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You should definitely kick off as much as possible. Nothing ingratiates you to the neighbours more than coming along and challenging what everyone is happy with.
You should try and convert them to Hungarian Throat Singing too, by practicing it loudly outside their houses - you'll be the most popular man on the road, and will surely bring them back together after the feud you cause...
I just got on with life and accepted that not everyone is as nice as we’d like them to be.
We call that Unconditional Other Acceptance in the trade. Well done, it's hard to achieve.
1800's ......why not dress up like Bill Sykes get an ugly dog called bullseye and rap on their front door with a heavy cudgel demanding the money or you will enslave some orphans.
The Op's done one....afraid to come back and defend his 500 quid shenanigans?
The op said that they budgeted 500 for any maintenance but that hedge/verge trimming normally comes to 30-40ish.
As I read it no one is asking for the 500 just the smaller sum.
The choice to budget so far above the minimum is a bit odd but without seeing the road etc. it is not unreasonable to think that at some point resurfacing may need to be done so the op might be saving for this,
the gripe is that one of the 5 won’t pay the smaller amount each year. What happens when a larger amount is required?
Mate of mine lives in a shared private road. State of the road got so bad that they needed to get it sorted. A stretch of road about 200m in length and the cost was about £4000. They are all expecting to do some more work on it after 3 to 4 years. So budgeting £500 for an average year seems about right. Most years it will be a lot less, occasional years it will be more. And it is all well and good to say that they should do it themselves, but not everyone has the time, skills or inclination to do this.
Sounds like the neighbour who does not want to chip in is an idiot. He expects everyone else to pay for something that he uses. If he can't / won't produce the deeds then he can't claim right of access. So a gate seems like a good idea. However what will happen is that the other four houses will share the bill and get pissed off with the fifth house
How long is the road. 8f I was dumping as a collective 2500 quid on "repairs/maintenance" one year I wouldn't be expecting to pat a lot the next!
Perhaps right in front of their house is the appropriate place to store some large quantities of aggregates for an extended period of time, say, until you've saved up enough to hire someone to start resurfacing work, using said aggregates?
In all seriousness, some people are just dicks, plain and simple. We're in row of five houses on a private road and have a not so very different situation - when we need some work doing then only four of us will chip in somehow either time or money, and one will be generally obstructive, because, well... they're dicks.
They might not be vocalising it but it seems pretty clear to me that they don’t feel this maintenance is essential, and they don’t want to pay for needless maintenance.
Even if they don’t really think that they will certainly claim that if this went legal.
So it will all come down to you saying (say) the verge needed trimming 12 times a year and them saying it could be left to grow all summer, and you saying (say) 5 shallow potholes were too many and them saying 35 deep potholes are acceptable.
I suspect in practice if four of the neighbours want this road maintained to a standard they are happy with you’ll all have to suck it up and pay 20pc over the odds for it. Which is what everyone seems to have decided anyway.
<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Bit rude of them not to say clearly “We think you’re over doing it, but here’s a token contribution anyway.”</span>Shared stuff is always a nightmare, but in this case the sole consequence is you have to pay a tad more and you’re happy with the final outcome so I’d say relax and forget it.
Wasn't this mentioned before you moved in ?
If you asked about neighbours then the previous owners were legally obliged to tell you.
I have to say as well that different people are willing to pay different amounts for some "standard" and this seems like you and the other 4 have a different standard. Lots and lots of people wouldn't pay £500 for a bike... and I've paid well over that for a set of forks!
If you talk to your neighbours in the same way as you communicate on here then it’s little wonder there’s some conflict.
Starting sentences with ‘now’ and ‘so’ is pretty condenscending to the reader. Try a nicer approach. £2,500 for work you could all do yourselves? I cut the adjoining shared grass beside me and my elderly neighbours. A lorry load of chips every year then spend a Sunday with shovels and barrows, then all have a BBQ and a drink after?
Or for £2500 buy a wee Kuboto tractor with a grader? Use it for years! Flail mower attachment for the back?
If my new neighbour came round looking for £500 and to see my deeds I’m not sure how I would react.
We live on a private road.
We all own a share in a company that owns the road. We ask for £200 per year, nearly everyone pays. That covers resurfacing the road every seven years or so, repairs, maintaining trees and verges, and liability insurance. When a house sale happens we only release right of way across the road and share transfer in the company subject to the buyer agreeing to the £200 a year and signing up to agree to contribute to the road.
Previous people who haven't paid, aren't able to sell they're house as we won't give right of way (buyers solicitors advise against). Soon they come around, and make a back payment.
£500 x 5 = £2,500 per year?!
Maintenance on the tarmac drive to my Dad's house (~200 m) over the last 40 years has consisted of whenever the guys are resurfacing/repairing the adjoining public highway, asking them nicely to shove any leftover tarmac at the end of the day in any emerging potholes and give them a £20 note. Expenditure would work out at less than £10 a year.