Interested in property - but issue with driveway?

Section62

ThisIsWeird said:

I suspect - but don't know - that there weren't steps for each property that they subsequently turned into their drives. If that is a pavement running along in front of each house, then good chance these are the only steps down to the road for a fair stretch.
If so, it's likely a pedestrian RoW.
Geenpea, you'd need to see the deeds - you can quickly download a copy from LR for around £3, I understand. See who 'owns' these steps, and also what easements or covenants may be on it.
If it would be fully yours, with no other rights over it, then - by the looks of it - you should be good to repeat what your neighb's have done, and miss that BT box.

Although checking the deeds of properties you are interested in buying is always a good idea, in this situation they won't be that useful.  The grassed area could be included within the title and still be highway. Or the land could be owned by someone else and possibly not registered.

The presence of the grey cabinet, some kind of traffic sign, and the use of standard pedestrian guardrail on the steps all strongly suggest the area is highway - in which case legal ownership of the land is largely irrelevant.  Even if the land was owned by some third party other than the property owner and the highway authority, the highway rights would allow the OP to cross the land (subject to conditions the highway authority might impose under S184) to gain access to their property.  The main issue here is checking where the highway boundary is located.

The steps look relatively recent to me.  I suspect they were put in because someone living there had some mobility impairment and found it difficult (or dangerous) to use the sloping grass/driveway, and walking along the footway to where the footway and carriageway were at similar levels was more than they could manage.  If so, it may mean the steps are no longer needed and the highway authority might be happy for them to be removed to provide a crossover for the OP... but there's no guarantee that will be the case.