I have a shared drive

[mawall]

My neighbours from hell are making our lives misery, with their coming and going with motor vehicles, lack of maintenance of drive, fags end all over drive, damage to garden posts from reversing. Have I a case to go to the court and ask for them to close a shared drive. Even if it means I lose access to my garage. My neigbours since moving in have turned their garden into a scrap yard and what was once a beauitiful garden is more akin to a rubbish tip. We cannot even sell our house, who wants to live next door to a rubbish tip

[bednobs]

i dont understand what you mean - close a shared drive? if you dont want to share the drive and dont want access to your gaage then just let them use it, then it wont be a shared drive anymore.
Areyou a council tennant? are they? do they own their house? if not then get in touch with their landlord. people are allowed to have their garden how they like though!

[mawall]

We both own our property, our rear doors face each other less the six feet across, I dont want sit in my conservatory and look at the comings and goings of a anti-social misfit. I appreciate what you say "that one can do what they like with they own garden" but that does not mean one as to lose valuation of there own property. Also the law states where shared drives are concerned, that maintenance of such drives are equally shared and any such cost should be divided 50-50. For the past five years prior to last year I maintained and paid for weedkiller etc. On leaving my neighbours side unattended, grass and weeds are now
taking over the neighbours side. They repeatedly turn down my request for cost sharing and doing any maintenance or repairs to their side of the double gates( which in fact now beyond repair. On more then one occasion I have walked out of my rear door only to be faced with a speeding motorbike tearing up the drive, being hearing impaired
it is difficult to know when a car or bike are coming up the drive.

[bednobs]

i still dont understand what you would want a court to do. They surely are not obliged to maintain their gargen to your standards?
Cant you just look up the drive to see if there is something coming before you step out?

[mawall]

How dare you patronise me. Do you look out of your door before you step into your path or drive! I doubt it very much.
Unless you have something constructive to say or discuss, I would suggest you refrain from making opinionated comments like you have.
Perhaps I did not make myself clear what I would like to do is erect a 2 mtr fence down the middle of the shared drive, then my neighbour can do what the hell he likes. I would like the court to reinstate original boundaries. It only became a shared drive when previous occupants of both properties who were family related made it that way many years ago. Unfortunately since then the following oocupants have kept the option of the shared drive within the deeds. It is also quite obvious from your remarks that keeping the upkeep of ones property is not something you adhere to!

[bednobs]

it is constructive! I am trying to stop you getting mown down on your own drive and merely suggesting you look before you step out, especially if you cant hear. Of course i look before i step out of my door! Who dosent? (well apart from you obviously) if they have access to this shared drive, then it really really makes sense to look first. Even if they were model neighbours, surely it would be essential to look in case they were driving up the drive at the very moment you want to step out?

i adhere to upkeeping my property, but your neighbours don't. All i am suggesting is that by law you cant make them adhere to what you think their garden should look like(again, good advice which you seem to have taken offence at)

[buildersmate]

You will need to look at your Land Registry Title Plan. It will almost certainly show that legally the land of the drive is divided down the middle of the drive but that each of you have rights and obligations in respect of each part of the land that you own. The rights are normally that you can pass and repass on his bit of land (and vice versa). The obligations are that you share the cost of maintenance and do not allow a vehicle to be parked on the common access area.
If this is the case, I'm afraid it is not possible for you to close it off by putting a fence down the middle.

[DSJ]

Make an appointment at the CAB to see a legal advisor. Do you have the deeds to your property or does a Building Society hold them? If you are dissatisfied with the CAB, do go to see your own solicitor for advice.

Have you spoken to the neighbours on the far side of the people next door? If so, what is their attitude about the state of the driveway & property?

Hope this all gets sorted out. It must be hell for you.

[buildersmate]

Deeds of no relevance unless land is not registered with the Land Registry. Can get Title Plan of your property and of neighbours downloaded off LR website for the princely sum of �3 each copy.
Fair enough to ask the CAB, but investing your own money in your own solicitor if the situation is as described above won't make any difference - except to your pocket.

[mawall]

Thanks for your comments! Last year a neighbour across from me complained to my neighbours about the condition of the way the garden had been neglected in view of the fact for forty years or more it had been lovingly maintained.
My neighbours had torn down the front fence dug up the hedge in order to park untaxed vehicles on the garden. Later in the year left over concrete which was huge amount from a job they were doing was just dumped on top of the front garden grassed area without leveling or spreading about.
At that point we decided to put the property but the valuation is being affected by the appearence of next door.

The conservatory we had put in a couple of years ago was supposed to be a place of relaxation and to chill when we come home from work. Unfortunately when we do sit in it we are offered views of a huge mound bricks, a big hole where foundations were dug out for a garage which is now on hold (18months) in the process of digging the hole a soil pipe was damaged so when the WC is flushed it leaks and on warm days it does get a bit smelly.

My partner and I have even entertained them in our home when they first arrived, but we soon found out they were takers not givers. On another note quite often when they have been out in the evening they will bring friends back
and sit outside on the drive drinking and smoking, The endless talking goes on well into the night often waking my partner up, and when we get to leave in the morning beer cans and cigerette butts litter the drive, which we end up clearing. Now in five years time I am ready to retire and enjoy the efforts of all my hard work and the comforts of my home etc However I honestly believe I will not make it.

I am ashamed when visitors visit.

[pingping]

Mawall, it sounds to me as if your neighbours behaviour won't change, so it is up to you to do something. Have you though about lowering the asking price of your property just to get it sold? while making less money on it as you might hope, you can at least start over somewhere new where you can enjoy your retirement, and not have to worry about these neighbours.

[mawall]

We have thought of lowering the price and yes we would do that, but is it fair we should burden someone else with the same problem! It would also mean we would have to lie to any potential buyers, which I won't do. However i cant imagine anyone wanting to buy our property seeing the state of next door. Since I posted the last comment my neighbours side of the frontdrive gate as dropped off! no doubt through lack of Maintenance, so now my part of the drive with my gate closed looks awful and it wont stop the local dogs from entrying the rear garden and because we are both out all day, who is to know who or what is coming down the drive!!

[sleepyj]

i really feel for you ...we had really awful neighbours for 10 years ...we owned our house they was in a council home council done nothing about them .....great day when they moved ....

[mawall]

Thanks sleepyJ.
I am now keeping a dairy of events plus pictures. I can only hope at some point they will be useful.!!

[tufty7]

Sorry to hear about your neighbours, obviously your life style and opinions of what is normal is not shared by them, it is a fact that some people live like dossers and have a different understanding of what clean and presentable actually is ,
You are obviously getting aggrevated by it and this in itself is winding you up, just chill out a little look at it rationally , if you do start court proceedings/action this will gain nothing because when you sell you will have to declare problems with the neighbours and this in itself could put off potential buyers ....... just accept what they do or move on to put it bluntly, I know its not fair but life is not fair .....