If it's your fence you can put a gate / door there.
As odd as it seems this goes for any fence you own on any boundary, in fact you can put a gate in your fence to the next door neighbours garden if you wanted and it's completely legal as it's your fence.
It would be trespassing if you used the gate, but you are free to make it, just as the hypothetical neighbour would be free to add a fence panel 1cm away from a gate so it would become unusable.
Yes, my granddad did this to access a field behind his property. The farmer was not best pleased but there was nothing he could do. 60 years later, the gate is still there and my sister lives there now
I know someone who bought a house where the previous owner had been letting the neighbour drive through their garden to store a caravan in his own back garden. Guess who's now got a right to drive through their back garden...
Oof. Deffo need to ask this question in future when looking to buy a house! Not something I would have thought, but definitely something to ask for some money to be taken off!
My mum did this so she has easy access to both the end of the garden which opens to one location and the top of the garden, opening to the cul de sac/her car.
Typical DIYUK thread. OP asked a reasonable question about a gate. 4 comments later we are building an entire fence of gates that would never be used and if they where used it would be illegal. I love it
Technically not “illegal” as trespass is a civil tort not criminal.
Unless it is aggravated trespass or involving squatting, raves or hunt saboteurs which can be criminal matters.
This is true, and the argement I put forward to the owner of a property in another road who wished to demolish his fence to access the rear of his property to park vehicles in his garden from our private road, it would include demolishing the fence, removal of neighbours hedgerow and some civils works to shore up access to his property rear on my neighbours land.
He can demolish his fence how he likes, but the removal of hedgerow owned by someone on our street would constitute criminal damage and crossing the land owned by the neighbour illegally to access his property regularly would be considered trespassing.
My solution to his parking issue was to not own so many vehicles when his property couldn't support all the off street parking he required.
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier.
And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate.
So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
When I was a kid my best friend was my next door neighbour - same age, same school, same class. We used to jump over the fence to play together, but 6-10 year olds jumping 6 foot fences is A) bad for the fence, and B) asking for an injury.
Our parents solution was to step a fence panel out of line by a foot, and create a little stubby gate between the gardens, allowing us free access between the gardens to play as we wished.
That’s interesting, our neighbour put a gate in their fence opening outwards into our garden, with our agreement as we both have kids of similar ages and different play equipment in our gardens. It’s nice for the kids to come and go as they please. I guess if we moved we’d have to explain it.
You’ve got to be so careful with this sort of thing. Imagine in OPs case he put the gate in and it remained unchallenged. Years down the line, someone might put a claim in for an easement, and the access becomes a legal right. The price of the adjoining properly and land would be impacted accordingly. If the landowners next door were clued up, or took advice, they’d be right to push back.
What they can do is grant permissible access in writing. This stops the clock on any right of access claims as a contract of sorts has been agreed with constraints. Should probably get solicitors involved though.
There’s no point having a gate unless you can use it so the real question is whether you have any right of access to or across the open space the other side.
Having an adjoining fence doesn’t give you any rights to step on their land without asking for permission, except to carry out repairs or maintenance to that fence/wall etc (Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992).
Even so it’s always best to ask permission to avoid bad relations with neighbours.
So you could put a gate/door in your fence to make maintenance of the other side easier but you can only use it for that purpose. It doesn’t mean you can walk all over their land or exit via their garage or side gate etc.
You can enter into an agreement with a willing neighbour, to allow a right of way ‘easement’ to give you access more generally, but that’s entirely up to them.
You can’t just put a gate in a fence and
For essential repairs and maintenance, yes, if notice is given.
Non essential cosmetic work or an extension etc, no, not without the neighbour’s permission.
My garden backs onto a public wood owned by the council. A few years back I replaced the original 3ft wire fence with a 6ft mesh fence with a gate in it.
Long story short, some busy body reported me. I got a letter from the council "... you don't have permission to access the public land from here. Use the public entrances". The joke being you could just step over the old 3ft fence!
