Avoiding WW III with the neighbour?

[flanajb]

After some advice here as I have never been the most tactful person, and no matter how hard I try to be nice when trying to discuss an issue with neighbours I always end up losing my rag when they insinuate that I am being unreasonable.

The latest saga has been going on for a while now and my blood pressure is rising and I am ready to blow!

Let me set the story. Our house is the middle house in the diagram below. The red band is a 7' shared right of way and is on our deeds. Our drive ways are all joined and there is no fences / walls between each of the drives and as a result the 7' shared is more like 10 / 12' so there is plenty of room to get the cars out.

For some reason, and it was like it when we bought the house, our neighbours garage is at the end of the shared access and his driveway is next to it. To get his car into his drive he has to drive across our driveway. Normally, I park next to our garage, but sometimes the wife parks her car on the actual drive. When she does this he has a bit of a job to get his car out, but he has never had to knock to ask us to move it.

Anyway, about a year ago he sticks a skip on his driveway and starts parking in front of his garage on the shared access, right across from our garage. With his vehicle there it means I cannot drive onto my drive and reverse into the space. I have to reverse down from the road to be able to get in.

Now given the skip is basically empty, I am now thinking he has put it on his drive as he got fed up with trying to get his car out.

In a nutshell, his ramshackle breeze block garage is in the wrong place and it should be demolished and put inline with the rest of them.

He said he was going to do this 2 years ago, but nothing has happened.

I think he is taking the p!ss now as I would not dream of parking my van opposite my neighbours garage as that is just not good for relations.

What do I do, as I am ready to blow!

Just thought I would mention that the neighbour has no legal right to drive across our driveway and there is nothing in our deeds to say otherwise

 

[deema]

I believe that if he has been driving across your driveway for 7 years or more without you objecting or taking steps to prevent it he has gained an 'easement' or legal right to continue to use your driveway. If he hasn't been doing this for seven years or more, put a stop to it. Take some legal advise and have a solicitor draft a letter that mKes your objective clear.

 

[flanajb]

Oh bugger. Maybe best I speak with my solicitor as the neighbour has been doing this for more than 7 years.

 

[spinks]

Put a skip on your driveway blocking his access and see what he says!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Is the skip perhaps for the demolition waste of his garage??? Do you know what he's planning to use the skip for? Also, you don't sound like you're on speaking terms, I mean why can't you just have a chat with him? Or if its strained, your Mrs have a chat...with his Mrs? Point is you have no information about the skip, how can you possibly make a decision?

 

[deema]

If he has been doing it for more than 7 years I would certainly get a solicitors letter drafted of a cease and dissist vain. If he does not challenge it and stops using your driveway, then the easement becomes 'forgotten' as he has acknowledged your right to sole use. After you have the legal letter the skip is a really good idea to stop any use. A letter should be fairly inexpensive, but if successful will maintain the value of your house as a opposed to having an easement to declare. All the best.

I had a similar issue of someone parking in my allocated car parking space....painful and frustrating but we got it resolved in the end. A skip was the best solution for reclaiming the car parking place, and the cheapest!....after a legal letter!

 

[RogerBoyle]

To Play Devils advocate here..

What's the Neighbour's point of View ???......... Could it be After years of struggling to get his car out he has decided to treat you the same way

Do his deeds give him access?? ......... if so you are on a hiding to nothing ...

As I said just playing the devils advocate

If I understand you correctly you all use a shared access to get on to your own drives. If this is the case I personally think there is nothing that you can do other that speak to the neighbour and see exactly what the problem and get it resolved

Yes you can go down the legal route and waste huge sums of money as after you have sent out your solicitor's letters what then..

Things usually spiral out of control as you both take any and all sorts of silly actions against the other party with the misguided believe that anything bad that happens to you will be the fault of the neighbour

What ever action you decide to take I wish you the best

 

[Lons]

First action has to be to discuss it with him in a calm and reasonable manner. if you can't do this then let your missus do it but you'll need the willpower to keep your mouth shut or it will escalate very quickly and become impossible. Shared access is always difficult to live with.

As said, you could retaliate and park your skip / van / what have you but there are no winners in that event.

You need to listen to what the guy says as he might actually have a point you hadn't thought of.

Good luck with it anyway

Bob

 

[flanajb]

I am rather annoyed that he has had the same skip on his drive for over a year now. I have asked him about parking against the back wall and how it makes it difficult for me reversing out of my space next to the garage. I asked him to not pull forward and to reverse right back up to his garage. He did this for about a week and then he was parking back in the same spot.

I have also come home in the past to find visitors of his parking on my drive. The last time my wife raised this he said. ' they will be gone soon'

So it's tricky as I feel he takes liberties. If visitors of mine parked on my neighbours drive I would be most apologetic about it.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

so he's definitely being unreasonable then. And a skip for a year??? Is there anything in it? You are well within your rights to ask that to be removed.

 

[Baldhead]

Like Roger lets look at it from your neighbours point if view, sometimes your wife parks on your drive making it difficult for your neighbour to drive off his drive, he hasn't asked you or your wife to move your car from your drive, is this possibly because (in your own words) 'you have never been the most tactful person', and he thinks you may fly off the handle?

His garage was there when you first moved into your property, and although you say it is a 'ramshackle breeze block garage is in the wrong place and should be demolished', you obviously knew this when you bought your property.

I don't follow what you mean by the 7' shared access is more like 10' - 12'?

Perhaps you could do as your neighbour has done and build some sort of structure on your drive, a garage perhaps?

You could ask for advice here

http://swarblaw.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=14


Baldhead

 

[MMUK]

Put a concrete post and gravel board fence up along your boundary line :twisted: then sue him if he damages it :twisted:

 

[doorframe]

This will not end well if you and your neighbour cannot talk and agree.

My previous home... shared a doorstep with one neighbour, an alleyway/access to rear garden with the other neighbour. Shared 8 parking spaces with over 30 homes. Fell out with both neighbours over silly things we couldn't agree on. I didn't think I was being unreasonable, and they didn't think they were being unreasonable.

The doorstep neighbour insisted on playing loud music, stamping up and down the stairs (on the party wall) slamming doors at all times, day and night. His conifers were 8ft over my small garden blocking all light and covering my garden in conifer crap. He wouldn't consider my thoughts on any of this. I chopped his tress down, we had a fight in the back garden, and he moved house. New neighbour was a diamond.

The alleyway neighbour was a crack head single mum in rented accommodation. Left all the rubbish bags piled in the alley. The back garden was already 6ft high in rubbish. Rats everywhere. The stench was unbelievable. Council etc were uninterested. Different crack head boyfriend every night. The squeaking bed kept me and SWIMBO awake every night. Crack head party every Friday night. Crack head boyfriends threatened me with a knife twice. Police uninterested. Finally snapped and demolished their street door during a crack head party. I got the **** punched out of me, then got arrested. I moved house.

I now share nothing. Got my own off road parking for more cars than I own, got my own doorstep in the middle of my own driveway, stairs go up the middle of the houses, not a party wall, and as I couldn't afford a detached house, a semi was good enough. I don't associate with the neighbours unless they start the conversation.

Neighbours were put on this earth by the Devil.

 

[Silas Gull]

If war becomes necessary, do not resort to violence.
Nuclear weapons are quite adequate.