As briefly as possible…
I bought a house four years ago with a ‘Right of Carriageway’ over the land between my house the next door neighbours.
Both houses were extended no less than 60 years ago to the length of the carriageway. It must have then been agreed, to continue vehicle access (horse & cart access [blink]), that the section of land further into both properties be shared to permit passage into the backyards.
My neighbour has removed the back-end of his house and has plans approved to build in such a way that the extended driveway will be back to its original length. This effectively means that the boundary fence will be extended (shortening the driveway) to be level with the rear of my building giving me about a metre and a bit to get into my backyard.
ORIGINAL SETUP
Evil Neighbour’s House..]
]
….Drive way…………….]—Existing fence–
]
……………………].<.end of my house
……………………]******
Evil Neighbour’s
House Reduction…]
]
….Driveway…………]-Proposed Fence Extension
]
……………………]..< End of My House
……………………]******
Our street is on left and backyards on the right.
I have sought legal advice today about arguing for continued access to the rear of my property (by not extending the fence line) and because we’ve been in dispute about his having a gate on the street end of the driveway (which is another story entirely.
I guess I’m hoping for someone with experience either personally or legally to toss a few ideas my way as to where they think I stand.
If further information is required, I’ll keep an eye on the board and provide where possible.
Comments are appreciated – unless in favour of Evil Neighbour [cigar]
Look at your title plans. If it only shows about a metre, that is all you get. If it shows nothing, your neighbour can take the lot.
Maybe a motorbike is the answer.
When I grow up, I want to be a storm trooper!
Hi BlackJack,
In this situation I would have suggested talking it out with your neighbour first to see if a compromise can be reached. Given that you’re calling them “Evil” I suspect this may not be on the cards.
I would suggest checking with your lawyer as to whether there is any possibility of making a claim on grounds similar to adverse possession, given that there has been ‘common’ use of the land for a long period of time.
Otherwise, you’re stuck with what’s on the plan, and have learnt a lesson for next time.
Good luck and I hope it all works out for you.
Leila
I don’t believe ‘common’ use rights would apply to land. That is why you need good title to settle a property.
_____________________________________________
[withstupid]
The forumite formally known as Big RobThanks for the replies.
You’re right, Leila. Although no cross words have been exchanged, there is a moody silence between us. He is a 6’2″ (wide and tall), intimidating, butt-crack-revealing dimwit. This is not just my experience but also that of the two previous owners of my house dating back to 1985.
Not only has he managed to breed (three obese, butt-crack-revealing children), he has also managed to put offside neighbours no less than three deep in every direction with his V8 revving, angle-grinding, dog barking antics.
I am not Tassie born and bred and before I lived here I’d heard of all the jokes about tasmanians (in bred, two heads, etc). I have never been one to capsulate a ‘breed’ within a framework of deficiencies but, alas, I happen to be living next to the embodiment of feral-ness you can only suffer in imaging.
(As an aside, I have to share this – As I sunned myself the other day with the Sunday paper, ‘it’ decided to commence work on some project amongst the wreckage of ‘its’ backyard involving some kind of shifting of some pile of sh@!%t from one end of the back yard to the other. If I’d had a camera I would have suggested some sort of ‘shoot’ as he sashayed about in what I can only imagine was some sort of kidney belt (moto-x days) encircled (read ‘hog-tied’) about its “waist” (were there one) that thereby created a ‘waist’ for which the gut to over-floweth.
I gagethed upon my tea.)
All of the above…. long day at work + zero tolerance for humankind in general = start generalisations, lack of detail explaining exasperation, etc…
To all you feral, butt crack type people, I love you and respect you…. just don’t choose to live beside me.
Mmmmmwwwwaaahhh [kiss]
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