Robble76
20-09-2005, 14:06 PM
Hi
I am the leaseholder of a first floor flat in a converted Victorian building. The entrance is shared with the ground floor flat and a path leads from the door to the pavement with a garden area each side. A second floor flat is above mine with access via an external staircase at the side of the building. The front and rear gardens are owned by the ground floor flat (or so I thought).
Last february some new people bought the ground floor flat. In late June they asked if i would object to them building a driveway in the front garden to park their car on. They said they would not object to me using the drive as well. I said I had no objections and they promptly smashed up the front path in preparation to build the drive.
Since then they have not done any more. The path is in a mess and is downright dangerous. I mentioned this to them the other day and they said they would finish it off within a few weeks. Apparently they have run out of money.
Anyhow I have just been onto the Land Registry website and downloaded a copy of the title register and plan and have seen that they only own the half of the garden on one side of the path! The other side (where they plan to have the driveway) is outside their boundary and since it gives access to the top floor flat and the dustbin area at the side!
Presumably this is a "common area" of the property, rather like our shared front porch.
My questions are:
1) Where do they stand legally? Can they build the driveway without permission from the freeholder? The freeholder is some 90 year old woman that lives hundreds of miles away. The property is "managed" by an agent.
2) If they do build the driveway, would we all have an equal right to use it and park on it.
3) The front path seems to lie right on the border of their property. If they don't restore it to a reasonable state then what rights do I have (via the freeholder) to force them to do so?
I doubt the freeholder or agent would kick up a fuss about the drive itself since they never do anything anyway! I am pretty sure that the leaseholders on the groundfloor think this area is all part of the front garden and just haven't looked at their plan properly (if at all).
cheers
Rob
I am the leaseholder of a first floor flat in a converted Victorian building. The entrance is shared with the ground floor flat and a path leads from the door to the pavement with a garden area each side. A second floor flat is above mine with access via an external staircase at the side of the building. The front and rear gardens are owned by the ground floor flat (or so I thought).
Last february some new people bought the ground floor flat. In late June they asked if i would object to them building a driveway in the front garden to park their car on. They said they would not object to me using the drive as well. I said I had no objections and they promptly smashed up the front path in preparation to build the drive.
Since then they have not done any more. The path is in a mess and is downright dangerous. I mentioned this to them the other day and they said they would finish it off within a few weeks. Apparently they have run out of money.
Anyhow I have just been onto the Land Registry website and downloaded a copy of the title register and plan and have seen that they only own the half of the garden on one side of the path! The other side (where they plan to have the driveway) is outside their boundary and since it gives access to the top floor flat and the dustbin area at the side!
Presumably this is a "common area" of the property, rather like our shared front porch.
My questions are:
1) Where do they stand legally? Can they build the driveway without permission from the freeholder? The freeholder is some 90 year old woman that lives hundreds of miles away. The property is "managed" by an agent.
2) If they do build the driveway, would we all have an equal right to use it and park on it.
3) The front path seems to lie right on the border of their property. If they don't restore it to a reasonable state then what rights do I have (via the freeholder) to force them to do so?
I doubt the freeholder or agent would kick up a fuss about the drive itself since they never do anything anyway! I am pretty sure that the leaseholders on the groundfloor think this area is all part of the front garden and just haven't looked at their plan properly (if at all).
cheers
Rob