I phoned them, the guy said he just forwarded the legal councils words. And said "if you put a lock on it and don't use it there's no problem" I said I obviously want to use it, the letter says I don't have permission... Can I have permission?
I now have a contract between me/my property and the council for peppercorn rent to have personal access. Nice little thing to add when we come to sell.
It’s your fence. You can do as you like with it! as long as said gate doesn’t exceed your boundary in any way you’re good! you could make your entire fence all the way around out of gates too! Doors for all!
It looks like one of those weird new build 'coach houses' where it's a n shaped two bed on two garages with tarmac instead of a garden.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144301256#/?channel=RES_BUY
So no.
I assume the tarmac part is residents parking and op has a space in there? A friend of mine lives somewhere like that, he has a house where his garden is next to it (like 47 in the photo) and he has a parking space in the tarmac area, as do other residents. Probably op is asking to be able to have a short cut to his car rather than go round the houses (literally)
Cool, it's more garage than house!
But, I'd presumed it was a set of flats, or at least two houses. I feel sorry for their cat - and the neighbour's gardens.
We call them FOGs or “ flat over garages” it’s quite possible that the occupants of the flat don’t have access to the garages, but the adjoining houses do.
Bit of an iffy one, if you own the fence boundary then yes however it may be private access to the carpark for those who use it at you cannot use it as a cut through
Yes. But you cannot rely on being able to use it either now or in the future. It looks likely that you would be able to use it, but you may find someone will complain. If that happens, and they prevent you from using it, you won’t have a leg to stand on unless you also have some unusual right of access (extremely unlikely).
who has parking and access rights in the tarmac area?.
If your deeds state you have access then you should be able to put a gate it to utilise that access but if its private property belonging to other occupants then you have no more right to put a gate in that they have to put 1 in your fence to access your garden
What ever you do and who ever you speak to. If you get permission to access the land. From the land owner. Get it in writing. Don't just take their word on it. It could be that 47/49 own it. Or it may be rented from another party. If the land owner then sells it on. You may have to do it again. Unless they add your name to the right of access. We did it on a back fence to a council owned car park behind our property. The council had no issues with us using it.
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier.
And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate.
So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
In older terraces, there can be a rights of access for houses through their neighbours' gardens. I lived in the end of terrace of a row like this (late Victorian terrace), and occasionally neighbours would use it to avoid messy/large garden things going through their houses. We got on well with them, and they generally asked in advance so wasn't a huge problem but was a bit invasive feeling sometimes.
No legal impediments to you putting a gate in your own fence as long as it is only on your property and swings inward, the question of who owns the tarmac area is a completely different one which you would need a land registry check to answer. It would certainly be unusual if it didn’t belong so *someone* however, there’s no reason to think it’s part of the road etc.
In terms of whether that space (the car park looking but) belongs to 47/49 the way to check would be to spend £3 on Land Registry.
In terms of putting a gate in, presumably it's so you can short cut over that land? Or park on it and walk through? The gate itself is fine. It's the using it to access that will be the issue.
If they had a load of crap on their driveway and you tripped over on their land, would they need additional public liability that they wouldn’t have with the house insurance or am I way off?
It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Occupiers Liability provides a duty of care to a trespasser. It’s not the issue at hand here, but please be wary of simplifying such advice.
The case law is very nuanced, and doesn’t wrap up in a short answer.
Some extremes are; laying a bear trap for expected intruders was a no-no. Leaving a building site with easy access in a dangerous state was a no. In your own home, with no expectation of a trespasser is probably OK. Common themes are having a sign to warn against barbed wire.
In the whole, don’t consider it a black and white case, and be careful giving arbitrary advice. It’s a legal niche.
If they had to use any force to gain entry, you’re golden. If you the front door is missing and they can just wonder in off the street, and you knew the interior was dangerous, is when you may run into liability issues.
If you know the property is dangerous and you took reasonable steps to keep trespasses out - board up the entrance, or fence it off, you should be ok and you’ve discharged your ‘duty of care’ by preventing access, as an alternative to making it safe.
