# Access To Your Property via a Track Thats Not On Your Land?



## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Hi All, 

We have looked at a property that has a very short track to it..probably 20-30 metres...half of which is not on the land of the property, as it crosses a short section of an olive grove from the road. Is this generally a problem? Or common place in Spain?

We have heard that there might be a law that allows access to your property, or rather, illegal to prevent you access to your property.....again, is this true?

We have looked at properties in the campo in the past, and they were along quite long tracks, some across olive fields, and you obviously didn't own the track on them, or the land it ran across. So is there an official legislation on access tracks/routes, or is it something that is included in the escritura? 

Any help and advice gratefully received


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole no matter what the law says. Seen some TV shows on this with disaterous outcomes. Same as shared drives in the UK. A no no.


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

We ruled out a house that had a shared access. Initial enquiries suggested that iy was more trouble than it was worth - our Spanish solicitor's views not ours and that was good enough.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

This isn't a 'shared access'...merely a track that runs across a farmers olive grove, albeit not very long, but obviously not on the properties land. Surely that is pretty common in the campo in Spain?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

StevejR1 said:


> This isn't a 'shared access'...merely a track that runs across a farmers olive grove, albeit not very long, but obviously not on the properties land. Surely that is pretty common in the campo in Spain?


I personally wouldn't touch it

but really this is the kind of thing your abogado needs to deal with

a 'friendly arrangement' is one thing - but what if the farmer sells the land or you fall out with him?

is there no possibility of a different access route, which isn't across private land?


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> I personally wouldn't touch it
> 
> but really this is the kind of thing your abogado needs to deal with
> 
> ...


I'm getting a bit confused here.....in our house search we have seen a lot of properties that had access via tracks. I'll be honest we avoid them because of bad access, not the access right issues, but we normally don't view anything with tracks generally now. However, are you saying don't consider any property with access via a track?

The property in question has a short access track to it via the olive grove. I have considered trying to get access via the properties land because it is not far from a Tarmac road. But this road curves around, and above, the property as it is located on a slope. This means that the new access track would need to be built up to the higher level, and be a quite tight curve to be on the land owned by the property....not impossible, but not the easiest. At the moment the access track leaves the road at a lower level, and then just goes straight across, almost flat.

There is also a section of Armco barrier on the road above the house, which may limit the access point, or involve the council if it was needed to be altered. It would be easier to decide the feasibility of an access road if I was actually there....but off the top of my head I'd say it was possible, if a little difficult.

Obviously this is something I would get the lawyers to look into, and I have already questioned it with the estate agent. I was just wondering what the generally opinion was on here before we get too involved


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

StevejR1 said:


> I'm getting a bit confused here.....in our house search we have seen a lot of properties that had access via tracks. I'll be honest we avoid them because of bad access, not the access right issues, but we normally don't view anything with tracks generally now. However, are you saying don't consider any property with access via a track?
> 
> The property in question has a short access track to it via the olive grove. I have considered trying to get access via the properties land because it is not far from a Tarmac road. But this road curves around, and above, the property as it is located on a slope. This means that the new access track would need to be built up to the higher level, and be a quite tight curve to be on the land owned by the property....not impossible, but not the easiest. At the moment the access track leaves the road at a lower level, and then just goes straight across, almost flat.
> 
> ...


not saying absolutely don't, if you have your heart set on a particular property - though there will be many properties without this issue

what I think we are all saying though, is make sure you have a _legal right _to the access - not just the word of the agent or the vendor


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> not saying absolutely don't, if you have your heart set on a particular property - though there will be many properties without this issue
> 
> what I think we are all saying though, is make sure you have a _legal right _to the access - not just the word of the agent or the vendor


Oh I'd definitely want it tied up legally before we bought it...and looked into seriously before we even entered into negotiations to be honest.

Thank you for the feedback, it does concern me a bit, and as ever this site is a great place to get some info


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

In a country with literally 100s of 1000s of properties for sale AND in what is totally a buyers market why oh why even consider any property with any such issues


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Because there are 100s and 1000s of properties with issues perhaps?

It's a matter of shielding yourself from those issues and correcting where possible.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

What I mean is why even consider a house with access issues when there will be 1000s without such hassle


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

StevejR1 said:


> Oh I'd definitely want it tied up legally before we bought it...and looked into seriously before we even entered into negotiations to be honest.
> 
> Thank you for the feedback, it does concern me a bit, and as ever this site is a great place to get some info


Even if it's legal, on paper, sadly that doesn't mean that you might not face issues in the future and have to spend lots of money and time trying to get your rights enforced in the courts.

I recall someone I met at Spanish lessons who had just such a house, with access via a track partly on a neighbour's land, and he built a fence which stopped them getting into their own house. They couldn't just take it down again as it wasn't on their land and had to engage a lawyer. Last I heard they were waiting for the case to go to court (which can be a very long drawn out process) and I don't know how or if it got resolved.

I agree with the other posters whose view is that with so many houses on the market, why go for one that could give you endless hassle in the future.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Rabbitcat said:


> What I mean is why even consider a house with access issues when there will be 1000s without such hassle


I can't speak for Steve's reasons but maybe it is a really nice house. In our own searches despite the large quantity on the market there is really only a small hand full that meet our criteria as opposed to thousands to choose from so when you do find one that matches it is definitely worth considering all options.

I imagine looking for a house in the campo raises a whole different set of issues to contend with and if access is the *only* problem then I think it has to be investigated.

Out of curiosity Steve have you checked the catastro? It should mark out if the road is privately owned or publicly.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

I've been doing some 'Google Earth-ing', and I'm pretty sure it would be possible to get access from the road via the property's land....but it would be an added expense, and make the access a lot tighter. 

I've looked at the catastro records, and the olive grove is listed as a small plot of about an acre......what would be a fair price per acre (...ie not what the farmer might ask for!) for an acre of rural land if I was going to consider buying it. I realise this is a very varied question, but just wondered if there was a going rate?

I'd buy the land, but then let the farmer carry on farming the olives as he does now, if we were to go down that route....

I take on board all your views regarding the amount of properties on the market...but after having been looking for the last 18 months sometimes we feel we have viewed every one of them!!! But we really love this house....not enough to be blinkered to a major problem, or one in the future...but worth exploring options for, before dismissing it.

Can I ask a further question.....in the case of a house that has an access track used by a few houses, what is the legal stance in Spain?...are they like bridle ways in the uk? Are they legal rights of way?
I've got to be honest, 50%, perhaps more, of all the houses we have seen in the campo have been accessed by tracks, or via land that wasn't part of the property.....are you saying these really shouldn't be considered?..if so, that makes a lot of properties unsellable.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> Out of curiosity Steve have you checked the catastro? It should mark out if the road is privately owned or publicly.


Yes, I've just looked on goolzoom.com, which lists the catastro boundaries.....the small track, which is only 30 metres in total, can be seen on the satellite view, but about half of it does pass across the adjoining olive grove's catastro....not ideal. It is not outlined as an access route, but then I'm not sure if it would be on that website?


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