Do I have a right to secure my property?

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Sunrise Stalker

Sunrise Stalker

Well-Known Member
My neighbour has access permission through my back garden (I'm end of terrace) to her back garden. Her gate is locked. I put a combination lock on my gate and gave her the access code. Now she is threatening to take me to court for restricting her access saying that she never agreed to me fitting a lock. She complained and a guy from the council came for a friendly chat. He said it was not unreasonable for me to secure my property and I got him to put this in an email to me so I have it in writing. I don't think my neighbour knows I have a firearm, and don't feel inclined to tell her, but this is obviously a strong reason to secure my property. Just wondering if anyone has any advice / links to my rights please? I've tried googling this but haven't found anything definitive yet... Thanks, Alex
 
I would speak to Citizens advice. They're sure to have had this before. She will almost certainly not take you to court though. That's expensive and you haven't restricted her access at all.
 
She is being very silly. The presence of a lock which she can open cannot be a restriction of access. Her own front door rather proves the principle.
Hard to imagine it getting to court, but very frustrating to have the groundless ill feeling from her.

You may have a right of access to her back garden too....e.g. for maintenance of your property, if you check your deeds/lease. I do. If so, then her lock would actually infringe your right.

Is she otherwise a difficult neighbour?
 
baguio said:
I would speak to Citizens advice. They're sure to have had this before. She will almost certainly not take you to court though. That's expensive and you haven't restricted her access at all.
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Citizens advice - complete waste of time.
We went through something similar some years ago when a new neighbour moved in and decided to put a gate and a lock on an access lane running across the back of a row of terraced houses leading to our end of terrace property in a bid to cut off our access. Costly lengthy court proceedings over a period of three years resulting in costs awarded against the neighbour plus a two year undertaking to the court (equivalent of an ASBO) from the neighbour. She broke that undertaking almost immediately and had to appear before the court.

These matters are often very complicated - read expensive. Look at your deeds or lease first of all and seek professional legal advise from a solicitor specialising in such matters.
 
Apthorpe said:
She is being very silly. The presence of a lock which she can open cannot be a restriction of access. Her own front door rather proves the principle.
Hard to imagine it getting to court, but very frustrating to have the groundless ill feeling from her.

You may have a right of access to her back garden too....e.g. for maintenance of your property, if you check your deeds/lease. I do. If so, then her lock would actually infringe your right.

Is she otherwise a difficult neighbour?
Click to expand...
She can apply to the Courts, and I will get summoned to make my case. She has stated clearly that she will be seeking costs against me. I don't have right to her access her property, but yes she is difficult / miserable
 
Sunrise Stalker said:
both ex-council, now privately owned. I think the council can get involved between neighbourly disputes
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As they are now both privately owned I would be surprised if the council would want to get involved other than to confirm any covenants included at the time of sale.
 
8x57 said:
Citizens advice - complete waste of time.
We went through something similar some years ago when a new neighbour moved in and decided to put a gate and a lock on an access lane running across the back of a row of terraced houses leading to our end of terrace property in a bid to cut off our access. Costly lengthy court proceedings over a period of three years resulting in costs awarded against the neighbour plus a two year undertaking to the court (equivalent of an ASBO) from the neighbour. She broke that undertaking almost immediately and had to appear before the court.

These matters are often very complicated - read expensive. Look at your deeds or lease first of all and seek professional legal advise from a solicitor specialising in such matters.
Click to expand...
I hear you and you may well be correct. The OP isn't the one with the issue here though so why should he incure any costs until a solicitor's letter arrives? The OP doesn't specify the type of lock fitted but perhaps an electrical key pad type lock might be better and cause her less inconvienience. It would also show that you're trying to be a good neighbour. Sadly it would appear that a meeting with a solicitor is likely.
I have dealt with a bad neighbour and feel the pain. 40 year old man still living with his mother. He made the mistake of telling me that he had hit his 70+ year old mother. I called the police with my concerns and he was sectioned, never to return. Hopefully the same will happen to this silly women.
 
I specifically avoided buying a house where the neighbour had access across the back garden with their car for this very reason.

The estate agent said “the neighbour is very reasonable!” … I said “yes, but the next one might not be!”.
 
If you've given her the combination to the gate she has for access then you haven't stopped her from using the gate, only asked her to lock it after use which is perfectly reasonable in this day and age where bikes and mowers ect get pinched. She can't really lock her own garden then complain you've locked yours!
 
Lloyd90 said:
I specifically avoided buying a house where the neighbour had access across the back garden with their car for this very reason.

The estate agent said “the neighbour is very reasonable!” … I said “yes, but the next one might not be!”.
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The seller is hardly going to say that they're selling because their neighbour is an rsole. Take what the seller of anything says with a pinch of salt!
 
In the title deeds the neighbours has right of free access across your garden. By locking the gate you have impeded such access.

If you want to add additional security you will need to get the agreement of your neighbour before installing any such additional security.

Yes a combination lock might seem a good idea, but try getting all the little numbers aligned in the dark when you are carrying something etc.

Do you really need to lock the gate, and does it really achieve any additional security? And is worth the neighouring agro

I have exactly the same with my garden - neighbour has right of access to the front door. Garden bench is cable locked to a slab.
 
baguio said:
The seller is hardly going to say that they're selling because their neighbour is an rsole. Take what the seller of anything says with a pinch of salt!
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The seller has a legal obligation to mention any problems.

Dave31 said:
Can you get legal advice though your home insurance?
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That's something worth exploring.

I don't know if the system is still in operation but you used to be able to approach a solicitor and they would give 20 or 30 minutes of advise free of charge. Basically this was to inform you if you had a possible legal resolution to a problem.
Also if you are a member of a trade union they often have a similar scheme.
 
Last edited:
Heym SR20 said:
In the title deeds the neighbours has right of free access across your garden. By locking the gate you have impeded such access.

If you want to add additional security you will need to get the agreement of your neighbour before installing any such additional security.

Yes a combination lock might seem a good idea, but try getting all the little numbers aligned in the dark when you are carrying something etc.

Do you really need to lock the gate, and does it really achieve any additional security? And is worth the neighouring agro

I have exactly the same with my garden - neighbour has right of access to the front door. Garden bench is cable locked to a slab.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure the deeds say 'free' access. The council guy said we needed to agree the type of lock, but if she won't agree, it's impossible to get an agreement. The locked gate is a deterrent, someone could still climb over it (it's only a 5 bar gate) but stops anyone randomly walking off the street and poking around the back of my house where they can't be seen.
 
8x57 said:
The seller has a legal obligation to mention any problems.


That's something exploring.

I don't know if the system is still in operation but you used to be able to approach a solicitor and they would give 20 or 30 minutes of advise free of charge. Basically this was to inform you if you had a possible legal resolution to a problem.
Also if you are a member of a trade union they often have a similar scheme.
Click to expand...
Will look into that - thanks!
 
Silly woman probably doesn't realise how much it will cost her to bring her case to court for a civil matter. Let her get on with it. Might be worth having a chat with your FEO who may have come across this problem before.
 
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