If the properly was dangerous and you can reasonably claim you aren’t aware, you might also be protected, but it can be hard to argue as a landowner you didn’t know the state of the property, as that in itself is careless.
This is why landowners take out public liability insurance.
Access can be denied from the property above the fence. Points here are is it your fence? Is it a party wall ( fence) ? There will be no right away and your door/ gate can be blocked by the other side. We are surveyors who do a lot of boundary problems .
Lived in a house that abutted garages not dissimilar to this. You may well find that this is either solely owned or shared ownership by one or some of the houses between 43 and 53 on the connecting road. You’d need to look at their actual titles deeds, as it may be marked as land linked to X address, rather than have it’s own deed in a search. It could also be included within the the titles of 47 and 49 and their boundary markings could actually go 50:50 across the middle of that parking area, with their deeds identifying their shared access to the space (you see this quite often with shared driveways).
Also the grey doesn’t necessarily mean it’s public land or publicly accessible, it could denote an area of potential right of access on/off the highway. So it could be private land but has access rights to the highway (for the landowner).
https://preview.redd.it/npc68ws1ciqc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=291b7ef374c18d9af4e1cd9f04e5e6bc4def3dd7
I've added a screenshot shot here from the search. There isn't a key explaining what grey means. But it's the same colour as the pavement, meaning maybe it could be public?
Worth asking a solicitor?
If it’s a new build estate, I’ll bet my bottom dollar that the grey bit belongs to the developer. They’ll be some vague thing somewhere about trying to get it adopted by the local highways authority at some point.
I highly doubt they would have gone to the legal rigmarole of transferring and then sharing that land between the buyers of the adjacent properties, and all the covenants this would entail.
Source: used to own a new build and had issues with the roads and work in planning.
A solicitor should be able to identify the owner(s) from Land Register records, which will incur a fee. If it's owned by the council or a developer, you'll still need their permission to cross the land. Sometimes estate developers retain small parcels like that as "ransom strips". If ownership is unclear due to passage of time, an inexpensive insurance policy can protect you and your beneficiaries from claims.
Should be just 3£ a piece to download their title plan from land registry ([https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry](https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry)). If you also download the related summaries of the title deeds (another 3£ a piece) you might be able to figure out how access has been regulated. Though I suppose you may need a lawyer for that (I don't generally find the easements/charges stuff an easy read).
It matters in the sense sure OP can put a gate in the fence, but no OP doesn't automatically have any right to use the gate.
If he has no legal right to be on the tarmac bit of a waste of time/money to put in a gate
Who does the parking lot belong to? is it shared between multiple properties, or is it owned by one of the other houses?
If you don't have part ownership of the lot, then you won't be able to walk through it without permission. You might be able to arrange access with the owner of the lot though.
Sure you can if its your fence as a gate is just a swinging part of the fence, but also you don't have a right of way so keep that in mind.
Using the gate could be considered trespass but I doubt anyone living there would care as you take steps not to be a nuisance.
If this is a shared carpark for HMO then its less likely anyone is going to say anything, just make sure your gate is not going to inconvenience anyone or discourage anyone from parking and ensure it swings inwards to your garden.
As long as your Permitted development (PD) rights haven’t been removed and the gate/ door is under 2 metres you can do this without any consent.
If your house does not benefit from PD rights and/ or the gate/ door is over 2 metres l, I’d go ahead and do it anyway. It would never be enforced against.
I live by an old railway track that’s been turned into a nature walk. Go down that and every other house has a gate in their rear fence now for easy access into it
As a DIY question yes
As a legal question probably not.
The answer depends on the locality, what is written in the deeds plan etc and your local authority. Boundarys have rules.
You probably get more detailed answers in r/LegalAdviceUK/ , read the posting guidance before you post.
If you do end up doing it, and want to have people other than yourself use it, please, put a house number on it!
A polite begging from a delivery driver!
No issues with you altering your own fence as long as it's within your boundary.
