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Neighbour blocking right of way? Neighbour blocking right of way
Neighbour blocking right of way? It’s an extremely common scenario. The right of way might be a footpath or vehicular access. And a crucial consideration is attempting a resolution before the matter escalates into a full-blown dispute. Not only can disputes prove expensive, but each party must also disclose the dispute to a potential purchaser – even following settlement. And there’s nothing like a neighbour dispute to cool a buyer’s enthusiasm for your property.
Before considering possible resolutions, it’s essential to understand more about private rights of way and their creation.
What is a private right of way?
A private right of way is a type of legal easement. An easement is the right to use somebody else’s land in a particular way. Although we usually associate easements with pedestrian or vehicular access, easements exist in various forms, including:
- rights of light;
- rights of access for maintenance; and
- the right to run pipes or cables across another’s land.
Visit our main easements and rights of way page. |
How is a private right of way created?
As with any easement, creating a private right of way happens in one of three ways:
- You will find express grant easements explicitly stated in a document (a deed). Typically, they arise when somebody sells part of their land but retains some rights over the part sold. Alternatively, the sold land may need rights over the land retained.
- Implied easements, sometimes called ‘easements of necessity’, arise when somebody sells part of their land. However, it’s unnecessary to specify the easement in a deed by its very nature. A classic example occurs when the only access to the retained land is over the land sold.
- A person acquires a prescriptive easement by proving they have exercised the right for at least twenty years. And throughout that time, the right must have been exercised ‘without force, without secrecy, and without permission‘. But while the use must be continuous, it does not always need to be constant.
Prescriptive easements are often contentious by their very nature, and the law in this area is complex. Reading around this area soon brings you to the Prescription Act 1832, a piece of legislation described by the Law Commission as “one of the worst drafted Acts on the Statute Book“!
Neighbour blocking right of way: resolution
Understanding the basis of your right of way determines your approach to resolving a dispute. But occasionally, blocked rights of way are unintentional or the result of a misunderstanding. So, it may be that your neighbour does not realise their actions are causing a problem. And sometimes, they may not appreciate the right of way exists, and an informal approach might resolve the matter.
A typical scenario is a right of way blocked regularly by a vehicle or a temporary obstruction such as a skip or building supplies. Such behaviour may simply be inconsiderate or deliberate if your neighbour disputes your right of way. And in some cases, more permanent barriers, such as a fence or locked gate, can appear.
Another situation I regularly encounter is disputes involving shared driveways. See: Shared driveway problems.
If your neighbour proves intransigent, you may have no alternative but to go to court requesting an injunction and possibly damages for financial loss. However, assuming talking and writing to them has not worked, we always recommend you consider mediation before heading down the court route. Mediation often succeeds where an informal approach does not. Indeed, these days, the court expects both parties to have considered mediation before issuing court proceedings.
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