When buying your new home, it’s important to know that you enjoy unrestricted access to your property and its land.
While it’s uncommon in newer properties and those in urban areas, some homebuyers may face issues relating to the legal ownership of access to a property, such as a driveway.
This can substantially impact the value of a property and the ability of the buyer to proceed with the sale.
Our Residential Conveyancing team takes a look at how this situation can be navigated and how homebuyers can achieve the best outcome.
A question of ownership
When you buy a property, your conveyancer will check and report on access to the property as part of the ‘title investigation’.
They will look to see whether your new property has a ‘good and marketable’ title, including whether the property has sufficient legal access or a right of way that allows you to enter and leave the property freely.
This will show you if your property borders a publicly adopted road – one which is maintained at public expense. This is not private property, and therefore any house which borders it has a right of use.
However, if access to your property includes a private road, then someone else may own that land and you may not have automatic access to your property.
Obtaining access
Your property’s title will not be deemed ‘good and marketable’ if you don’t have legal access. However, there are ways of gaining legal access without the automatic right conferred by a publicly adopted road.
A right of way (or ‘easement’) can provide you legal access to a property across private land in one of three ways:
Without a legal right of way to your property, it will be considered ‘landlocked’. Your conveyancer will have to report this to your mortgage lender, who may then revoke your mortgage as the property is likely to face further difficulties and represents a higher risk to your lender.
If you need advice on obtaining access to your new property, please contact our Residential Conveyancing team to discuss your situation.