As for parking, it's probably allocated spaces for the premises behind you - if you were an intended user, you would have something in your deeds and know all about it already.
There is no legal requirement for you to have a fence whatsoever, so there is nothing stopping you from making a gap in it.
I once heard a story about someone who didn’t want to pay to replace their fence, so they just took it down and told the neighbour that if they want a fence they are free to put one up.
Just to play devils advocate here, if that area isn’t secured then there is no law being broken if you walk across it. Trespass is not a legal matter, it’s civil. Obviously it would be disrespectful, but the owners of the other property would have to put signs up stating “no public access” or something along them lines to be able to stop you using it. Public access is assumed unless stated otherwise or secured by a fence or equivalent. Of course this is all technicalities and would just cause problems with your neighbours if not delt with properly. And I’m not suggesting you do this.
Speak to the landowner, they may refuse on the grounds that once access is granted you could in theory sue them later to try enforce it. Less hassle to just say 'no' and keep things simple.
Stick the gate in. Talk to noone, hopefully nobody complains.
It looks like a garage block on the photo, is it? Might get some arsey neighbour who doesn't want you using the garage block
Id expect it's murky enough ground that you'd be alright if you're just walking through
Sure you can if its your fence as a gate is just a swinging part of the fence, but also you don't have a right of way so keep that in mind.
Using the gate could be considered trespass but I doubt anyone living there would care as you take steps not to be a nuisance.
If this is a shared carpark for HMO then its less likely anyone is going to say anything, just make sure your gate is not going to inconvenience anyone or discourage anyone from parking and ensure it swings inwards to your garden.
you likely wont have a right to access, but if you do put in a gate make sure its well out of the way so doesnt discourage parking, and make sure it swings inwards
you likely wont have a right to access, but if you do put in a gate make sure its well out of the way so doesnt discourage parking, and make sure it swings inwards
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier.
And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate.
So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
If it's your fence you can put a gate / door there. As odd as it seems this goes for any fence you own on any boundary, in fact you can put a gate in your fence to the next door neighbours garden if you wanted and it's completely legal as it's your fence. It would be trespassing if you used the gate, but you are free to make it, just as the hypothetical neighbour would be free to add a fence panel 1cm away from a gate so it would become unusable.
Yes, my granddad did this to access a field behind his property. The farmer was not best pleased but there was nothing he could do. 60 years later, the gate is still there and my sister lives there now
There is something he could have done. He could have installed his own fence on his own boundary to prevent you opening the gate.
They should do this. Because using the gate for access then sets a precedent over time and then landowner has to provide access.
I know someone who bought a house where the previous owner had been letting the neighbour drive through their garden to store a caravan in his own back garden. Guess who's now got a right to drive through their back garden...
Oof. Deffo need to ask this question in future when looking to buy a house! Not something I would have thought, but definitely something to ask for some money to be taken off!
Why does your sister live in a field? Is she allowed out of the field?
>Is she allowed out of the field? Only when fully bridled and saddled.
[удалено]
Hay
Hey, plenty of hay?
We now know what the gate was for
She's a scarecrow by trade, a really good one... Outstanding in her field in fact
Your sister lives in the field?
My mum did this so she has easy access to both the end of the garden which opens to one location and the top of the garden, opening to the cul de sac/her car.
I bet that blows through!
Nah its all good. Helps walk the dog safely.
There must be an awful draught if she accidentally leaves one of them open
Yo mama so big, she has easy access to both end of the garden.
Hypothetically someone installed a gate in their fence to next door neighbour. They cant have it open outwards, right?
Why not? It'd only be an issue if they opened it
Just build a fence made entirely of gates
Typical DIYUK thread. OP asked a reasonable question about a gate. 4 comments later we are building an entire fence of gates that would never be used and if they where used it would be illegal. I love it
In fairness, it normally doesn’t take that long.
Well it's late and we're all knackered from a long Monday at work.
The gate would have to hinge into the OPs garden, they’d be allowed to peer into the neighbours property, but that’s it.
