I have a quandary. It’s not a big thing, in the grand scheme of things.

We have a gate at the end of our garden that opens into the neighbour’s garden. It’s to allow us to go through their garden and get to the front of our shared houses. It’s recorded on our title deeds as being an express right of way. It’s not reciprocal i.e. they can’t come into our garden.

Recently, the owners of next door moved out and there’s a young couple with a toddler renting. I’ve noticed they’ve been using the gate and coming through our garden and up our drive onto the road. In order to do so, they have to climb some ‘steps’ which are essentially three narrow blocks of concrete balanced on top of one another. They’re wobbly, slippy and both my wife and I have fallen over on them in the past.

My concern is that at some point either the mum or child will slip and hurt themselves. As a matter of law, trespass isn’t really a defence to a personal injury claim where you were aware there was a risk but didn’t take any steps to mitigate it.

I would like to ask them to refrain from using the gate and our driveway, but I don’t know how to put it to them without coming across as a bit of a dick TBH. They seem really nice and I’d like to preserve relations with them as the old people before them were always quite frosty with us.

Should I just front up and ask them to stop going through there? Should I just put a lock on the gate? Should I leave it? Put a notice up (no, I can’t go there!).

Fix your steps and chill out?

That sounds far too sensible Perchy.

Fix your steps

Well, I’m going to do that anyway, but I’m still not entirely happy about them coming through our garden in any event.

They don’t have any right to come through at all.

Just speak to them and ask them to stop

Tell them politely that it’s not a public right of way and frankly they shouldn’t have made that assumption.

For clarity, you have access at your side to the front and rear via your own driveway and also a gate which allows you alternative  access to the front via your neighbours garden?

Why do you need the gate at all then?

talk to them about it – just sticking a lock on it is more of a dick move. Just be honest about the concerns and that it’s not an express right of way and that you’re worried about someone getting hurt.

“I really don’t want to come across as a massive dick, but would you mind not coming through our garden, I’d feel awful if your toddler ever hurt themself, and weirdly the gate is technically for us to get through your garden, I know that’s stupid!”.

Lock on the gate?

I assume these are both mid terraces, with access provided for bins and so on? So they will have access through the end terrace and are perhaps just going the wrong way around.

Fit a one way turnstile like you get at football stadiums

So the steps thing is completely irrelevant and this is just about “rights”. I go into the gardens of a couple of my neighbours every week or so – in order to put their bins out. They reciprocate when suitable. They’re your neighbours. Why not just let them have the same rights as you if that’s as convenient for them as it is for you?

Why not just let them? What are the chances of them falling over and suing you, in reality?

Our neighbours walk their dog on our land – granted they asked, but I wouldn’t have dreamed of saying no. They’re nice enough people, and it doesn’t do us any harm so…. why not?

It’s nice to be nice.

Buy a baby robin apparently they’ll rip the face right off a puppy with a pair of wee soaked shoes, before dropping them out a bomber (so you’ll need a Lancaster to be stw).

“I really don’t want to come across as a massive dick, but would you mind not coming through our garden, I’d feel awful if your toddler ever hurt themself, and weirdly the gate is technically for us to get through your garden, I know that’s stupid!”.

seems like a reasonable approach

does all sound a bit “get orf my land” 😂 Don’t really see how you could mention it & not come across a bit of a dick, sorry! I would just fix the step & let them get on with it. Do you never walk/ride anywhere you shouldn’t? Not a problem IMO unless they are actually causing a problem.

Also how come your house needs the access but there’s doesn’t? Or is it just some weird legal quirk & no-one knows why the deeds are written this way?

Sounds like an ideal job for Alvin Kegg – ask him to patrol the gate and access.

We have a similar situation, but our gates locks so we can open it to access the road via the neightbour’s garden, but they can’t access our garden.

Having said, that pretty sure I gave the neighbour a key for rescuing lost chickens who occasionally end up in our garden…

For clarity, you have access at your side to the front and rear via your own driveway and also a gate which allows you alternative access to the front via your neighbours garden?

Why do you need the gate at all then?

We don’t . It was there when we bought the house.

So the steps thing is completely irrelevant and this is just about “rights”. I go into the gardens of a couple of my neighbours every week or so – in order to put their bins out. They reciprocate when suitable. They’re your neighbours. Why not just let them have the same rights as you if that’s as convenient for them as it is for you?

It’s not. We don’t generally go through their garden even though we have the right to do so, as in my view it’s a bit cheeky – but we have an express right of way to do so. Conversely, they don’t have any right to do so but they are.

