N/a - Neighbour using my driveway

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Sun 24 Aug 2014 15:15
N/a - Neighbour using my driveway - whitewedding
Hello. Was wondering if anyone could help. I live in a 3 bed detached with 3 parking spaces at the front of my house. However me and my husband only ever use 2 of them. My neighbour next door parks her car literally on the Boundary line and then swings her door open and uses our drive as a walk way (gets pretty annoying).
I want to put up a small fence (around 3ft) and put a small garden back in (it was once a garden when the estate was originally built but the previous owners surfaced it for another parking space). However once I do this she will no longer be able to use my drive as a walkway to get out of her car or swing her door open.
I have checked my deeds and there is nothing in it to say it's needed for access to open doors etc. Other people on the estate have hedges defining boundaries.
Is there anywhere I can check eg my local council does anyone know of? As I'd hate to spend money if I'm not allowed....
Thanks in advance.
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Sun 24 Aug 2014 17:32
N/a - Neighbour using my driveway - FP

I would urge you to think this one through very carefully.

So far you believe that your driveway/parking space is entirely and exclusively your own. (I assume you and your husband are the owners of the property.)

Do we assume that you have a driveway/parking space, and your neighbour has the same, and that the two run next to each other without any gap or definition of the boundary?

You have done some homework about the legal situation, but deeds can never be absolutely accurate to the inch about where boundaries exist; you should obtain land registry documents, but even these can fail to be absolutely clear.

What I am getting at is that, with potentially troublesome neighbours, what may seem to you as simply exercising your rights can be perceived as provocation by the other party. For example, the exact position of any boundary fence or hedge could be disputed.

An example: if you planted a hedge and later found the plants to have been treated with weed-killer, what would you do?

Now, a hedge may be a very good idea, for all sorts of reasons, but it would be best to approach your neighbour directly about your plans, maybe omitting to mention your annoyance at her walking on your drive.

Another suggestion: why don't you park your car right next to the boundary and make it impossible (or more brazen) for her to walk on your drive?

Edited by FP on 24/08/2014 at 17:33

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Mon 25 Aug 2014 00:12
N/a - Neighbour using my driveway - Andrew-T

Simple question - are you planning this because you want a strip of garden, or to alter your neighbour's behaviour? Either way, you have to discuss your ideas with her, just to forestall bad feelings.

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