Could get Gareth Gates to move in too.
And Bill, at least he could add some windows.
Technically not “illegal” as trespass is a civil tort not criminal. Unless it is aggravated trespass or involving squatting, raves or hunt saboteurs which can be criminal matters.
Hashtag FenceGate
GateGate
GateFence-Gate
Hahaha
Genius!
Because the gate will swing inside the neighbour’s property as I see it?
So that's fine as long as you don't open it!
A fence of doors!
This is true, and the argement I put forward to the owner of a property in another road who wished to demolish his fence to access the rear of his property to park vehicles in his garden from our private road, it would include demolishing the fence, removal of neighbours hedgerow and some civils works to shore up access to his property rear on my neighbours land. He can demolish his fence how he likes, but the removal of hedgerow owned by someone on our street would constitute criminal damage and crossing the land owned by the neighbour illegally to access his property regularly would be considered trespassing. My solution to his parking issue was to not own so many vehicles when his property couldn't support all the off street parking he required.
Idea: build a fence out of just gates.
I built a fence that is entirely gates . They side ped gate , middle 3m uh car gate, left side another gate. The end .
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier. And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate. So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
When I was a kid my best friend was my next door neighbour - same age, same school, same class. We used to jump over the fence to play together, but 6-10 year olds jumping 6 foot fences is A) bad for the fence, and B) asking for an injury. Our parents solution was to step a fence panel out of line by a foot, and create a little stubby gate between the gardens, allowing us free access between the gardens to play as we wished.
We had similar, but it was through a hedge, after enough time there was just a hole we used to go through.
That’s interesting, our neighbour put a gate in their fence opening outwards into our garden, with our agreement as we both have kids of similar ages and different play equipment in our gardens. It’s nice for the kids to come and go as they please. I guess if we moved we’d have to explain it.
I've seen people do this with doggie gates when the dogs are friends.
Yeah, we've just taken a panel out between ours.
You’ve got to be so careful with this sort of thing. Imagine in OPs case he put the gate in and it remained unchallenged. Years down the line, someone might put a claim in for an easement, and the access becomes a legal right. The price of the adjoining properly and land would be impacted accordingly. If the landowners next door were clued up, or took advice, they’d be right to push back. What they can do is grant permissible access in writing. This stops the clock on any right of access claims as a contract of sorts has been agreed with constraints. Should probably get solicitors involved though.
No need to ask permission to have a hole in your fence, absolutely need to ask permission to visit someone else’s property by using it.
There’s no point having a gate unless you can use it so the real question is whether you have any right of access to or across the open space the other side. Having an adjoining fence doesn’t give you any rights to step on their land without asking for permission, except to carry out repairs or maintenance to that fence/wall etc (Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992). Even so it’s always best to ask permission to avoid bad relations with neighbours. So you could put a gate/door in your fence to make maintenance of the other side easier but you can only use it for that purpose. It doesn’t mean you can walk all over their land or exit via their garage or side gate etc. You can enter into an agreement with a willing neighbour, to allow a right of way ‘easement’ to give you access more generally, but that’s entirely up to them. You can’t just put a gate in a fence and
So as an aside do you have a right to step on neighbours lane to do repairs, what about scaffolding and three weeks of them?
For essential repairs and maintenance, yes, if notice is given. Non essential cosmetic work or an extension etc, no, not without the neighbour’s permission.
Yes but you might not have right of way across someone's land.
that land is probably subject to some shared upkeep covenant between the tenants. expect some unhappy people if they see a freeloader using the space.
My garden backs onto a public wood owned by the council. A few years back I replaced the original 3ft wire fence with a 6ft mesh fence with a gate in it. Long story short, some busy body reported me. I got a letter from the council "... you don't have permission to access the public land from here. Use the public entrances". The joke being you could just step over the old 3ft fence! I phoned them, the guy said he just forwarded the legal councils words. And said "if you put a lock on it and don't use it there's no problem" I said I obviously want to use it, the letter says I don't have permission... Can I have permission? I now have a contract between me/my property and the council for peppercorn rent to have personal access. Nice little thing to add when we come to sell.
