Access to neighbouring property act.

[jpkeates]

My guess is that the issue is a) removing the dead ivy and b) fixing the damaged brickwork.

Ivy is relatively easy to kill, but it usually stays in place when it's dead.
It usually turns brown, which isn't that unattractive (to me), but it doesn't move.

And if the reason it needs removing is because it's damaged the bricks and mortar (or roof tiles or guttering), which is usually why people remove it, that damage will need to be fixed.
That's usually why people remove ivy, which is normally quite attractive.

The neighbour might be swayed by the realisation that a dispute or court order will have to be disclosed when their property is sold, which would definitely affect the price.
The OP would have to disclose the ivy issue, so they're already in that position, so they're not going to have the same negative consequence.
So it's really in the neighbours interest to allow access.
They may not see it that way, and, given the OP's issue with them not being a man, I imagine that a non-legal solution is probably impossible.

[Turbine Terry]

I don’t understand why this is even an issue, let alone spending costs on solicitor fee’s and contemplating courts orders.

As I understand it the OP owns the ivy and he owns the wall it is growing up. The OP has a 500 mm pathway to gain access to the ivy and also has access to his roof. 500 mm is plenty to shuffle down to cut down the ivy, and/or use weed killer (if easier/needed you can get weed killer pump containers with a fairly powerful spray rod to use from a distance). Even if 500 mm wasn’t enough a suitable tradesman with a roof ladder could use weed killer (with a spray rod from the roof downwards).

[JK0]

We did this at our house. Cut through the stems at the bottom of the wall, the ivy dies off but remains clinging to the wall. So the neighbour can still have her view of ivy.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. She'll be begging o/p to come over & remove it then.

[Mrs Mug]

BTW, surely if o/p goes and snips all the stems at ground level, the ivy will die off in due course?

We did this at our house. Cut through the stems at the bottom of the wall, the ivy dies off but remains clinging to the wall. So the neighbour can still have her view of ivy.

[Plumbob]

Exactly. I will try to put a picture of the wall up.

[JK0]

BTW, surely if o/p goes and snips all the stems at ground level, the ivy will die off in due course?

[JK0]

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

I don't think putting sand on the Ivy will help.

[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

[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.

[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]

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

[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!

[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

[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.

[AndrewDod]

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