Shared Driveways: Common Problems & Your Rights

Summary

Shared driveways can sometimes lead to neighbour disputes that disrupt your day-to-day life. In this article, we’ll cover your rights in relation to shared driveways, common disputes that arise around shared driveways and what you can do to resolve them. A shared driveway is either a driveway or pathway that’s partly on one person’s land and partly on their neighbour’s land or land owned by one neighbour that’s outside another neighbour’s house. For the first kind, both people have the right to use it. For the latter, both neighbour’s should agree on rules to share it. Shared driveways exist in the UK because in the past lots of houses had garages at the back, so it was necessary to share a driveway with their neighbour to access their garages. But shared driveways aren’t just a quirk of old properties. Lots of modern housing estates have shared driveways that multiple houses can use. Usually developers favour shared driveways because they save space, and provide more room for more houses. The Highways Act 1980, which applies in England and Wales, says that a person shouldn’t obstruct a highway, including a shared driveway. So if a neighbour blocks a shared driveway (by parking on.

Key information

• Shared driveways can sometimes lead to neighbour disputes that disrupt your day-to-day life. In this article, we’ll cover your rights in relation to shared driveways, common disputes that arise around shared driveways and what you can do to resolve them.
• A shared driveway is either a driveway or pathway that’s partly on one person’s land and partly on their neighbour’s land or land owned by one neighbour that’s outside another neighbour’s house.
• For the first kind, both people have the right to use it. For the latter, both neighbour’s should agree on rules to share it.
• Shared driveways exist in the UK because in the past lots of houses had garages at the back, so it was necessary to share a driveway with their neighbour to access their garages.
• But shared driveways aren’t just a quirk of old properties. Lots of modern housing estates have shared driveways that multiple houses can use. Usually developers favour shared driveways because they save space, and provide more room for more houses.
• The Highways Act 1980, which applies in England and Wales, says that a person shouldn’t obstruct a highway, including a shared driveway. So if a neighbour blocks a shared driveway (by parking on it, for example), they are breaking the law and they could be fined for it.
• Therefore, legally owners of a shared driveway have a responsibility to be considerate and not block the driveway.
• Shared driveways have different ownership arrangements that may be set out in your home’s deeds.
• Often, a driveway is owned by one person but their neighbour has the right to use it to access their property (right of way).
• Maintenance of a shared driveway is often covered in a property’s deeds. Generally, both neighbour’s will be equally responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a shared driveway.
• Storing anything on a shared driveway, such as waste or recycling bins, would be classed as obstructing a highway, which is against the law. Therefore, no one has the right to store anything in the area.
• Legally, no. Parking on a shared driveway is technically classed as obstructing a highway, which is against the law.

Practical guidance

• Source: Shared Driveways: Common Problems & Your Rights

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