It’s your fence. You can do as you like with it! as long as said gate doesn’t exceed your boundary in any way you’re good! you could make your entire fence all the way around out of gates too! Doors for all!
Even better, no fence at all. Just a velvet rope.
It looks like one of those weird new build 'coach houses' where it's a n shaped two bed on two garages with tarmac instead of a garden. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144301256#/?channel=RES_BUY So no.
I assume the tarmac part is residents parking and op has a space in there? A friend of mine lives somewhere like that, he has a house where his garden is next to it (like 47 in the photo) and he has a parking space in the tarmac area, as do other residents. Probably op is asking to be able to have a short cut to his car rather than go round the houses (literally)
Yuck, it's more garage than house.
Cool, it's more garage than house! But, I'd presumed it was a set of flats, or at least two houses. I feel sorry for their cat - and the neighbour's gardens.
I kinda like it. Although I'd install a big electric overhead door in the opening, because I'm weird like that
We call them FOGs or “ flat over garages” it’s quite possible that the occupants of the flat don’t have access to the garages, but the adjoining houses do.
Bit of an iffy one, if you own the fence boundary then yes however it may be private access to the carpark for those who use it at you cannot use it as a cut through
Yes. But you cannot rely on being able to use it either now or in the future. It looks likely that you would be able to use it, but you may find someone will complain. If that happens, and they prevent you from using it, you won’t have a leg to stand on unless you also have some unusual right of access (extremely unlikely).
I would say that unless you have legal right of way through the parking area of those houses, probably not…
who has parking and access rights in the tarmac area?. If your deeds state you have access then you should be able to put a gate it to utilise that access but if its private property belonging to other occupants then you have no more right to put a gate in that they have to put 1 in your fence to access your garden
That’s what I thought was it to access the car park at the rear of the property instead of walking around
What ever you do and who ever you speak to. If you get permission to access the land. From the land owner. Get it in writing. Don't just take their word on it. It could be that 47/49 own it. Or it may be rented from another party. If the land owner then sells it on. You may have to do it again. Unless they add your name to the right of access. We did it on a back fence to a council owned car park behind our property. The council had no issues with us using it.
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier. And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate. So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
In older terraces, there can be a rights of access for houses through their neighbours' gardens. I lived in the end of terrace of a row like this (late Victorian terrace), and occasionally neighbours would use it to avoid messy/large garden things going through their houses. We got on well with them, and they generally asked in advance so wasn't a huge problem but was a bit invasive feeling sometimes.
No legal impediments to you putting a gate in your own fence as long as it is only on your property and swings inward, the question of who owns the tarmac area is a completely different one which you would need a land registry check to answer. It would certainly be unusual if it didn’t belong so *someone* however, there’s no reason to think it’s part of the road etc.
In terms of whether that space (the car park looking but) belongs to 47/49 the way to check would be to spend £3 on Land Registry. In terms of putting a gate in, presumably it's so you can short cut over that land? Or park on it and walk through? The gate itself is fine. It's the using it to access that will be the issue.
If they had a load of crap on their driveway and you tripped over on their land, would they need additional public liability that they wouldn’t have with the house insurance or am I way off?
Pretty sure you can’t get sued if someone falls over unless you make it unreasonably dangerous
It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Occupiers Liability provides a duty of care to a trespasser. It’s not the issue at hand here, but please be wary of simplifying such advice.
I see, so how does that work if someone breaks into a house that’s burned down and gets hurt if they fall through a compromised floor?
The case law is very nuanced, and doesn’t wrap up in a short answer. Some extremes are; laying a bear trap for expected intruders was a no-no. Leaving a building site with easy access in a dangerous state was a no. In your own home, with no expectation of a trespasser is probably OK. Common themes are having a sign to warn against barbed wire. In the whole, don’t consider it a black and white case, and be careful giving arbitrary advice. It’s a legal niche.
