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Defunct land next to house
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our boundary is the wall - the lane separates us from their boundary and is approx 2 metres wide.
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They are potentially damaging our boundary wall by building raised beds against it…plus hammering in a fence panel into the wall to block off the lane
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In threads like this photos speak louder than words.
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the local council claim not to know about the lane but they're still maintaining the street lights - one at the top near us and one at the bottom road where the lane originally ended!
Are the streetlights there to light the lane, or is it just coincidence they are in those positions?
Is this in an area with just one council (unitary authority) or one with two or more tiers (e.g. a district and county council).
Although most streetlights are provided for highways, and often managed by the county council (as highway authority), the powers for streetlighting actually apply to all levels of local authority (town/parish councils have the power to install them too). If your area is multi-tier it is possible the local (parish/district) council responsible for the lighting is not aware of the status of the lane, which would be a highway authority (county) function.
If you want to try to stop the land grab there are two ways you could go about it -
a) Demonstrate the land is highway - either because it is already (if it is, easy), or highway rights have been established over time (tricky).
b) Alert the landowner to the situation. If it was owned by the developer and they went into receivership then there should be an insolvency practitioner or someone else still responsible for the assets of the company. The land could be bona vacantia and therefore the responsibility of the Bona Vacantia Division (BVD) (if the land is in England and Wales). There's an online form BVC2 you can use to make enquiries about such land - but what BVD are willing to do in most cases is limited to disclaiming it, or selling it. Even if you make an offer to buy, BVD can simply disclaim the land instead.
If the land doesn't have any highway rights then the better strategy might be to agree with the neighbour that you won't object to their land grab provided they agree to split the land with you. If they don't agree then there's a risk of you getting into a neighbour dispute which you might have to declare when you come to sell, in which case you might be better off letting them get on with what they are doing, provided there is no damage to your property.
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It appears to be 2 councils - the district council which maintains highways, public rights of way etc and the local town council - both have been contacted and both deny knowledge of the lane - the streetlight is right at the top and bottom so there is no way they don't know it's no longer used!
I think a conversation with the neighbour is the way to go…
Thank you for your reply - most helpful!2 -
What the photo shows looks more urban than what I was expecting.
It almost looks like the typical situation where a back alley/lane was provided to give properties an access from the rear (sometimes for vehicles, but not always). Is there anything in your deeds, or any of the neighbours, which mentions a right of access?
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Are you also jealous that they are getting free land, would you have given them permission if they had asked?
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it's not been used for vehicles - there are 2 manholes here as well. Further down we can just see a handrail and steps so it's always been a footway…
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It may - almost certainly will - be difficult to resolve due to the fact that the developer is no more. Do you pay any maintenance charge to a management co to maintain any other parts of the estate - grassy bits? If so, perhaps they have hitherto-unknown ownership/responsibility for it?
Perhaps the new neighbour did their research and sussed out that no-one cares about the lane? So they considered worth a grab, and some folk will grab. Annoying and galling, but hey.
If someone did still own the land, that neighbour's uncle would have much less fun dismantling it all.
It looks pretty clear that the local council/LA do not consider it their responsibility. That's a shame, because that would most likely have gained a result - tho' they'd hate the thought of having to clear the shrubbery and maintain the path. So, it's still part of the 'estate', and the problem will be to find who is responsible for this.
As for how it directly affects you, you can put the neighbour on written notice of their responsibility to not cause any damage to your fence.
Although galling that some folk grab, it does look as tho' no-one cared about or used this access lane, so it's no great loss to anyone. On that basis, I think I'd personally ignore it as regards to dealing with the neighbour (other than potential damage), tho' it's still worth trying to inform whoever actually owns the lane what's going on. It up to them whether to act.
From a moral pov, and in answer to those who ask, "What has this got to do with you?", I think it's fair to say, "It's just wrong."
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I think they need to so that they can claim adverse possession. This is achieved through prolonged, unauthorized, and continuous occupation of the land without the legal owner's permission.
The OP should definitely ask them to stop interfering with his boundary, but other than that, it does require the land owner to intervene.
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