# shared driveway legalities



## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

sorry, i didnt know which section to put this in, but its detailing related as i want to build a garage.
ive attached an image of the house/garden layouts.










basically between our house (on the right) and our neighbours on the left we have an area that runs down to gates to enter our backgarden.
as you can see mt neighbour already has a garage, and i have placed a garage in my garden where i plan to have it.

the shared area is tight, but i have checked and can get our cars down there.

this would only be used for detailing anyway, so i have a retreat to go to.

we both have 2cars of which we park on our drives

our drive however has a small step up 1 slab in from the middle of between the 2drives, so our cars are never blocking the shared entrance. basically if my neighbour wanted to get their cars down there, my cars would not be obstructing.

however, with their 2nd car, they do not allow any space for anything to pass .
thats fair enough until now, as neither of us has a need to get the cars down.

however, when i build my garage, am i going to have problems? were already not on the best of terms unfortunatley.

does anyone know any legal issues with allowing for access to rear garages?

thanks in advance


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

ive attached an image through photobucke, but here on my work comp its not showing.
can you all see it?


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## Bazza155 (Aug 30, 2007)

Nope, not from my work PC.


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

First place I'd call is your local council planning department and ask them for some advice.


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## tonz (Sep 21, 2008)

would of thought if its a shared drive , and your neighbour already has a garage at the end of it . You should be ok , would get in touch with your local planning dept and have an informal chat . They will indicate if there are any reasons why you couldn't


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

cheers guys

yeah will do that i think. probably easiest thing to do


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## Franco50 (Feb 5, 2008)

John - I looked at the properties on your pic and it still won't show when I paste the full URL into my browser. Also it says the dimensions of the pic are only 30 x 28 pixels which is tiny so you must have copied the wrong bit from Photobucket I'm afraid.


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Strange - the picture appears perfect on here, and always has done...


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## ZedFour (May 6, 2008)

Basically, you own your half of the shared drive and have right of way over your neighbour's half (and vice-versa).

Neither of you has the right to block the driveway or store anything on it.

I would suspect that your neighbour assumes that, as you are not using the driveway for a car he can park his second car there (as you would probably do if the tables were turned).

"were already not on the best of terms unfortunatley" does make it difficult to easily overcome the situation but a quick mention that you are going to build a garage and will need access should be enough. If you really aren't on speaking terms, drop him a polite note through the door telling him and that during the construction, would he kindly leave the access clear to avoid any unnecessary damage to his second car.

If things get nasty, he hasn't a legal leg to stand on as you have right of way over the shared access...

Good luck but please try talking to him first :thumb:


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

I can see the diagram ok, got confused with the 2nd car saga, but even more confused once again with nieghbours that don't get on  for probably petty reasons, if one neighbou was better than the other , they would live on a 'posher' street surely?


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## VixMix (May 8, 2008)

If these are both privately owned houses you would need to consult your title deeds to see what agreements are in place. You may find that the ground is owned up to a dividing line between the properties and that an agreement has been put in place between the occupiers (or previous occupiers) regarding access across each others land. This may have been informal or formal.

I would suggest that, even though you are not on best terms, an informal chat along the lines of, "I would like to be able to put my car behind the house, would you be prepared to park your car a little further over, so I can get my car through, thank you" would be a starting point. Start immediately parking your car in the garden to get them used to the idea, before you start your garage extension. They may quite happy to do so. 

Enforcing any "right" to cross their land, or if the access is properly shared, getting them to keep it clear may end up involving lawyers letters. I think a softly softly approach first and foremost.


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

i dont mean 'we hate' each other lol, just from a recent tiff.
i can still talk to them. just wndered if there were any legal things.

i will have to look at the deeds to our house and see what the deal is.

as said from someone, i think both parties would/should always allow access to the back area as its split between us

thanks for the advice all


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Do they use that garage to put a car in and have they used that share drive?

