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Hi. Is anyone able to advise on our predicament please.
We live on a high street. The property next door used to be a bank, but it closed its doors about 2 years ago. The bank had a small courtyard at the back with a gate leading into our back garden. The gate was never used in the 15 years we have lived here, and as far as we were concerned, it was just a secondary means of escape from the office at the back of the bank (fire). We were aware that the deeds stated that the neighbouring property had a ‘right of access ‘ as marked on the plans from the aforementioned gate, around the back of our house and back down to our front gate that leads onto the high street. Given 15 years ago, the closure of high street banks was not really on the radar, we accepted that this was a risk we were willing to take.
The old bank has been acquired by property developers who are wanting to go for change of use, putting flats upstairs with office space on the ground floor. We understand that they will be renting the flats, but using the office space for their own purposes. They want to use the right of access as a route to drag their bins from the rear of their property to the road without going through their building, or may even use it as a principle access route for one of the flats. In doing so, the occupants of the flats will be walking past 5 of our ground floor windows including the kitchen, living room and dining room and as such, we will loose much of our privacy.
I have read read that the means of access can only benefit the owner of the property- is this correct, and if so, does it mean that if the property is let, then the tenants might not have a right to cross our land. Is there any means we can employ to prevent access altogether given it had not been used by the bank/ previous owners as a means of access for 40 years plus (we know the people who lived here before us).
Many thanks in anticipation.
Pierre
We live on a high street. The property next door used to be a bank, but it closed its doors about 2 years ago. The bank had a small courtyard at the back with a gate leading into our back garden. The gate was never used in the 15 years we have lived here, and as far as we were concerned, it was just a secondary means of escape from the office at the back of the bank (fire). We were aware that the deeds stated that the neighbouring property had a ‘right of access ‘ as marked on the plans from the aforementioned gate, around the back of our house and back down to our front gate that leads onto the high street. Given 15 years ago, the closure of high street banks was not really on the radar, we accepted that this was a risk we were willing to take.
The old bank has been acquired by property developers who are wanting to go for change of use, putting flats upstairs with office space on the ground floor. We understand that they will be renting the flats, but using the office space for their own purposes. They want to use the right of access as a route to drag their bins from the rear of their property to the road without going through their building, or may even use it as a principle access route for one of the flats. In doing so, the occupants of the flats will be walking past 5 of our ground floor windows including the kitchen, living room and dining room and as such, we will loose much of our privacy.
I have read read that the means of access can only benefit the owner of the property- is this correct, and if so, does it mean that if the property is let, then the tenants might not have a right to cross our land. Is there any means we can employ to prevent access altogether given it had not been used by the bank/ previous owners as a means of access for 40 years plus (we know the people who lived here before us).
Many thanks in anticipation.
Pierre
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