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Letter Template: Neighbour Blocking Shared Access Way

By: Abigail Taylor - Updated: 4 Jul 2023 | comments*Discuss
 
Shared Access Neighbour Restricting

Many older properties share access rights either across a rear garden or via a shared passageway enabling access to individual rear gardens. Details of the nature of access will usually be described in your title deeds.

In general neighbours treat these shared areas responsibly and they work well as access routes. We do however, receive plenty of comments from people experiencing significant problems. So if your neighbour hasn't considered that access for a pram or bin is required, or they're simply unaware that the area must be kept clear, what can you do?

Talk to Your Neighbour

Our advice as always, is just pop round and have a polite word. If your neighbour's never in when you knock, or you don't feel comfortable talking to them, start with an informal note. If this does not have the desired effect, you might want to consider a more formal letter advising them that you may consider further action if the problem is not addressed.

To help you, we've provided sample templates for both an informal note and a subsequent letter below:

Initial informal note:

Dear [name]

Just a quick note regarding our shared access way. I've/We've noticed [bin bags/ a bicycle/ chairs etc] is/are currently restricting the access.
If these are yours would you mind keeping them somewhere else? If not, we'll do some further investigations to find out who they belong to!

Thanks and see you soon

[Name] [Your house number]

If this does not resolve the problem send a more formal letter as in this example:

Letter to Neighbour About Blocking a Shared Access

[Your Address]
[Neighbour's name]
[Address / 'Delivered by hand']

[Date]

Dear [Neighbour's name]/[If unknown, just address as 'Dear Neighbour'],

Re: Shared access way

I/we live at [address], next door and I/we contacted you recently about problems using our shared access way.

You may still be unaware of this problem but [your bicycle/bin bags etc] is/are preventing me/us from accessing the [area e.g. garage] of my/our property.

There is a legal right for residents of both our properties to use the shared access way. In addition there are covenants in the title deeds of our properties which determine how the shared access way can be used.

By blocking the shared access way, you are in breach of these covenants. I would therefore be entitled to seek an injunction to prevent blockage of the access way, and financial compensation for the period during which I have been unable to use it.

I am keen to resolve this amicably; we are after all neighbours! I would therefore be grateful if you could avoid blocking the shared access way, at any time, going forwards.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Kind regards,[Your signature]
[Your name]

If you'd like more information on dealing with more larger obstacles blocking access routes read our guide How to deal with environmental nuisances caused by a neighbour

