restricted access to rear of house?

[lokstok]

We live in a semi detached house but we have a query about the rear extension built by the neighbour on the unattached side.

The boundary line between our rear gardens does not quite line up with the centre of the alleyway running between the two houses. i.e. - if the boundary line for the fence was drawn down the alley and was legally enforceable, we would only own about a third of the width of the alley.

Because of this unevenness, the neighbours have a gate square on to their side wall but ours is angled (or we would have to have a much smaller gate if it was square on; we couldn't get through it).

The neighbour has had a rear extension built and has left the garden gate in its original position.

We have now decided to extend to the rear ourselves. Do the neighbours have to move their garden gate back so that it is at the edge of the new rear point of the two buildings? If not it means that they have a gate 2/3 width of the alley, about 3m down the alley and so we would have no practicable access to our rear garden.

In the same way as I can't imagine they could build a fence down the alley, can they have a garden gate down the alley? And, particularly, a garden gate that is 2/3 width of the alley?

The neighbours say that if they shifted the gate back that they would lose some of their land. Is this correct or does the alleyway now effectively extend to the new rear point of their house?

If the former what could we do about it except to make our rear extension less wide at the point we wanted to place a garden gate?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Lokstok

 

[rjm2k]

A picture tells a thousand stories

 

[big-all]

my advice would be to have a word with the neighbour a there may be a happy solution

 

[lokstok]

Thanks for the replies. We did have a word with the neighbour which has led to this. They think we are encroaching on their land by wanting the garden gate to be shifted up to the new rear point of the house. They want it left where it is but then it basically fills 2/3 the width of the alley.

All we want is the same configuration of gate at the rear point of the houses but shifted up to the extended rear point.

 

[^woody^]

Boundaries don't move just because extensions are built

If the neighbour has 2/3 of the alley now, then they own it when the extension is built, and do not have to move their gate to accommodate your extension or access because of your extension

 

[clifford1]

It sounds as if the boundary line at the rear was not positioned very accurately with respect to the mid point of the alleyway.

Either it was always like that, or the neighbours encroached when they built their extension.
But either way you bought what you saw, which was a house with an odd boundary and an existing neighbour whose house is built up to that boundary.

But presumably you both have a right of way down the alleyway. That has nothing to do with who actually owns it, so neither is allowed to obstruct the full width by constructing a gate that impedes access by the other.
It depends how far the right of way extends as to whether a gate is actually obstructing passage or not.
But it appears that the neighbour obstructed the full use of the ROW when they built the gate, but you did not object.

 

[simonjay]

We live in a semi detached house but we have a query about the rear extension built by the neighbour on the unattached side.

The boundary line between our rear gardens does not quite line up with the centre of the alleyway running between the two houses. i.e. - if the boundary line for the fence was drawn down the alley and was legally enforceable, we would only own about a third of the width of the alley.

Because of this unevenness, the neighbours have a gate square on to their side wall but ours is angled (or we would have to have a much smaller gate if it was square on; we couldn't get through it).

The neighbour has had a rear extension built and has left the garden gate in its original position.

We have now decided to extend to the rear ourselves. Do the neighbours have to move their garden gate back so that it is at the edge of the new rear point of the two buildings? If not it means that they have a gate 2/3 width of the alley, about 3m down the alley and so we would have no practicable access to our rear garden.

In the same way as I can't imagine they could build a fence down the alley, can they have a garden gate down the alley? And, particularly, a garden gate that is 2/3 width of the alley?

The neighbours say that if they shifted the gate back that they would lose some of their land. Is this correct or does the alleyway now effectively extend to the new rear point of their house?

If the former what could we do about it except to make our rear extension less wide at the point we wanted to place a garden gate?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Lokstok

I don't think this has anything to do with the neighbour. Their fence and gate has not been moved and can stay where it is. The path between their gate and the end of their extension is not part of the alley, it is part of their garden.
If you want a path wide enough for access along the side of your extension, you will have to step in the extension to create wider access.
I had a similar situation where the fence was aligned with the centre of the alley but the alley was not very wide, so the only option was to step in the extension to preserve decent access.
Other folks in the street have built in line with the original house wall and can just about squeeze past, but they ended up with a larger extension. Their choice !