Neighbours are trying to nick/adopt/acquire shared space

[fido]

Thanks for the replies. I've been recovering from injuries (unrelated to this!) so haven't had time to chase.

The neighbours came around this morning for a chat.

1.

jet_noise said:

If you wish to spend £5er (or whatever it is now) you can get a copy of your neighbours deeds from, I think, the land registry. May give you more ammo

They showed me a segment of their Title and agreed on what I stated before - that I actually own half of driveway.

2.

g7jtk said:

Shouldn't the shared part of the driveway be kept clear at all times to allow access for either party.
Is it shared ownership or shared access?

Both are Titles have right of way over the others share of area.
She did not seem to understand RoW as she made a point about saying "but we have RoW over your share".

3. She hinted I was being unneighbourly/forthright about it. I responded that she was wrong to tell me that they owned X when in fact they now agree that they don't. He said they didn't know until I brought it up.

4. I mentioned removal of the gates. He said he had trouble driving past (gates were <2cm thick on either side). Just to add I managed to get a 4x4 through the opening in the fog on many occasions with and without the gates(!) He said he fitted them - I don't know if this is true or not but won't pursue the matter.

5. He then tried to stipulate what was acceptable and I said they should park on their side of the shared area and not impede my RoW. He said I could park on their share with their permission. I said I would have no need to park on his share. I mentioned that I would be happy to split the area with a fence if he wanted to do that.

I left it at that. Still can't work out who is more stupid - his wife is definitely more annoying. My sister, girlfriend, parents all seem to think I should stand my ground on this matter - but they do live in a 'posh' area where most of the neighbours stick to rules fastidiously.

Edited by fido on Saturday 14th January 15:13

[fido]

jet_noise said:

Do the deeds expand on the RoW e.g. at all times and for all purposes?

No - just says I have right of way over the northern portion and they have right of way over the southern portion.

[fido]

As an update, I will be chatting to solicitors about this - hoped it wouldn't come to this. I had some more landscaping done to the front garden and they resumed their silly games again the day after. I altered my CCTV to cover the area so it's very obvious. I got annoyed and went round to tell them to desist or I would be going legal. Think I lost my cool a bit and it might be better to communicate via letters from now on. They also now refer to the right of way as 'common' land, which I take as either purposely being obtrusive or they don't understand legal-ese.

hyphen said:

It all sounds a bit suspect to me, as if they wanted to put in planning permission for something utilising that land.

Not sure what plans they have on their side but it they do not like the idea of me getting a second car - can't think of any other reason.

[fido]

ozzuk said:

Good luck, be interesting to hear what the solicitors advice - a letter before action may resolve the situation, but in reality what action would you take?

There was already some issue with shared drainage and other bits of planning when I bought the property. I am not planning to sell (cost too much to move) but they might sell up to downgrade. Yes, first step would be to notify them of the legal situation - not sure if this is a letter before action - maybe a letter before, letter before action. Well I am getting a second car, so parking on it would be an option but I would rather do things properly first!

[fido]

sideways sid said:

Not sure if I'm over-simplifying here, but if both parties have RoW over one piece of land, that implies that the land provides a route for both parties to their own land. i.e. shared driveway to access rear garden(s) or garage(s).

Nope, you've summed it up perfectly in a nutshell. The guy unfortunately has little man syndrome or some issue which makes him believe that he does not have to follow these simple rules. He once threatened to throw some branches over my fence because they had gone over his boundary - totally unreasonable behaviour. I would have just cut them back and disposed of them.

Edited by fido on Wednesday 22 February 14:35