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[Add a Comment]
If you live next door to a racist no law will protect you. Literally the police can't do anything, why because it keeps money coming into the same system that kept you in slavery for 400 year's. The same laws that aloud slavery and the murdered millions of people from Africa to Australia from India to America. Why isn't there a law to stop people from destroying your peace, your tranquility of living in your home you fell in love with and worked to hard to find the money to pay for it. We need a permanent law that protects home owner from being victim's of neighbours that lives in the first house in a rank of terrace houses.
Magic - 4-Jul-23 @ 1:31 PM
Hello, Me and my family were surprised to see our neighbor, 2 men, and a woman, bringing in their motorbike through our front gate and through the back garden and into theirs. When we asked them why they are doing this they told us that this is a shared pathway and it always has been so whenever they need to take out their motorbike they can just go through our property whenever they wish without asking us. I'm living in a council house and they haven't told us before we move about this access share, what can I do about this breach of my privacy, please ? Thanks
Ali - 21-Jun-23 @ 9:37 PM
I live in a semi detached and have a shared access with a neighbour who has left concrete rubble in the access not blocking the entrance, is it legal to be left there?
Jncarpentry - 14-Jun-23 @ 9:25 PM
Hi There is Passageway next to my property. My title deed clearly says that I have the full access of the Passageway but the other end property owner has placed a gate and heavy concrete blocks to block my access to the Passageway and claiming the piece of land as his sole property. I have sent him couple of letters but in each reply he said he won't allow my access to the Passageway. Can you please advise what should I do to regain my access of the Passageway?
Santosh - 12-Nov-22 @ 11:08 PM
I live in semi detached house. There is a shared access between our house and our next door neighbour. My neighbour is building a wall in the middle of the shared access on which we have a right to way as per our Title plan.My belief is he is doing so just to increase the width of the driveway so that he can park two cars in there. We tried talking to him so many times but he is adamant and not listening. What are our options here. How can we stop him? Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Manjas - 8-Nov-22 @ 10:25 PM
I have a shared driveway to gain access to get to my property. I have to drive past our neighbours house to get to our entrance and they’ve complained about me having too many deliveries. As a result they’ve started tostake posts on the grass verges, parked a car on the grass verge to make it very difficult to get past. To cap it off we had a verbal agreement that they kept the grass verges on their boundary beat and tidy and I’ll do the entrance to our gate. Now they are refusing to do anything and are refusing to allow me do outside my gate. Neither party owns the land beyond our boundariesand the owner to the landis deceased. Can you give any advice ?
BeeHappy - 26-Jul-22 @ 7:47 PM
Our neighbour has dumped soil and turf from her garden in a shared rear access directly behind our property boundary. This shared access actually serves 8 properties, 4 on either arm of a T junction.Our property is on the junction and other properties use the land behind our fence for access to their gardens.The offending neighbour lives at the furthest, opposite end of the opposing arm The result of this dumping has effectively reduced the height of our fence by 6 inches on the access side from 6 feet to 5 feet 6 and means that neighbours have to move bins over a 6 inch incline of uneven loose soil. We have asked the offending neighbour to put this right, but our polite requests have been ignored. I fear that our landlord may hold us responsible and issue a Section 21. We did not agree to this work, and cannot pay to have it put right. We feel that the neighbour should pay to have her soil and turf removed properly. What can we do?
RVWilks - 5-May-22 @ 11:22 PM
I am living in a mid terraced house. There are 4 properties , and my neighbour has placed a garden chair as well as other garden furniture close to it as well and is blocking my access to the front public front pathway. I will not ask the person as there was a disagreement over the weed infestation which is coming into my rear garden and is on their side on the boundary which is owned by the housing association I checked in our copies of the Land registry and I have a right of legal access to the public front pathway. What I can do in this situation like contact the local council of the housing association before taking legal action. Thank you
Avast antivirus - 27-Aug-21 @ 9:30 AM
Hi, I am living in a terraced house. There are 4 properties , and my neighbour extend his garden up to the end of his garden including the alleyway and is block my access to the alleyway. I asked him to move the shed but he didn't yet. I checked in Land registry and I have a right of legal access to the alleyway. But He doesn't care. What I can do in thissituation? Thank you
Alex - 24-Aug-21 @ 6:52 PM
