyor mentioned this, so I'm confused, according to my solicitor I can put up a fence after buying the house.
I think a Fence will stop any future disputes.  Now. I am considering asking the vendor,  they should install a fence before completion. Do you think is it logical to ask? 

Ayr_Rage

I think that anyone installing a fence is going to seriously p*** off the other side.

That would render the space completely useless unless you plan on acquiring a Bond Bug, Reliant Robin, 1960s Mini or a trike.

PS. According to the plan you posted that area is not shared but divided down the middle as per the red line which matches the white divider on the ground.

SootySweep1

Hi
I'd wonder if it originally wasn't a driveway but the land between two houses & a path that provided access to the back of the house so not a shared driveway.

At some point someone has paved it & started using it as off road parking / driveway.

Are there any other houses nearby with a similar setup so you can see how they are using the space?

user1977

worthy64 said:

Parking space is wide enough in the front of the house, easily two cars can be parked. I did not think to park inside that space during the house viewing but did not think about possible disputes. Now Surveyor mentioned this, so I'm confused, according to my solicitor I can put up a fence after buying the house.
I think a Fence will stop any future disputes.  Now. I am considering asking the vendor,  they should install a fence before completion. Do you think is it logical to ask? 

Why do you think putting up a fence will "stop disputes"? What sort of dispute would it stop? A fence seems only likely to get in the way.

Asking the vendor to install a fence would be a downright weird request.

I suggest you chat it through with your solicitor as you seem confused about both the legal position and the practicalities.