Is your driveway a right of way?
Most shared driveways have an easement, allowing one party right of way over another party. A right of way easement is simply the right to pass and re-pass over a prescribed area on foot, or in vehicles or machinery. It extends to agents, invitees, tenants, livestock and the like.
Who is responsible for maintaining an easement driveway?
Most easement instruments will require the land owner giving the right of way and the land owner benefitting from the right of way to equally share the costs of repairing and maintaining the easement area.
What is the difference between a right of way and a right of access?
A public right of way, however, can only be a right of access. Another distinction is that a right of way has to be a specified route or path which is defined as leading in a line from point A to point B. Both points A and B must be public places (such as other public roads or pathways).
What can I do if my Neighbour blocks my driveway?
If the vehicle is blocking access to your driveway you should first make enquiries with the neighbours to see if they know who the car belongs to, so they can move it. If your local council hasn’t taken on CPE, you will need to contact your local police force.
Does having a shared driveway decrease property value?
When it needs paved, or something obstructs it, what exists to be sure that it’s spelled out how costs will be shared or managed. Never the less, as long as the driveway is legally recorded, and it’s clear you’re allowed to use it for ingress and egress the it shouldn’t effect property value.
Can a right of access be removed?
It is very difficult for a right of way to be removed, without the consent of those benefiting from it. Once a right is established in the property deed, it keeps the same status as an expressed right of way, whether the right is still being used at the time the action starts or not.
Can you put gates on a right of way?
It is well-established that a gate can be erected across a right of way (Pettey v Parsons (1914)) and such a gate can even have a lock (Johnstone v Holdway (1963)); the question for the court is whether the gate amounts to a substantial interference with the convenient use of the right of way compared with the …
Where does your neighbor have right of way?
For example, your neighbor owns a piece of land directly behind your land and he does not have direct access (frontage) to the road. However, he has an easement deeded to him with his land that allows him to use a specific piece of your land for that access.
How can I get my Neighbors driveway rights?
A survey of the driveway should be obtained and an easement for the driveway should be recorded by you and your neighbors. Even if you or your neighbors do nothing now, you will have to disclose this prescriptive easement claim to any buyer of your home.
Why do I need a right of way on my property?
The easement will usually be created to allow the vendor to continue to enjoy his remaining property, as where he will require a right of way over the parcel of land he has sold in order to reach his remaining property, or a right to access sewers or drains that used to be on his property, but are now within the new owner’s property.
What causes dispute over right of way over driveway?
Finally, a common situation and cause of dispute is where an individual who enjoys a right of way over a neighbour’s driveway fails to close the gate after passing through it.
How is a driveway owned by a neighbor?
Typically, the deeds will show how the driveway is owned. There is only a true sharing of the driveway when there is a separately deeded right for the ownership of the driveway, in addition to both neighbors’ ownership of their individual properties, and as such, the driveway is titled in the neighbors as tenants-in-common or joint tenants.
For example, your neighbor owns a piece of land directly behind your land and he does not have direct access (frontage) to the road. However, he has an easement deeded to him with his land that allows him to use a specific piece of your land for that access.
Who is the owner of the shared driveway?
The typical shared driveway is not generally owned by both neighbors jointly, as previously described, but instead, one neighbor usually owns the driveway while the other neighbor will hold an easement to use the driveway, or a right of way over such driveway.
What does it mean to have right of way in back yard?
They are startled to discover that they must allow their neighbors to “share” part of their land, or that the local utility company has a right to access a pipe buried in their back yard. How can this be? In both examples, the properties have what’s known as an “easement,” otherwise known as a “right-of-way.”