Hi, my parents have a shared access driveway and the guy next door insists he owns 1/3 of it (even though its shared between 4 houses) and says that the man next to him has given him his access, he has stored building rubbish and a boat and all sorts of stuff in it for a couple of years now. A family of foxes have moved in under his tarpaulin and also my mum hasnow seen rats. The foxes are harassing my parents dog and they are worried it will hurt the dog. The neighbour insists that its on his deeds that he owns it and my parents are scared of falling out with him as he is a big chap. How can we resolve this and is it actually owned by him ?
christine - 9-Jun-21 @ 12:13 PM
I am a council tenant with a a driveway upto my flat I acquired a letter of permission from the council to park my caravan and car on 8 years ago .the house nextdoor was sold and apparently he has right of way to his rear garden via our driveway .since then he has fitted double gates and building a working garage in his garden . Now my problem is he called police to me who threatened to arrest me and impound my vehicles council are keeping out of it I have lived here for 15 years peacefully until now .my permission for parking on council land seems to have no impact. The neighbour told me to get use to it as he is building a full working garage in his garden .how where do I stand .
Badger - 9-Jun-21 @ 6:52 AM
New neighbours have just moved in a week ago, i came home to find find 5 huge bouncy castles in the middle of the street blocking the public footpaths and the road. I live on a over 50 estate they are blocking people’s driveways with these and go forbid somebody had a fall and needed an ambulance they wouldn’t be able to access them. I don’t know who to call? can anyone help
annoyed88 - 29-Apr-21 @ 5:06 PM
We are having the WORST experience from people who live 3 doors down. We share an access to the back of the properties, which is on their deeds but we have full vehicular access to our boundary line. Currently we are having work done and they are constantly harassing us as we are driving vehicles up “their land” (we have full any size vehicle access in our boundary as on the deeds) and its an invasion of their privacy. We dont block them in, or touch anywhere near their boundary. Despite the fact for the past few years, up until last month they had builders constantly blocking our driveway, parking in our driveway, hanging about outside my garden, yet we said nothing. We are not infringing on them in anyway, causing no problems ... we simply want to do some work on our house. They are constantly coming down to shout at us because they arent happy. We are bending over backwards and ending up paying more money to be able to keep them happy... demands they are making, but still they come shouting. I am so stressed by it all. We arent they only neighbours they harass, its everyone but its so hard. I want to add an infringement against them but I worry itll cause issues from a resale pespective. Essentially they work we have had done is to add a driveway to the front of our property so that we can get away from the issues they cause us. Its so hard! Advice / thoughts welcome!
Marth - 9-Apr-21 @ 4:57 AM
We are having the WORST experience from people who live 3 doors down. We share an access to the back of the properties, which is on their deeds but we have full vehicular access to our boundary line. Currently we are having work done and they are constantly harassing us as we are driving vehicles up “their land” (we have full any size vehicle access in our boundary as on the deeds) and its an invasion of their privacy. We dont block them in, or touch anywhere near their boundary. Despite the fact for the past few years, up until last month they had builders constantly blocking our driveway, parking in our driveway, hanging about outside my garden, yet we said nothing. We are not infringing on them in anyway, causing no problems ... we simply want to do some work on our house. They are constantly coming down to shout at us because they arent happy. We are bending over backwards and ending up paying more money to be able to keep them happy... demands they are making, but still they come shouting. I am so stressed by it all. We arent they only neighbours they harass, its everyone but its so hard. I want to add an infringement against them but I worry itll cause issues from a resale pespective. Essentially they work we have had done is to add a driveway to the front of our property so that we can get away from the issues they cause us. Its so hard! Advice / thoughts welcome!
Marth - 8-Apr-21 @ 1:32 PM
Hi, I live in an end terrace of 4 with same set set up other side of a shared access road to garages at the end of our gardens. I am having my garage removed (as have all but one neighbour) and have told the neighbours there will be workmen there for 3 days removing garage, rubble and fencing. The neighbour on other side of access road has said that my builders are not to block the access at any time. Considering for the last 3 months she has had her fences replaced, garage removed and work done on her garden I feel this is a bit cheeky. An I correct to allow the builders to park there whilst putting stuff onto their vehicles (as hers did for a couple weeks) ad it will only be temporary and no one actually uses the rear access much. She said due to insurance she can only park in her newly erected carport? I fid not once complain about her workmen blocking my drive or access to my garage during the time she had work done so am somewhat upset at this attitude.