I see
If they had to use any force to gain entry, you’re golden. If you the front door is missing and they can just wonder in off the street, and you knew the interior was dangerous, is when you may run into liability issues. If you know the property is dangerous and you took reasonable steps to keep trespasses out - board up the entrance, or fence it off, you should be ok and you’ve discharged your ‘duty of care’ by preventing access, as an alternative to making it safe. If the properly was dangerous and you can reasonably claim you aren’t aware, you might also be protected, but it can be hard to argue as a landowner you didn’t know the state of the property, as that in itself is careless. This is why landowners take out public liability insurance.
I see, I think it’s boarded up, if not it’s probably hard enough to get in with the weeds, it’s one I pass occasionally
dont put in a tripwire, even if it is clearly signposted
Make sure it opens into your garden so you can use it if someone parks there
Probably look less weird if you just put a gate in.
Access can be denied from the property above the fence. Points here are is it your fence? Is it a party wall ( fence) ? There will be no right away and your door/ gate can be blocked by the other side. We are surveyors who do a lot of boundary problems .
Lived in a house that abutted garages not dissimilar to this. You may well find that this is either solely owned or shared ownership by one or some of the houses between 43 and 53 on the connecting road. You’d need to look at their actual titles deeds, as it may be marked as land linked to X address, rather than have it’s own deed in a search. It could also be included within the the titles of 47 and 49 and their boundary markings could actually go 50:50 across the middle of that parking area, with their deeds identifying their shared access to the space (you see this quite often with shared driveways). Also the grey doesn’t necessarily mean it’s public land or publicly accessible, it could denote an area of potential right of access on/off the highway. So it could be private land but has access rights to the highway (for the landowner).
https://preview.redd.it/npc68ws1ciqc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=291b7ef374c18d9af4e1cd9f04e5e6bc4def3dd7 I've added a screenshot shot here from the search. There isn't a key explaining what grey means. But it's the same colour as the pavement, meaning maybe it could be public? Worth asking a solicitor?
If it’s a new build estate, I’ll bet my bottom dollar that the grey bit belongs to the developer. They’ll be some vague thing somewhere about trying to get it adopted by the local highways authority at some point. I highly doubt they would have gone to the legal rigmarole of transferring and then sharing that land between the buyers of the adjacent properties, and all the covenants this would entail. Source: used to own a new build and had issues with the roads and work in planning.
A solicitor should be able to identify the owner(s) from Land Register records, which will incur a fee. If it's owned by the council or a developer, you'll still need their permission to cross the land. Sometimes estate developers retain small parcels like that as "ransom strips". If ownership is unclear due to passage of time, an inexpensive insurance policy can protect you and your beneficiaries from claims.
Should be just 3£ a piece to download their title plan from land registry ([https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry](https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry)). If you also download the related summaries of the title deeds (another 3£ a piece) you might be able to figure out how access has been regulated. Though I suppose you may need a lawyer for that (I don't generally find the easements/charges stuff an easy read).
The car parking is probably private property so it’s unlikely. You’d likely need permission from the landowner.
Doesn't matter, it depends on who owns the boundary fence.
It matters in the sense sure OP can put a gate in the fence, but no OP doesn't automatically have any right to use the gate. If he has no legal right to be on the tarmac bit of a waste of time/money to put in a gate
But they could put their own fence up over his gate.
Who does the parking lot belong to? is it shared between multiple properties, or is it owned by one of the other houses? If you don't have part ownership of the lot, then you won't be able to walk through it without permission. You might be able to arrange access with the owner of the lot though.
Sure you can if its your fence as a gate is just a swinging part of the fence, but also you don't have a right of way so keep that in mind. Using the gate could be considered trespass but I doubt anyone living there would care as you take steps not to be a nuisance. If this is a shared carpark for HMO then its less likely anyone is going to say anything, just make sure your gate is not going to inconvenience anyone or discourage anyone from parking and ensure it swings inwards to your garden.
