Neighbour disputes – the difficulty with shared accessways

Neighbour disputes and the difficulty with shared accessways is the latest topic from our Head of Litigation, Susan Lewis.

As the saying goes, “an Englishman’s home is his castle”.

For most of us, our homes are our most valuable and prized possession. We are naturally defensive and territorial about our homes and their boundaries. Many houses in this country however have unconventional accessways either by the design of a new property or by the sub-division of an older larger property or estate.

Shared accessways can take many forms and can result in very acrimonious disputes between feuding neighbours. They can take the following forms:

1. One property having no driveway or accessway of their own from the highway, having instead a right of way over the neighbouring property’s land either on foot or by vehicle in order to reach their property.

2. Two properties having their own narrow driveways which are not wide enough to accommodate modern cars, so the homeowners have either by agreement or by modern usage, simply driven over a section of their neighbour’s drive to access their own garage or parking area at the end of the driveways.

3. A modern new build development which has open plan space to the frontage of the homes which are shared by several properties and are not intended to be used for parking upon, but invariably are.

In instances of shared accessways, the most common dispute which arises is the interference of one party’s right of way over the accessway by the other party. This is more often than not caused by the parking of vehicles along the accessway which blocks the other party from also using the accessway. This can happen by careless parking, or simply because the neighbouring property has more than one car and not enough space to park all their vehicles.

What are your rights?

The first thing to establish is what legal rights you may have over your neighbour’s land. There are three common rights:

1. Express rights which are written into the property title deeds having been created and granted by previous owners which then bind the subsequent owners. These rights are known as ‘running with the land’ and the rights are automatically inherited by the new owners of the property as they change hands over the years.

2. Prescriptive rights. They can be created by simply exercising a right of way over someone’s land continuously for a period of at least 20 years without the owner’s permission or consent. If you can evidence this continuous usage, you can apply to have the right registered against both property titles.

3. Consents or permissions. They are informal arrangements agreed between both parties which can be terminated at any time by the owner and cannot be passed onto a new owner of your property.

If you can establish that you have a right of way over your neighbour’s land which is being substantially interfered with so that your use and enjoyment of the right cannot be substantially and practically exercised as conveniently as before, then you will have a claim against your neighbour. The Courts can order your neighbour to cease interfering with your right of way by granting an injunction to prevent the interference from continuing.

This is an area of law which is incredibly complex, and you should obtain early legal advice if you are in any doubt about what your rights are and if you have a cause for complaint against your neighbour. It is preferential to seek this advise first before approaching your neighbour to ensure that you are on a firm footing with your complaint. As you have to live next door to your neighbour, raising an issue where you have no legal right to complain is likely to cause a rift to appear in your relationship with your neighbour.

Once you have identified what your rights are, and that your neighbour is breaching those rights, you should try to approach your neighbour to resolve your complaint in as amicable a way as possible.

Depending upon the nature and extent of the dispute, it may be best coming from you directly first, rather than your solicitor, to try and keep yourself on friendly terms with your neighbour. It may be that your neighbour does not realise they are doing anything wrong and causing you inconvenience and upset. If this approach does not work or if you already have a poor relationship with your neighbour and you think only a legal letter will help, Jordans Solicitors can assist you further.

Tips to address the problem directly with your neighbour

Here are our top tips for addressing the problem with your neighbour:

1. Always try to speak with your neighbour in person about the problem. This often comes across better than in a letter. If possible, try and speak with your neighbour when you see them and if they are busy ask them to agree a convenient time to speak with you.

2. If you rarely happen to see your neighbour try putting a note through their door giving your phone number and asking them to contact you to arrange a time when you can speak in person.

3. If you can arrange to speak with them in person, be polite and non-confrontational about the problem. Keep to the facts of the problem and explain the difficulties you are experiencing with the accessway you share with your neighbour. Ask for their help in reaching a solution together. Be open to listen to any issues or concerns they have about your use of the shared accessway. You may find that both neighbours are doing something which troubles or inconveniences the other. Do not be defensive if they accuse you of behaving badly in your use of the shared accessway.

4. If you already have a particularly bad relationship with your neighbour so you do not want to try and speak with them or if a polite request in person (or in a note) to discuss the problem has been refused or ignored, then you will have to write to them to explain the problem. As in point 3 above, keep your note polite and to the point. Set out the facts and explain the difficulties you are having using the shared accessway. Explain what you would like your neighbour to do to help you use the accessway.

If the approaches above do not work and you decide that you want to pursue the problem formally, Jordans Solicitors can advise and assist you with your dispute over the use of a shared accessway. We can also assist you at the very early stages with drafting your letters to your neighbour if you feel you need help. This service is particularly useful if you already have a poor relationship with your neighbour and you do not feel you will be able to address the problem with your neighbour directly.