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  • Alleyway

    By Guest on 16th Oct 2019

    My house was built in 1931 and is a midterrace consisting of four houses and there are four of these mid terrace blocks next to each other. The original conveyance has a picture of an alleyway running along the back of all the houses leading to a road either side. Over time this alleway has narrowed and most gardens now just back onto the neighbours back gardens from the other road. The land registry from 1986 now only shows an alleyway for the first 2 houses near me and the rest are just gardens backing onto other gardens. Is the land registry correct or the original conveyance. I was looking to build an out building down the back of my garden but don't want to build if part of the land is a right of way alleyway

  • 1 Answers

    By Guest on 17/10/2019

    Real life is correct! What's on the Land Registry and the historic deeds are just reflective of data stored in the appropriate document. If the alleyway has narrowed in real life, then it has narrowed.

    As to whether the "encroachment" of gardens onto what used to be an alleyway is a breach of the historic conveyance, that depends. You would need to have a look at the historic deeds and see if they grant a "right of access" or an "easement for access". If they do, then encroachment onto that easement could be an actionable breach.

    To complicate further, the passage of time may waive any right to an injunction and/or compensation. If a breach has been open and existing for a long time (some cases say over 4 years, some over 20, and there is loads of case law on the subject) then the chance of an injunction is almost nil. The chance of compensation for breach is also slim to negligible.

    With regard to you building down the back of your garden, from the circumstances described it sounds like you *might* get away with it. If your property deeds show a right of access for other properties down the back alley then consider does your garden already breach this, i.e. you're not narrowing the alley any more? If you're not encroaching further onto the alley and your garden has occupied that space for many years (see above) it is probably fairly safe to do - but of course if it's a breach of the deeds then ultimately any decision would be up to a human judge at court and so can never be guaranteed 100%. An option to consider as well is a breach of restrictive covenant indemnity policy after you have carried out the works, but be aware you may have to wait 6-12 months following completion of the works before you can put a policy in place. Again, take advice as breaches of restrictive covenants can be very situation-specific.

    www.notaryexpress.co.uk

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