Car5ys - 4-Apr-21 @ 3:48 PM
Re: Legally Shared Access Passageway is blocked by my neighbour. My neighbour is either unaware of this problem or refuses to reply and cooperate, as his garden gate is preventing me from accessing the garden of my property. There is a legal right for residents of both our properties to use the shared access passageway. In addition there are covenants in the title deeds of our properties which determine how the shared access way can be used. By blocking the shared access way, my neighbour is in breach of these covenants. I believe that I am entitled to seek an injunction to prevent blockage of the access passageway, but his can be very costly. What is the best way to deal with such a problem?
Rafi - 1-Apr-21 @ 1:50 AM
hiya, i live in a terrace house in a line of 3 and going back over in the past, there used to be an alleyway running behind the properties. I have owned the house for over 10 years and have always thought it to be a part of my garden. But after checking on the ordinance map it shows a small alleyway path behind my garden which i have never noticed before today. My neighbour now wants to reduce my garden and open the communal passage so he can take his bike using this alley way. He is not reducing his garden, therefore opening back the the communal walkway will not effect his property what so ever, although the alley way runs behind his garden also - where do i stand?
jassy - 23-Mar-21 @ 6:34 PM
We live in a block of 4 flats with our own door the neighbor upstairs who we do not speak to has started sitting outside her doorway in a deckchair smoking blocking our right of way to get past so we struggle to get past I'm getting fed up of it she is trying to imitate us any advice please
Halley - 23-Mar-21 @ 5:47 PM
I have had a lot of trouble with a neighbour who has threatened to lock access gates built things over our access path so as to stop me getting in the back way this guy believe it or not is a teacher I've shown him legal papers that clearly show he's wrong to be doing this and is clearly breaking the law I intend to take legal action against him and will also be seeing his headmaster as I hope he's not locking anything at his school that he shouldn't be access is a fire escape and I will be seeking costs of him
Dav - 9-Mar-21 @ 5:42 PM
My neighbour has had some fencing put up and added a fence so they can access their front garden to cut their grass the fence opens outwards towards the communal area but does close behind them is this breach of council tenancy?
J - 12-Feb-21 @ 10:57 AM
Hi Since new neighbours (occupying the ground floor flat next door) moved in, they have been using our shared entry as an extra room for storage. This includes suitcases, clothes, bikes, pots and pans. On occasion I have even seen pots of food down there and we already have enough rats without encouraging more. They are a family of 5 (3 adults & 2 small children) living in a one bedroom flat. I appreciate that space must be tight for them but I have absolutely no way of getting into or out of our entry. Unfortunately they do not speak English very well so I’ve been unable to get them to clear it. I have tried asking the oldest child as he is the most fluent but to no avail. But to be fair he is only approx 9 yrs of age and English is his second language. Obviously because they are always needing things that are stored in there, they are forever banging around at all hours. The other issue I have is that a previous tenant put a lock on the door but never gave me a key to it. I don’t want to be a complaining neighbour but I don’t know what choice I have left. I have written to the landlord and am awaiting a reply but I’m not expecting much of a result as I’ve spoken to him in the past and he says he’ll sort it but nothing happens. Where do I go from here? Can you help?
Anders - 25-Oct-20 @ 4:07 PM
Hi Since new neighbours (occupying the ground floor flat next door) moved in, they have been using our shared entry as an extra room for storage. This includes suitcases, clothes, bikes, pots and pans. On occasion I have even seen pots of food down there and we already have enough rats without encouraging more. They are a family of 5 (3 adults & 2 small children) living in a one bedroom flat. I appreciate that space must be tight for them but I have absolutely no way of getting into or out of our entry. Unfortunately they do not speak English very well so I’ve been unable to get them to clear it. I have tried asking the oldest child as he is the most fluent but to no avail. But to be fair he is only approx 9 yrs of age and English is his second language. Obviously because they are always needing things that are stored in there, they are forever banging around at all hours. The other issue I have is that a previous tenant put a lock on the door but never gave me a key to it. I don’t want to be a complaining neighbour but I don’t know what choice I have left. I have written to the landlord and am awaiting a reply but I’m not expecting much of a result as I’ve spoken to him in the past and he says he’ll sort it but nothing happens. Where do I go from here? Can you help?
