neighbour has gate onto my land!!

merchantofvenice

hi

when we bought our house 2 years ago nearly, the seller said in the info. pack that they had a dispute with a neighbour as they had put in a side access gate from their property, which was not allowed because it went onto land owned by our house, namely our carport.

my house is an end terrace, with 2 houses to the right, then our space to park 2 cars. Our neighbour's garden fence runs along the boundary of this space, which is where they had put the gate.

we were told this dispute had been resolved, and that the gate was removed, we went ahead & purchased.

then this week our neighbour knocked on our door, and asked for permission to use "our gate" for people to gain access as he was doing some building in his garden.We were shocked and of course said no, as far as we were concerned, the gate does not exist. Obviously our neighbour still has a working gate, if he asked for our permission to use it.

what do we do now, can we demand that the "gate" to be replaced by a fence panel? I am really stressed out by this and don't want to start a feud.
Thanks for reading, any advice welcomed:D

lynnexxxo

I would be tempted to allow your neighbour to use the gate for the building work, on the condition that any damage they cause will be put right.

The fact that she came round to ask to use the gate speaks volumes IMO. She doesn't intend using it regularly but it will probably make things easier for her builders. For which I'm sure she will be very grateful.

Surely allowing the gate to be used as a one off isn't that big a deal?

ilovegreatdanes

hi,
i suppose it depends how much you like your neighbour????think you will have to check the plans to make doubly sure that its not a right of way or anything and if its deffo all your land, politely tell neighbour that cos its your land, you are replacing gate with a fence cos of security(burgalars) and hope you can still be friends.
am sure someone will be along who knows this sort of stuff better than me, be think neighbour disputes should be avoided if you can,you may need them one day....and who needs a bad atmosphere?
stand up for your rights by all means and check the legals but id keep it amicable if you can.
good luck and best wishes in your new home.
ilgd x

moneysavinmonkey

merchantofvenice wrote: »

hi

then this week our neighbour knocked on our door, and asked for permission to use "our gate" for people to gain access as he was doing some building in his garden.We were shocked and of course said no, as far as we were concerned, the gate does not exist. Obviously our neighbour still has a working gate, if he asked for our permission to use it.

I'm a bit confused - is there a gate still there? Did you not notice it before now.. or do you mean the neighbour has a 'gate' that he wants to temporarily (re)install for the duration of his buildings works.

Why did you refuse his request? if it's not really going to inconvenience you and as long as you make it clear you are giving permission for this one time only then for the sake of neighbourly relations it could be a wise move to allow him access.

Richard_Webster

If they have asked your permission then they are acknowledging your rights in the matter...

PasturesNew

I think it could be the thin end of the wedge. If you like this neighbour then decide if you want to let them use it just this once (although be aware that builders will have no regard for "your land" and might make a mess and/or not be too careful if your property/vehicles are in their way with their materials. And they might even start parking their van around the area.

However, I'd look at the gate and find some legitimate and reasonable sounding way to block it up. e.g. to say you've got somebody coming to fit shelving there, or something (can't see it, so no idea what this looks like).

I'd then go ahead and do something to block it from my side.

IMHO if the dispute was settled then the neighbour has no rights over that land. It isn't right of way. The fact they have asked to me would indicate that they know they don't too. If there is a right of way over any part of your land you should have been alerted to it by your solicitor when you were buying, but this can't be guaranteed and even if they had pointed it out, you might not remember.

But if it were me I'd be finding a way to block their gate off. I wouldn't ask them to replace it with a fence panel, just make sure when they opened the gate they were faced with some cabinet/shelves/whatever that prevented them passing.

If you can take a photo/draw a picture it might be useful to see the layout.

Catblue

I'm having trouble picturing this, sorry.

It seems as if you have never seen this gate, and yet it allows access onto your land? How come you can't see it?

If your neighbour is asking permission to use this gate, then it would appear that the neighbour knows that he has no right of way over your land, which is good news for you.

Maybe you could give him access this one time, on the strict condition that the gate is removed after the work to his garden has been done. Make sure you get this in writing.

If your neighbour definitely owns the boundary fence where the gate is and refuses to remove the gate, then you can always put a fence up in front of his gate, or stick a shed there or something.

merchantofvenice

Thanks for the quick replies!
well to begin with we have never spoken to our neighbours before, we (esp. DH) just keep to ourselves, maybe the odd nod hello every now and again. we have looked(before we bought) and we have found where the gate is as there are hinges, we just asssumed that he had boarded it up or nailed it closed, or something.(from his side)
There is no way to put shelves up over the fence, as it is just a car parking space, that runs along the the length of his garden and the almost the length of his house. 2 cars parked behind eachother. Could we board up that area of the fence from our side??
Honestly, i can say that it does not really bother me(on this specific occaision) as we don't use our spaces, we have 1 car and park in front of our house, and i feel sorry for them because they have to put all their building waste through their house, but DH won't budge because he thinks that when you give someone permission once they tend to not ask the second time, he doesn't want to have any ambiguity regarding boundaries, just because we don't want the hassle, and we might have probs when we want to sell. Technically he could park in front of the gate, but he doesn't want to get his car scratched, or something. I would just rather the gate wasn't there.
On the night he asked we were asleep, (it wasn't late, but we get up at 4.30) and he kept knocking and knocking so DH was in a v. bad mood.

Davesnave

You won't be creating a right of way if you allow your neighbour access as occasional one offs. If your neighbour has no way out to the back of his/her property, except through the house, it could be really inconvenient & messy for certain building jobs. If this is the case, you have to consider how reasonable and 'good neighbourly' you are being.

As others have said, there's plenty you can do if you don't want that neighbour or their builders crossing the land, so it is nothing to stress about. You have given no indication that you dislike that neighbour. As the relatively new kid on the block, you also have to consider what kind of reputation you'll gain by saying 'No.'

myhooose

Personally (i'm no expert) I think you will have more problems if you don't let him use the gate. It would generate bad feeling between you and your neighbour especially if them using the gate causes no inconveience to yourselves. I don't really understand what all the fuss is about? I'd just let em use it.

chappers

Legally you can deny him acces but in the spirit of good relations maybe you should allow him access on condition he repairs any damage etc. you never know when you might need a favour from him.