Shared drive question

[Weststander]

Hello all,
Hoping somebody can help. We have a shared drive with house next door (As sketch). After it being empty for several years the owner has decided to sell at short notice.
To avoid “sharing a drive” issues we would like to divide the drive with new fence as shown in red.
So the question is what would be a rough timescale to have the legal work completed & would a conveyancing solicitor do it all or would a surveyor be required as well?

Thanks in advance

[dslippy]

Does your neighbour agree to this? If both sides agree it is relatively simple, but such arrangements are not usually made in the absence of need (width).

Without seeing the layout, I cannot say how much assistance a survey would be.

Is it really a problem? Sharing drives does not usually cause issues.

I am not sure why ypu woud have notice pof him sellimng, but if it suggests to you that he is in a hurry I cannot see any reason for him to agree to this. It might look bad to any purchaser wondering why this was being done, as well as introducing a delay.

[atticus]

Have you looked at your Land Registry title document, to see what exactly you own and what rights (if any) your land is subject to?

[Weststander]

Does your neighbour agree to this? If both sides agree it is relatively simple, but such arrangements are not usually made in the absence of need (width).

Without seeing the layout, I cannot say how much assistance a survey would be.

Is it really a problem? Sharing drives does not usually cause issues.

I am not sure why ypu woud have notice pof him sellimng, but if it suggests to you that he is in a hurry I cannot see any reason for him to agree to this. It might look bad to any purchaser wondering why this was being done, as well as introducing a delay.

Thanks for quick response, the current owner inherited the house & has never lived there. He doesn’t mind what we do as long as it doesn’t cause him extra hassle.

Re the sharing issue, I just think that as there are no garages accessed by the drive, it makes more sense to fence it as shown to give a bit more space & security to both of us.

(Actually I forgot to put the width of drive on the sketch but it’s enough for one car.)

[Weststander]

Have you looked at your Land Registry title document, to see what exactly you own and what rights (if any) your land is subject to?

Thanks for quick response,

I have looked at the Land Registry & the boundary runs along the middle of the drive but we each have right of way over all of it.

[atticus]

putting up a fence will interfere with the right of way.

I agree with dslippy.

[dslippy]

You cannot do tis without causing hassle and expense to the neighbour. Might not a garage be erected on one side or the other or both at th erear? If it was not possible it may be odd that a joint drive was created. The possibility of a garage adds value to the house.

[Weststander]

You cannot do tis without causing hassle and expense to the neighbour. Might not a garage be erected on one side or the other or both at th erear? If it was not possible it may be odd that a joint drive was created. The possibility of a garage adds value to the house.

Yes there have been garages in the past,(houses were built in 1939), but knocked down years ago. To build a garage big enough for todays size of car would take out half the width of the back garden.

[dslippy]

You would defnitely be asking for trouble putting up a fence.

[Weststander]

You would defnitely be asking for trouble putting up a fence.

We’re proposing to do it with his agreement & us paying for it, don’t see how that’s asking for trouble.

Anyway the original question stands, ie. “what is a rough timescale to allow for the legal work to be completed?”

[dslippy]

Do you have the agreement of mortgagees? Each will appoint their own solicitors (possibly yours/your neighbours), and will require a valuation.