Shared access

louiseeg

Hello,  I wonder if anyone can advise me,  I own a terraced house which has a shared path in the back garden which is within my boundary and one neighbour has access to,  the house is around 120 years old and there used to be steps at the bottom of the garden via a gate in which you could come in and out of,  the steps are no longer there,  there is still a gate but there is a 8-10 ft drop in to land owned by BT therefore there is nowhere to go if my neighbour uses the path,  there was a fence up on their boundary with a access point from their garden to the path,  they took the fence down when they bought the property 2 years ago,  and never put one back up,  they rent the house out and there is no barrier between my garden and theirs,  I’ve had the tennants looking through my window,  siting in my garden and even found drugs on my patio one day,  so I have decided to have a fence put back up.  I asked the owners if I could put the fence up where it was which would be on their boundary they said no,  which is fine,  so now I need to put it on my boundary line which is the start of the path,  my question is,  am I allowed to put a fence up the length of the path (I will put in a gate so access is not blocked) and does the access have to be in a specific location ?
the path runs from the house to the bottom of the gardens,  any help
would be welcomed,  I was going to get legal advice but it’ll cost over £600 and I really can’t afford that at the moment 

Mr.Generous

Usually the deeds say something like 'Unhindred access' but even so I wouldn't think an unlocked gate would be considered unreasonable by most courts. The chances of a landlord taking you to court for sticking a fence up that makes no difference to his tenants must be slim anyway.

ThisIsWeird

A sketch always helps.
Where was the original access point? And where are you proposing to fit the gate?
In general, an unlocked gate would be considered reasonable and not a hindrance - most folk need to keep pets and children safe. 
Some folk can become extremely petty about them, tho' - there's a thread or two on here about such gates 'trespassing' by 'swinging' the wrong way. Since this will be your fence, on your land, then perhaps play safe and have it opening your way?
What happened to the end steps? For how long have they been absent? Is there anything visible 'on the ground' to indicate a RoW?
Any idea why your neighbour is so unhelpful? Ie, removing a fence, and renting their property out?! What an 'ole.
Do you have any concerns about the attitude or behaviour of these tenants - apart from the obvious stuff you've mentioned? Do you think their trespass on to your patio was a genuine mistake as there is no defined boundary? Or were they 'trying it on'? Did you take any photos of the drug paraphernalia? 
Your call, but I wonder if it's worth you 'innocently' installing only a solid fence in the first instance, and seeing how that goes? Design it so that the end panel can be easily replaced by a gate if the owner acts like an 'ole. Surely the 'worst' that can happen is that you are obliged to retrofit a gate.
Anyone know the 'rules' on RoWs? If the 'further along' exit point no longer exists or is unsafe to navigate, are parties still entitled to use paths which no longer have a 'way' to go to?! Who would be responsible for reinstating the steps in this case? Are these missing steps on your land?*
And I'd install a discrete CCTV camera to cover your garden up to your new fence. A camera mounted just below top-of-fence level, and aimed along its length should be ok. Although, once on the RoW, it could be grey. However, you have knowledge of a criminal act carried out on your property, and that's a strong element - if anything like this happens again, take photos. And even now write down what you observed, along with witnesses.

* I guess there is always a risk if pushing your luck by putting up a solid fence; a belligerent neighbour might not only insist you fit a gate, but also pursue full reinstatement of the RoW if they think they can.

FlorayG

I've previously lived in this situation. As long as the neighbour has their legal access you can do what you like. You can put up a fence and a gate ( although as others said, make sure said gate opens on to your land)

Claddagh_Noir

I have been in this situation. We are at an end terrace with shared access into the back gardens.   Our house was built in the 50s / 60s.

I watched some workmen one day,  going to do some work for nextdoor, they would come INTO our actual garden rather than stick to the shared path / access at the top of our garden.  So I had put up a barrier against the shared path and our garden to block them coming onto our land.  So if and when they come back, they come through the shared gate (that would have previously allowed them full view and access into our garden) stick to the shared access path on our land (as they should) and go directly into the neighbour's back gate, into their garden  The workmen had no justifiable reason being in our garden, they were being lazy by shortcutting into it to put up scaffolding - the scaffolding didn't cross onto our house either so there was no need for them to be in our garden up close to our house, again it was bone idleness on their part!! 

In a way, we are cutting ourselves off from the shared path but, boundaries needed to be set (excuse the pun) it does not sit well with me where all and sundry can 'trespass' into our garden.  We of course still use the access and feel better putting up the shield.  Also, because the shared path is on our deeds, we have to maintain it and keep it safe and accessible for the neighbour.

Albermarle

ThisIsWeird said:

A sketch always helps.
Where was the original access point? And where are you proposing to fit the gate?
In general, an unlocked gate would be considered reasonable and not a hindrance - most folk need to keep pets and children safe. 
Some folk can become extremely petty about them, tho' - there's a thread or two on here about such gates 'trespassing' by 'swinging' the wrong way. Since this will be your fence, on your land, then perhaps play safe and have it opening your way?
What happened to the end steps? For how long have they been absent? Is there anything visible 'on the ground' to indicate a RoW?
Any idea why your neighbour is so unhelpful? Ie, removing a fence, and renting their property out?! What an 'ole.
Do you have any concerns about the attitude or behaviour of these tenants - apart from the obvious stuff you've mentioned? Do you think their trespass on to your patio was a genuine mistake as there is no defined boundary? Or were they 'trying it on'? Did you take any photos of the drug paraphernalia? 
Your call, but I wonder if it's worth you 'innocently' installing only a solid fence in the first instance, and seeing how that goes? Design it so that the end panel can be easily replaced by a gate if the owner acts like an 'ole. Surely the 'worst' that can happen is that you are obliged to retrofit a gate.
Anyone know the 'rules' on RoWs? If the 'further along' exit point no longer exists or is unsafe to navigate, are parties still entitled to use paths which no longer have a 'way' to go to?! Who would be responsible for reinstating the steps in this case? Are these missing steps on your land?*
And I'd install a discrete CCTV camera to cover your garden up to your new fence. A camera mounted just below top-of-fence level, and aimed along its length should be ok. Although, once on the RoW, it could be grey. However, you have knowledge of a criminal act carried out on your property, and that's a strong element - if anything like this happens again, take photos. And even now write down what you observed, along with witnesses.

* I guess there is always a risk if pushing your luck by putting up a solid fence; a belligerent neighbour might not only insist you fit a gate, but also pursue full reinstatement of the RoW if they think they can.

The points in bold also crossed my mind.