Anders - 25-Oct-20 @ 1:53 PM
Me and my husband live in a 1 bedroom flat council property. And we have a shared pathway what we all use, but our neighbour keeps blocking it by putting her children's toys on the shared path. So yesterday me and my husband locked our front door to go out and all along the path are our neighbour children's toys. So I had to move one of the toys as it was blocking our shared pathway. We don't talk to our neighbour upstairs because she has made our lives a misery and me and my husband suffer from mental health problems. Their must be something we can do so our neighbour dosnt block our pathway. She has a back garden she can put the toys in her back garden, but she is blocking our pathway what we walk on. And she is doing this to intimidate me and my husband.
Jane - 23-Sep-20 @ 9:41 AM
Me and my husband live in a 1 bedroom flat council property. And we have a shared pathway what we all use, but our neighbour keeps blocking it by putting her children's toys on the shared path. So yesterday me and my husband locked our front door to go out and all along the path are our neighbour children's toys. So I had to move one of the toys as it was blocking our shared pathway. We don't talk to our neighbour upstairs because she has made our lives a misery and me and my husband suffer from mental health problems. Their must be something we can do so our neighbour dosnt block our pathway. She has a back garden she can put the toys in her back garden, but she is blocking our pathway what we walk on. And she is doing this to intimate me and my husband.
Jane - 23-Sep-20 @ 9:39 AM
I have a renter next door to my house and the renter is now blocking a shared driveway.I am trying to sellmy house and when a client comes to see the house he tells at them and the client who cam to look at the house never comes back. Preventing me from selling my house. He is a mean old cuss.
Tony - 7-Sep-20 @ 1:52 PM
I live on a 1st floor maisonette and two of the guys that live next door to me smoke weed. One smokes further down the balcony and the other every now and again does the same but most times he smokes outside my window/door and at the top of the stairs which is directly opposite his flat. Even when he smokes there the smell still comes through my window. I have already once told him to not smoke outside my house n he said sorry and moved , but since then he has still smoked outside my house. He’s also used my window sill as a table for his bottle and as I locked the door he very quickly removed the bottle under the assumption I was unlocking the door to come out. I have extreme anxiety and don’t know what steps to take next. I also have a child and it’s not pleasant having my child inhale that stuff
FantasyLady - 1-Aug-20 @ 3:33 PM
I live in a mid terraced house, my only access outside the back of my property is a shared access which I use to take my bins out. The neighbour at the back to which is on the side of our shared access, as took it upon herself to block my access completely with a fence, she was told by the council not to do it. She didn't listen and it's been blocked off since February 2020 I feel like the council aren't listening to me, I'm frustrated my bins are around the houses please give me some advice, I do have the deeds to my house.
Lea - 23-Jul-20 @ 8:51 PM
From last 23 years I lived at 166 Bromyard Road from last two years common gate for building work and exit for emergency has been blocked by parking car person who lives in 164 have built car park on front of gate and changed Locks keys is with person living at 168 only my self can’t use gate who is cane I contact ? Many thanks ?? AUM
Chanakya - 19-Jul-20 @ 8:06 PM
Our neighbour has a driveway adjacent to ours which is separated by a strip of gravel we call no mans land.Our driveway is shown clearly on our Deeds.We don't leave our car on the drive but move it to the back of the property as our neighbour CANNOT drive her 4x4 car since she had it and actually knocked down a wall of ours twice.However, she has friends/family or tradesmen doing work on her property they use our drive to walk on to get to her front door!!!We have no privacy and her family and friends open their car doors over 'no mans land' onto the space of our drive.Is this still classed as Trespass and what can we do - we have mentioned it to her but she is abusive.Also, she uses our drive to wheel her bins down on bin days - WHAT CAN WE DO.Please anyone - give us some advice.By the way we cannot afford a solicitor
stokie - 17-Jul-20 @ 5:37 PM
I live in a end terrence of a block of 4 however it it only my adjoining neighbor that access vis a path at my rear garden the problem is that their teenage boy (around 17years old ) uses the path at night time to come through the gate at the end of my drive taking him to a gate for access to his back gardens with his bike the problem is that its 11:30pm -12nidnight. live alone and it wakes me up thinking its an intruder is there any law that access must be at reasonable times.
Kim - 6-Jul-20 @ 4:18 PM
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