It’s nothing to do with bins etc – wrong part of the gardens (bins are at the front).

The “steps thing” isn’t irrelevant – I am genuinely concerned they may fall as they’re rickety at best.

I assume these are both mid terraces, with access provided for bins and so on? So they will have access through the end terrace and are perhaps just going the wrong way around.

No – it’s a bit complex (which is why I didn’t try to explain) but (as you look at them) we are left side, our house, front and rear gardens abut the rear gardens of houses on the next road, with no access from front to rear. They, on the right, have a driveway all the way to the back of their house, and there’s a path that runs up on the right of their garden and then cuts across it, to the gate and end of our garden. There’s a driveway at the end of our garden which opens out on to the other road.

Why not just let them? What are the chances of them falling over and suing you, in reality?

Well, we’ve lived there for years and have fallen over quite a few times. Nothing serious, but then we’re aware of the risk. Not so much the suing thing that’s worrying me but more the risk of injury to the mum or child.

Also how come your house needs the access but there’s doesn’t? Or is it just some weird legal quirk & no-one knows why the deeds are written this way?

Some historic thing – seems like the previous owners of the two properties had rows in the past so everything had to be set out in deed to confirm exactly where they could and couldn’t walk, park etc etc.

Just to complicate matters further, the driveway to the road isn’t legally ours, but we have a right of way over it which doesn’t extend to them. Like I said, complicated!

So the steps thing is completely irrelevant and this is just about “rights”.

It’s not

But you said you were going to fix the steps, so where’s the issue?

Remove the gate and replace with a fence panel.

End of problem.

Talk to them first though, they probably don’t want you coming through their garden either.

Well, we’ve lived there for years and have fallen over quite a few times. Nothing serious, but then we’re aware of the risk.

You’ve already fallen over several times and it’s only now, that someone is using the gate in the other direction that you say you’ll get them fixed. I don’t think you’re going to get them fixed ever, are you ? 🙂

But you said you were going to fix the steps, so where’s the issue?

Well, I’m not actually going to do it right this very second.

It’s in the list of things to get done this summer (prob autumn, well, no, actually, winter; actually, probably best to wait until the weather gets better in the spring [cont. ad nauseaum (sic)] – so actually 2023 at best).

You’ve already fallen over several times and it’s only now, that someone is using the gate in the other direction that you say you’ll get them fixed. I don’t think you’re going to get them fixed ever, are you ? 🙂

Ha! See my previous post!

If they’ve got their own drive that goes to the back of their house why on earth are they walking up your path!?

Why does anyone ever do something like that? Because its a) more convenient or b) quicker.

If you dont need the access I would just get rid of the gate.

OP – You explained the situation perfectly reasonably in your first post without coming across as a dick (to me, anyway) so I’m sure if you did the same verbally, they’d be fine. Or, what njee20 said.

Perchy – are you in my garden right now?
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. If so, could you give the lawn a mow please?

Perchy – are you in my garden right now?

Nope. Back bedroom

I am cutting your grass though 😉

Afraid to go into the garden in case I take a tumble down your shonky steps.

Nope. Back bedroom

Afraid to go into the garden in case I take a tumble down your shonky steps.

You mean the neighbour’s back bedroom, as obviously there’d be no tumbling if you’re in my garden.

Trespasser!

Jakesters garden steps earlier….

More like that!

I’d just shout “**** off my garden” out of the window. But then I don’t go for this neighbourly relationship nonsense (I live in the south).

Nah, this is an actual image of Jakester’s garden. His neighbours dug too greedily and too deep…

Fix your steps and get on friendly terms with your neighbours. Over time you might get to like them and have no objections to their shortcut.

In my house we have a gate in the garden that opens up to a footpath to the primary school. It probably knocks 5 minutes off the walk and avoids crossing any roads. The neighbours’ kids are free to go through if they wish, although the latest set of neighbours don’t. Either way it doesn’t make any impact on my daily life and contributes to the general community feel we have on our cul-de-sac.

Explain to the neighbour that because of the rickety steps you’re going to lock the gate until you fixed them. You can explain all about the weird deeds in the process if you like – renting tenants won’t have reason to know about anything in the deeds.

Lock the gate

Either do or don’t fix the step, it doesn’t really matter – it sounds like for your own well being you should though

Don’t unlock the gate again even if/when you’ve fixed it – you don’t use it and the neighbour shouldn’t so theres no reason to unlock it again once you’ve locked it. Because they know about the weird deeds they won’t have any exception on your to open the gate again anyway.