New Build Bin Drama

brouwerij

Looking for some advice on a situation I've found myself in this week. My partner and I moved into new build house 18 months ago. It's quite an unusual design in that it's a mid-terrace back to back in a block of 8 back to backs, with one larger house on each end of the block. Our row of four is elevated a few feet from the car park and has a pathway across the front, then a sloping grass verge down to the car park. There is a small flight of stairs at either end of the row, and a ramp down the far end. Wheelie bins are stored outside each house and must be taken to a collection point at the front of the development for collection every other week. On moving into the property, we were told we had access to the ramp at the end for taking the bins out. Foolishly, we never checked that this access was written into the deeds, but every other week for the last 18 months have used it without issue. This week, to my surprise, the occupants of the end house had put a series of plant pots along the boundary of their patio, blocking access to the ramp. I knocked on their door and explained I needed access to the ramp, one of the occupants apologised and helped me move the plants. They have a lot of plants around their house so thought no more of it until I came to move the bin back the following day and found the plants in the way again. As I went to move them out of the way, the other occupant of the house came out and told me they'd put them there deliberately to stop people walking in front of their house, and they were planning on putting a wall up next week. I explained that the ramp was needed for the occupants of the row to take their bins out, as well as for access for disabled occupants/visitors. My neighbour said I had no right to tell him what to do on his property and it was nothing to do with him. I've looked at the plans for the estate, and the ramp itself is outside of their property line, but the top connects to their patio, which is within it, so we do have to cross their property line to use the ramp. Having now checked the deeds, access to the ramp is not written into them. My thoughts are that my neighbours are in fact acting legally (if somewhat pettily) by obstructing the access, but that no longer having adequate refuse or disabled access will affect the saleability of the house, in effect reducing its value. I have reached out to the housing developer for comment, but I have not heard anything back as of yet.
What are my rights in terms of them having to provide new ramp access?  

silvercar

Check your deeds and the offending neighbour. There is a chance it was in their deeds, even if not in yours.

If not in either deeds, check the plans with the council. It may have been part of the planning permission given for the development.

Bookworm105

your wall of text boils down to: either your deeds grant right of access or they don't

BarelySentientAI

brouwerij said:

I've looked at the plans for the estate, and the ramp itself is outside of their property line, but the top connects to their patio, which is within it, so we do have to cross their property line to use the ramp. Having now checked the deeds, access to the ramp is not written into them. My thoughts are that my neighbours are in fact acting legally (if somewhat pettily) by obstructing the access, but that no longer having adequate refuse or disabled access will affect the saleability of the house, in effect reducing its value. 

What are my rights in terms of them having to provide new ramp access?  

If it is inside their property, and neither's deeds state that there is a right to cross the property, then in my opinion it is legal and certainly not petty, and you have no rights for them to provide alternative access.

RHemmings

Bookworm105 said:

you wall of text boils down to: either your deeds grant right of access or they don't

This is a version with paragraphs. BTW: I agree with the above posts. First check the deeds of yourself (OP, not @Bookworm105) and your neighbour. Check for easements allowing neighbours access to the ramp on the neighbour's title register. But, I wouldn't expect such to be there. 

Looking for some advice on a situation I've found myself in this week. My partner and I moved into new build house 18 months ago. It's quite an unusual design in that it's a mid-terrace back to back in a block of 8 back to backs, with one larger house on each end of the block. Our row of four is elevated a few feet from the car park and has a pathway across the front, then a sloping grass verge down to the car park. There is a small flight of stairs at either end of the row, and a ramp down the far end. Wheelie bins are stored outside each house and must be taken to a collection point at the front of the development for collection every other week.

On moving into the property, we were told we had access to the ramp at the end for taking the bins out. Foolishly, we never checked that this access was written into the deeds, but every other week for the last 18 months have used it without issue. This week, to my surprise, the occupants of the end house had put a series of plant pots along the boundary of their patio, blocking access to the ramp. I knocked on their door and explained I needed access to the ramp, one of the occupants apologised and helped me move the plants.

They have a lot of plants around their house so thought no more of it until I came to move the bin back the following day and found the plants in the way again. As I went to move them out of the way, the other occupant of the house came out and told me they'd put them there deliberately to stop people walking in front of their house, and they were planning on putting a wall up next week. I explained that the ramp was needed for the occupants of the row to take their bins out, as well as for access for disabled occupants/visitors. My neighbour said I had no right to tell him what to do on his property and it was nothing to do with him.

I've looked at the plans for the estate, and the ramp itself is outside of their property line, but the top connects to their patio, which is within it, so we do have to cross their property line to use the ramp. Having now checked the deeds, access to the ramp is not written into them. My thoughts are that my neighbours are in fact acting legally (if somewhat pettily) by obstructing the access, but that no longer having adequate refuse or disabled access will affect the saleability of the house, in effect reducing its value.

I have reached out to the housing developer for comment, but I have not heard anything back as of yet. What are my rights in terms of them having to provide new ramp access?

Ditzy_Mitzy

When was the house built?  If post-2022, the lack of ramp could cause the terrace to fall foul of the new regulations relating to disabled access.  Is there provision for another ramp to be put in?  Either way, it sounds like poor design on the builder's part.  

FlorayG

People aren't answering the question. OP seems to have established that the neighbour has every right to refuse access, but does the OP have a claim against the estate builder? as in forcing them to retrospectively install a ramp that DOES have permitted access?

BarelySentientAI

FlorayG said:

People aren't answering the question. OP seems to have established that the neighbour has every right to refuse access, but does the OP have a claim against the estate builder? as in forcing them to retrospectively install a ramp that DOES have permitted access?

To be fair, 98% of the OP's post was discussing the neighbour with only a short note to say they had "reached out to the developer for comment".  And it's possible that the neighbour's deeds say that others are allowed access, so they haven't established anything yet.

If planning permission or the applicable building regulations required a ramp, then the planning authority could probably enforce a ramp being built, but unless something in the legal documentation specified a particular form of access (which is unlikely in my experience) then the OP can force very little.  A salesman saying "you can use that ramp over there" is not a strong legal position (although some would argue it is a contract).

daveyjp

Start leaving the bin at the collection point.

Grumpy_chap

Is this path along the front of all the houses within what is (or will become) adopted highways extent?  

MeteredOut

OP, it is physically possible (though obviously not ideal) to use the steps to take the bins to the collection point?

I'd also be checking the original approved building plans for the scheme, to see if any planning conditions have been broken, for future correspondence with the builders.

And this may sound cynical, but rather than "I can't take my bins out" a "My wheelchair bound friend can't visit me" story is likely to get more traction with both the council and the builder, and perhaps even the local press...