A woman who - until recently - shared a gate with her neighbour claims to have been left in an exasperating situation after they purposefully fenced off her parking spot.
According to this unnamed woman, their previously shared gate had left to the car parking spaces adjacent to their gardens, and she'd had to cross approximately 30 centimetres of her neighbour's garden to reach it
This arrangement had been in place for some 17 years, ever since the current garden and parking area configuration was created following the addition of an adjoining development.
When the woman bought her property 13 years ago, her solicitor did warn her title didn't include a right of way. However, being in a hurry to complete, she didn't address this at the time.
On reflection, she feels this was a "dumb" move on her part and has warned others to consider things more carefully.
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Taking to Mumsnet, the fed-up homeowner - who goes by the username Jaba23 - wrote: "My neighbour has now built a fence that does not include a gate so I can no longer access my parking space without a five-minute detour along a public road.
" I have tried to resolve this with the neighbour as I believe if we can reach an agreement (she currently uses a bit of my land to access her car parking space) we can just register with the land registry."
She went on to note how the person who'd previously owned her house had also used the shared gate, meaning that it had been used for more than 20 years, albeit not by the same homeowners.
She's now wondering whether this combined usage could constitute an easement, and has reached out to fellow Mumsnet users for advice.
One person responded: "It sounds like you’d have a prescribed easement. The access has been used continuously for 20 years (doesn’t have to be by just you, can be previous owners). I’d recommend contacting a Land Surveyor who specialises in wayleaves and easements to help."
Another advised: "Ignore those saying 'block her access' until you know for sure whether she has a legal right of way across your land to her property.
"Just because you don't have right of way over her land (or you may, you need to check), doesn't mean that she's not got right of way over yours. You need advice from your solicitor before you do anything else."
Have you had to contend with a nightmare neighbour? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
