Access Problem to my Property

[Geoff29]

My family have lived for 70 years in our cottage which is the middle one of 7 terraced cottages, there is also 1 detached house in the area. The 8 properties were all conveyed as one plot in 1911. The 8 properties were all sold off at different times. All the properties are registered at the Land Registry, and all have front and back accesses.

There is a driveway alongside the detached house (with a public footpath running through) leading to a pathway which leads to the rear entrance of all the other cottages. Everyone's deeds give a right of way over the rear pathway but not the driveway. The driveway is not registered and nobody knows who owns it.

In 2007 the owner put a five barred gate next to the road at the end furthest away from the rear path, with a pedestrian access gate at the side.

I need to have vehicular access over this driveway in order to have deliveries of central heating oil to the rear of my property.

When the gate was erected I challenged the owner of the detached house, and he gave me a key to the padlock of the gate. He refused to give keys to my other neighbours who have only lived in their cottages for a few years.

The owner is now selling his detached property and the estate agent's particulars lead prospective purchasers to believe that the driveway is part of the property to be sold (with a provision that they are not legally liable for the accuracy of the particulars).

Please can anybody tell me what my legal remedy is to deal with this situation (and my neighbours's). As I see it the gate is owned by the owner of the detached house but not the land that it stands on. Could the giving to me of the padlock key be construed as giving me a license only to use the driveway?

I can envisage the new owner putting an electric gate in place of the old gate and trying to exclude access to all the 7 cottages, especially as the house is on the market for 900k.

Many thanks in advance.

[bluebottle]

Re: Access Problem to my Property

You need to consult with a legal professional specialising in land and property matters. The matter of access needs to addressed and the estate agents marketing the detached house need a good hard kick up their backsides if they have not made any prospective purchaser aware of any rights of way.

[IanM]

Re: Access Problem to my Property

Hello Geoff29, if you want to find out who owns the land you can apply to the Land Registry to find out.

If the land is not registered to anybody then you need to take possession of the land.

I do not have the paperwork available to me at this moment but i can dig it out tomorrow and let you know how to make an Adverse Possession application of this land if nobody owns it. It does have its risks and it will cost some money to establish that you have taken possession but after 12 years, if nobody claims and proves ownership, then the land becomes yours and you can register it with the Land Registry and sell it if you want or keep it for the access you need.

[Geoff29]

Re: Access Problem to my Property

Hi Jack, Many thanks for the good advice I consulted a property solicitor when the gate was first erected and he said that there was not a lot I could do about the gate and that I could not claim Adverse Possession as I was not the sole user, but by the same token the detached house owner could not claim AP either for the same reason, especially as a public footpath runs through the driveway. I would add that he also owns land on on the oposite side of the driveway to his house and a field beyond the end of the driveway, the last side fronts onto the public highway. The outcome of the solicitor's advice was that I should make a Statutory Declaration to the effect that I been using the access for 70 years, this I did and it was duly registered on my own deeds, this cost me a lot of money and I felt that I could have done the same myself for a fraction of the cost.

Since this I been getting advice from the Land Registry and I have registered a right of way across the driveway by way of a Cautionary Title for the cost of just £50. My problem is I would like to know what I can do to pre-empt the situation of me being locked out and refused access, as I feel that a court injunction may cost more than I can afford.