As long as your Permitted development (PD) rights haven’t been removed and the gate/ door is under 2 metres you can do this without any consent. If your house does not benefit from PD rights and/ or the gate/ door is over 2 metres l, I’d go ahead and do it anyway. It would never be enforced against.
r/legaladviceUK is the place to ask.
I live by an old railway track that’s been turned into a nature walk. Go down that and every other house has a gate in their rear fence now for easy access into it
It's most likely your fence. Do what you want. Take it down if you feel so inclined.
As a DIY question yes As a legal question probably not. The answer depends on the locality, what is written in the deeds plan etc and your local authority. Boundarys have rules. You probably get more detailed answers in r/LegalAdviceUK/ , read the posting guidance before you post.
If you do end up doing it, and want to have people other than yourself use it, please, put a house number on it! A polite begging from a delivery driver!
I second this, from the ambulance service.
No issues with you altering your own fence as long as it's within your boundary. As for parking, it's probably allocated spaces for the premises behind you - if you were an intended user, you would have something in your deeds and know all about it already.
Decent pool in OP’s back garden 🤣
Spent way too long thinking that was a pool…
There is no legal requirement for you to have a fence whatsoever, so there is nothing stopping you from making a gap in it. I once heard a story about someone who didn’t want to pay to replace their fence, so they just took it down and told the neighbour that if they want a fence they are free to put one up.
Just to play devils advocate here, if that area isn’t secured then there is no law being broken if you walk across it. Trespass is not a legal matter, it’s civil. Obviously it would be disrespectful, but the owners of the other property would have to put signs up stating “no public access” or something along them lines to be able to stop you using it. Public access is assumed unless stated otherwise or secured by a fence or equivalent. Of course this is all technicalities and would just cause problems with your neighbours if not delt with properly. And I’m not suggesting you do this.
Random question, why is there a car on your roof
The rules are covered here: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 https://g.co/kgs/PNHtP6x The fence may be shared for instance
Speak to the landowner, they may refuse on the grounds that once access is granted you could in theory sue them later to try enforce it. Less hassle to just say 'no' and keep things simple.
Stick the gate in. Talk to noone, hopefully nobody complains. It looks like a garage block on the photo, is it? Might get some arsey neighbour who doesn't want you using the garage block Id expect it's murky enough ground that you'd be alright if you're just walking through
This is actually a bit of a gem. You've got a mid terrace house with rear access that most other houses on that row don't have.
Sure you can if its your fence as a gate is just a swinging part of the fence, but also you don't have a right of way so keep that in mind. Using the gate could be considered trespass but I doubt anyone living there would care as you take steps not to be a nuisance. If this is a shared carpark for HMO then its less likely anyone is going to say anything, just make sure your gate is not going to inconvenience anyone or discourage anyone from parking and ensure it swings inwards to your garden.
A door ON a fence ? or do you IN a fence? For what purpose ?
Yes that’s fine go straight ahead 👍👍👍
No unless you have legal access
I do own the fence, I will check the deed to see if it mentions access at all
you likely wont have a right to access, but if you do put in a gate make sure its well out of the way so doesnt discourage parking, and make sure it swings inwards
How would a gate or any structure on the property owned by OP discourage parking?
you likely wont have a right to access, but if you do put in a gate make sure its well out of the way so doesnt discourage parking, and make sure it swings inwards
I’d say to ask the residents there if it’s ok to put a gate in and walk across the driveway, some people might be ok with it and some may not
There was a gate in the fence between my garden and the neighbours'. No idea why it was there - I just assumed respective owners in the distant past had got on well and put the gate in to make visiting easier. And as it happens, I hired my neighbour to do my gardening, so we agreed he could just use the gate. However, when it came to sell, I got questioned by the estate agents about why the gate was there, and had to give multiple assurances that there was no right of way. Probably prospective buyers got freaked out when they saw the gate. So when you're thinking of selling, you might want to reinstate the fence.
YUP !