If so i cant see why you cant have a garage and both TRY to keep it free to use. If it will always get blocked no probs just ask them giving a bit of noice that you need to get up to your garage.

To be hnest there garage is in a funny place, at the back like you idea would be best for both partys.

Planning department on board early is a must.

Cheers

PaulN


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## SteveOC (May 26, 2007)

ZedFour said:


> Basically, you own your half of the shared drive and have right of way over your neighbour's half (and vice-versa).
> 
> Neither of you has the right to block the driveway or store anything on it.
> 
> ...


How can you make a ********** statement based solely on the information posted?
My parents 'share' a driveway with their neighbours and in their case they whollly own the driveway. Reading the information from their solicitors, they are required to allow the neighbour access to their garage and allocated parking space, but the neighbour does not actually 'own' any part of the shared driveway itself. If I go to see them this week, I'll take a closer look at the paperwork, but they live a fair distance from me.
In the first instance, check the paperwork your solicitor gave you when they carried out the conveyancing on your property when you purchased it, but you will still need to check with your local council who will have their own planning regulations specific to your property.

Steve O.


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

guys appologies if theres been a lack od explanation.
well luckily, weve been evactuated from work today due to a nearby aspestos roof fire.

so here i am at home.

here is a perfect example of our drive ways and 'thru-way'

i only posted here to see if you guys new of any legal info

hope these pics help


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## notsosmall (Sep 13, 2008)

Check your deeds

you will most likely have right of access thru there so your neighbour has to leave it clear for you, but as already said start if off friendly its often the quickest and easiest way


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

johnsastra16v said:


> i dont mean 'we hate' each other lol, just from a recent tiff.
> i can still talk to them. just wndered if there were any legal things.
> 
> i will have to look at the deeds to our house and see what the deal is.
> ...


Gosh that right of way is tight, sometimes there can be more to the title deeds , as after a time of none use/use a claim can be made , however you should have no worries there, just look for the win win situation, hope you all get it sorted.


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

cheers avanti

yeah its tight! lol

but the astra can get down there and so can the rx8


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## little john (Jun 10, 2007)

I have had this issue for my Gran and Granddad with their neighbour. A drive which was originally put in by my Granddad in 1954 I think when he had a car and built his garage at the back of the house. Back then the neighbour was an OK bloke and when he built a garage and bought a car it was shared, never blocked they both either drove in to the garages or on to the grass at the back of the houses. Originally there was a fence down the path separating their land from my granddads but it was removed to make the drive.

The current neighbour of about 27 years the early years were OK no problems the last 8 or so he has been an ********. He knocked his garage down so he could park his caravan on there, he also parked his VW polo estate on the drive in front of the caravan and his freelander went between the 2 houses blocking the drive for car access but you could take the bins down the gap. It wasn't really an issue as in about 1995 My Granddad decided he was no longer safe to drive and handed his licence back so He didn't have a car. I got a car, my dad has alway had a car and my sister got a car a few years ago we would often visit and often all 3 of us would be there at the same time and we would park on the drive or the run in at the front of the house. If anyone needed to get out we would move and he would move. He recently extended the area for his caravan and now parks the polo and the caravan in the garden but the freelander remains on the drive and restricts vehicular access to my granddads garage.

We got the council involved and when they sold the house to the neighbour they didn't put anything in about the drive so it became a shared drive by default as he had had the use of it previously. it all came to ahead last year, he was out so I parked in front of my granddads garage to clean my car. the neighbour came home as I was filling the buckets so I went out stepped at the back of the car to close the boot in preparation to move it, the neighbour carried on driving up the drive and trapped me between my car and his and hit my bumper. Anyone else would have lamped him but I had known him most of my life and respected him up until this point. I now ignore him We tried to get the council involved and them to ermined him of the laws regarding not parking on shared drives, restricting access to his garage which doesn't exist. He said he has a right to access which I agreed to and reminded him not to park on which he insisted he could he is a total ******.


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