Access to neighbouring property act.

[Plumbob]

Has anyone successfully used the act for the purpose it is designed for please? Did the court action take forever to obtain the judgement? I'm about to get notified by my solicitor that we need to go to court to be able to cut the huge ivy growth on the flank wall growing up over the roof now. T I a

[ash72]

I guess talking with the neighbour is not an option? Never done it, but I would imagine the judgement will state what the order is and when you can access on the grounds of the neighbour.

I hate Ivy, especially when it's growing on the property, it most likely will need re-pointing. Look into your insurance policy to see if your covered by damage by a neighbour.

[AndrewDod]

Why can't it be cut off on your own side?

Is this a boundary structure, built when??

Same issue arises when folk build at or near a boundary without considering how they are going to maintain.... without getting a court order each and every time.

Some photos would be nice.

[AndrewDod]

Where exactly is this wall
- A party wall built with consent and straddling the boundary (in this case I am not sure you have any rights as to what neighbour grows entirely within the bounds of their own property)
- Built right up to the boundary (in this case you have the right to cut the ivy at the boundary, i.e strip it off the wall)
- Built with a small gap to the boundary?

[AndrewDod]

... and I guess you must have some other dispute with neighbour -- and this is payback? Otherwise what motive do they have.

They are not happy with what you built perhaps?

[Neelix]

Legally you have right off access to undertake maintenance of your property, so surely the sand would apply to plants.

what Does the neighbour say about giving you access?

[AndrewDod]

Legally you have right off access to undertake maintenance of your property, so surely the sand would apply to plants.

what Does the neighbour say about giving you access?

Yes you do (usually) but you might have to get court order to access land in order to achieve that maintenance.

[AndrewDod]

And three previous responses of mine in this thread are just green and unapproved -- what a waste of time

[AndrewDod]

And on every application you have to satisfy the court:

the court shall make *an* access order if, *and only if*, it is satisfied—

(a)that the works are reasonably necessary for the preservation of the whole or any part of the dominant land; and
(b)that they cannot be carried out, or would be substantially more difficult to carry out, without entry upon the servient land;

If resisted you may need to prove that the ivy is undesirable and that you cannot remove it in any other feasible manner (from your roof?). As also intimated in my "unapproved" posts it matters if this is one side of a party wall, and the attacked wall is actually over the boundary.

[Neelix]

Yes you do (usually) but you might have to get court order to access land in order to achieve that maintenance.

i only pointed this out because so many people don’t realise this.

so there’s no point in blocking access IMHO

[Plumbob]

I guess talking with the neighbour is not an option? Never done it, but I would imagine the judgement will state what the order is and when you can access on the grounds of the neighbour.

I hate Ivy, especially when it's growing on the property, it most likely will need re-pointing. Look into your insurance policy to see if your covered by damage by a neighbour.

I have asked the neighbour politely several times and so has my gardener but just got a tirade of foul language as apparently she doesn't want to look at the flank wall of my bungalow and prefers the ivy. I cannot access the area between the wall of the house and the boundary fence as it's only 500mm. House was built in 1923 and hers in 1925, so been there a while. She allowed my builder to replace soffits fascias and gutters in 2020 but refused to allow any ivy to be cut down.
If this is not too controversial, I think if a man was involved in her side of things, we may have been able to sort it out but I am very concerned that if I say or do the"wrong thing" it could prove very awkward to say the least.
I'm paying solicitors to go down the legal route and have been lucky to find a proper garden maintenance firm insured to the hilt, who will do the job when access is granted............... whenever that is!

[AndrewDod]

i only pointed this out because so many people don’t realise this.
so there’s no point in blocking access IMHO

Depends. Sometimes a point in doing something is related to more than whether blocking can be achieved. It can be legitimate punishment for a nasty abusive neighbour who just built a 3 story disgusting wall.

In any case such court orders involve far more than a simple Yes or No. They involve the duration of access, method of access, what can be carried out, whether compensation for access might be due, compensation for damage caused.... and so on

[Neelix]

I have asked the neighbour politely several times and so has my gardener but just got a tirade of foul language as apparently she doesn't want to look at the flank wall of my bungalow and prefers the ivy. I cannot access the area between the wall of the house and the boundary fence as it's only 500mm. House was built in 1923 and hers in 1925, so been there a while. She allowed my builder to replace soffits fascias and gutters in 2020 but refused to allow any ivy to be cut down.
If this is not too controversial, I think if a man was involved in her side of things, we may have been able to sort it out but I am very concerned that if I say or do the"wrong thing" it could prove very awkward to say the least.
I'm paying solicitors to go down the legal route and have been lucky to find a proper garden maintenance firm insured to the hilt, who will do the job when access is granted............... whenever that is!

surely you can go down the gap side ways?

[AndrewDod]

surely you can go down the gap side ways?

Of course they can. 50cm is plenty. They won't be able to put a ladder up though in a 50cm space - but it is hardly the fault of the neighbour if OP let it grow up to the roof. This sounds very much like a protracted failure of self maintenance, not a difficulty created by a neighbour.

[Hudson01]

I have asked the neighbour politely several times and so has my gardener but just got a tirade of foul language as apparently she doesn't want to look at the flank wall of my bungalow and prefers the ivy.

The last part of your statement says it all, she would rather you suffer damage to the property than her view spoilt !! I have dealt with neighbours as part of my job with this kind of view, some do not even stop access for anything close to your situation..... they do it because they can and they know it harms their neighour, they get pleasure from it.

Keep on with the legal route, i would caution though, because this is taking place, both parties will need to disclose this dispute if/when either houses come up for sale, at best it will knock the value down, at worse it will put off some buyers even offering