Many people in the UK share a front lawn with their neighbours – knowing where you stand if you fall out is important
A front lawn in the UK – rules around sharing them can be knotty
Many households across the UK share a front lawn. In the majority of instances, such arrangements are managed without difficulty.
However, there are occasions when disputes between neighbours arise. In these circumstances, homeowners may want to understand where they stand legally.
According to Citizens Advice, the property documents or title deeds may specify who bears responsibility for maintaining a shared garden or pathway in proper condition. If you do not already possess them, property documents or title deeds can be ordered.
Where you and your neighbours share a garden, difficulties may emerge over equal use, the organisation says. This could be due to one household having more convenient access to the garden than others.
You should attempt to discuss the issue with your neighbour and work towards a resolution. You can examine the property documents, title deeds or tenancy agreement to establish who holds rights to use the garden. The duty to maintain and improve it ought to be divided in accordance with those rights.
Houses and gardens in UK at sunset(Image: Getty)
Should you require assistance in speaking with your neighbours, a local mediation scheme may be available. Depending on the provider, there may be a charge for mediation. Attempting to settle garden disputes amicably is the standard advice.
Gary Rycroft of Joseph A. Jones and Co Solicitors told Good Housekeeping: “Get your facts straight, so you know your rights and true legal position before approaching your neighbour. ” If issues can’t be resolved, you could ask another trusted neighbour to mediate – and always put everything in writing, so you have a paper trail.
The website Boundary Problems also addresses the issue. It looked at the case of a person who has for 12 years cut a lawn all the way up to their neighbour’s drive. The complainant says: “I say that all of this grass is mine, but he claims that the three feet of grass nearest to his driveway belongs to him. Which of us is right?”
The site’s advice is that the neighbour is probably basing their claim on the conveyance plan for the property. It says that the complainant’s claim to the land is based on something called adverse possession – where a person who is not the legal owner of land can acquire title to it through long-standing occupation.
However, in this case the website says that the person who mows the lawn needed to have demonstrated factual possession of the land by enclosing it. Because they have not done this, the neighbour is right.
Neighbour disputes over access to back gardens
Lawhive also offers guidance on back garden access disputes. Its website explains that a right of way to a back garden refers to a homeowner’s potential legal entitlement to pass through another person’s land in order to reach their own garden.. The legal firm states that such rights of way are typically documented within a property’s title deeds.
For these arrangements to function smoothly, neighbouring parties must reach a clear mutual understanding regarding how the right of way may be used, any limitations that apply, and obligations on both sides. Without such an agreement in place, disputes can quickly arise.. Where no legal right or formal agreement exists to access a neighbour’s garden, the firm warns that doing so technically constitutes trespassing, which is unlawful.
It notes: “Of course, no one wants to get into a dispute with their neighbour, so while it might seem like an inconvenience, in some cases it may be easier for all involved to agree on what access is and isn’t appropriate.”
‘Am I wrong to stop cutting my neighbour’s lawn?’
Shared lawns are a fairly common source of issues between neighbours. A thread on Reddit earlier this year saw one user question whether they were in the wrong for no longer mowing their neighbour’s lawn after the previous occupant had let the property out. They asked: “Since the property was rented out, I have avoided cutting the grass, as I don’t want to cut someone’s grass without their permission or at least having a friendly chat with them first to get to know them.
“It feels petty not cutting the grass, but it could offend them if I did it without even gettin g permission, plus I am saving them labour, so I don’t want to also do it without even knowing if they are nice neighbours first or having a chat.
File photo of young woman in casual clothes mowing grass with lawn mower in backyard of house(Image: Getty)
“The local council have now also brought in a charge for green waste removal so by doing it now I am not only saving them labour/time but also money, so I don’t want to do this for just any random stranger. Am I being reasonable to hold back here or petty and a bad neighbour?”
One person replied: “No, you have no obligation to give them anything. “Another said: “Today’s favour becoming tomorrow’s obligation. Under the circumstances you describe you are right to stop doing it. Wait and see how you get on with the new people.”
But another said: “If it was a small lawn, I’d just mow it. It would bother me more than the neighbour if I left it.”
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