Selling a strip of land vs access/easement options

[Conor]

Scenario: our neighbours want to extend their house and build a garage to the rear of their house. To do this, they need approx 3m of our land along our boundary, totally about 40m length.

Context: we're good friends. Their house is small, poorly laid out and they don't like it. They don't have an unlimited budget. Neither of us plan to move any time soon (best street in the town basically).

The strip of land is where our driveways are.

 

I think for the majority of the land they need only for access, with a small square at the bottom for the garage.

 

We currently have about 12m from our house to the boundary. We want to keep enough land for future development... Large garage, extension, annex, separate house etc.

 

So we are hesitant to sell as it would hinder any future development options.

 

Can we grant them an easement/ access rights so they can extend their house (up to edge of existing boundary) but still access the rear of their property?

 

We'd still both have our own dedicated driveways, this new access would fit between our existing drives.

 

Then we could both use this to access the rear of our properties and allow us to keep an option for future development as we could also use the shared access?

 

I know sheared access is usually a complex issue and a source of many a dispute.... Enlighten me.

 

Essentially we'd straighten the boundary a bit so it's parallel with their house, and turn our sloping driveway in to a shared access.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Conor

[nod]

Short answer is Yes 

You can go to a solicitor and draw up what ever you want 

But be careful While neither of you intend moving anytime soon

You don’t know what’s around the corner 

We often hear on here the term forever home 

No such thing 

 

We did a similar thing to you Many years back and gave our neighbor a strip of land so they could get around the back of there house 

Two years on they split up and we ended up with a caravan parked opposite our kitchen window 

 

I would draw up a very one sided agreement Assuming you may be dealing with strangers sometime down the line 

 

[dpmiller]

Would this narrow your driveway? The sightline's not great as it it now, no chance it would make things more awkward for you in that regard?

[ProDave]

The storey I tell is they guy I bought all my scaffolding from.

 

He lived in a semi detached house with a 3M wide driveway alongside it.  His neighbour had a similar side garden.  One day the elderly neighbour said to him the garden is getting too much for me would you like to buy my side garden, and offered it for not very much money with no conditions.

 

This guy then owned a semi detached house with a 6M wide side garden and got planning for a new house on that side garden.  It was this house he was just completing so I bought his scaffold.

 

The neighbour had not spoken to him since.........

 

I know you like your neighbour, but you don't owe them a favour like that.

 

Which is the "front" of your house?  you appear to have an access at top and bottom of that picture and 2 driveways that I am not even sure actually link together? ("sloping driveway" appears to taper away to nothing)

 

[Conor]

2 hours ago, dpmiller said:

Would this narrow your driveway? The sightline's not great as it it now, no chance it would make things more awkward for you in that regard?

It's currently double the width we're allowed... The original entrance was 3m wide and we have to reinstate the hedge back to this... So wouldn't impact us massively but would actually help as we wouldn't have the hedge between us and 51 along the road.

[Conor]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

The storey I tell is they guy I bought all my scaffolding from.

 

He lived in a semi detached house with a 3M wide driveway alongside it.  His neighbour had a similar side garden.  One day the elderly neighbour said to him the garden is getting too much for me would you like to buy my side garden, and offered it for not very much money with no conditions.

 

This guy then owned a semi detached house with a 6M wide side garden and got planning for a new house on that side garden.  It was this house he was just completing so I bought his scaffold.

 

The neighbour had not spoken to him since.........

 

I know you like your neighbour, but you don't owe them a favour like that.

 

Which is the "front" of your house?  you appear to have an access at top and bottom of that picture and 2 driveways that I am not even sure actually link together? ("sloping driveway" appears to taper away to nothing)

 

Yeah, that's the thing, we want to keep the land for a hypothetical second house... Which would go down like a lead balloon here!

 

Our entrance is at the top of the map.

Re the driveway at the back... The driveway down the dose is to access the courtyard at the back that originally had a covered garage area which we've since ditched.

[Temp]

You could give him an easement/right of access but I don't know if the land registry will let you limit it just to him personally. I think to be lawful they have to benefit land rather than people so a future owner could also use it. Any such easement would also preclude development that blocked access.

 

One option might be just give him written permission to use it with conditions. You can put whatever clauses you like in there. Limit it just to him etc

[AliG]

I absolutely would not recommend doing this, it will seriously compromise your plot and cause no end of hassle.

 

If a property developer owned next door and wanted to do it, how much would you charge them?

 

Think of this number and are you willing to just give this amount of money to your neighbours?

[Mr Punter]

+1 don't do it.  It is probably OK but possibly a world of pain.

[Pocster]

Just put in planning for another house . Solves all the problems faffing , trying to find some middle ground for you and your neighbor. He will then hate you and sell up . You will then have a new neighbor who will love you . Once you start the new build and deviate slightly ( few cm too long or high ) - they will hate you also .

But you have a nice new house .