My neighbour put up a sign for her hairdressing business on my drive without asking: What should I do?

A new couple moved in next door to me a month ago. The woman is a mobile hairdresser and sometimes cuts customers’ hair at her home. 

Access to their property is via my double driveway. It is written in the deeds that they have access across our land to reach their own driveway which is set back a bit.

Last week, my neighbour put up an A-board sign, topped with artificial flowers, with her name and the words ‘mobile hairdresser’ written on it. 

She has propped it on the front corner of my driveway, wedging the sign with large stones which she has set into a flower bed against my wall. 

My neighbour did not ask permission to display the board even though it is on our land. 

I don’t want to upset the new neighbours, but they have upset me by doing this without our permission. What are my options? And is it allowed for my neighbour to have customers coming and going across my land?

Jane Denton of This is Money replies: You are at pains to retain good relations with your new neighbours, yet she has shown little respect in return. 

Your neighbour may have a right of way to cross over your driveway to hers, but that does not mean she can plonk up a sign for her new business on your land. 

Rights of way are often limited in scope and the placement of the sign is likely to fall out of these rules. 

Your best bet is to have a polite and sensible conversation with your neighbour and ask if she can move or remove the sign. Double check your property deeds before the conversation to confirm the sign is definitely on your land. 

If it is, you could just remove the sign carefully yourself and put it on her property. This won’t be the best approach for good neighbourly relations, though. 

From what you have said, it sounds like most of the business will be run at other people’s homes, as it’s a mobile hairdressing business. 

But if she runs the business largely from her property, she would need permission from the local council. If she’s got a mortgage, she would also need permission from her lender. I asked two solicitors for their thoughts on your situation.  

James Naylor, partner at Naylor Solicitors, said: Placing the advertising board and large stones in your flower bed without permission is likely to constitute trespass to land. 

The fact that your neighbours have a right of way over the driveway does not give them ownership of that part of your land or a right to use it for other purposes such as displaying an advertising board. 

You can therefore ask your neighbour to remove the sign and stones and restore the flower bed. 

If she refuses, you could write to her formally and, if necessary, ask the court to order her to remove the sign and stones.

If customers begin using the driveway to reach the property, whether that use falls within the right of way will depend principally on the wording and proper interpretation of the right of way. 

A greater volume of traffic is not, by itself, necessarily unlawful. However, if the business leads to a substantially different or more intensive use of the driveway, it could amount to excessive use of the right of way. 

The extent of her rights depends on the wording of your deeds, which you should check. If your neighbour goes beyond what she is legally allowed to do, you could ask a court to stop her and potentially claim compensation.

You may also have grounds to raise planning concerns with your local council.

Planning permission may be required if operating a hairdressing business from home results in a material change of use, particularly through regular customer visits, increased traffic or disturbance. 

However, the description ‘mobile hairdresser’ suggests she may intend to visit customers rather than receive them at home, so a planning issue should not be assumed.

The advertising board may also require advertisement consent, although some signs benefit from deemed consent, where permission is effectively granted automatically unless someone objects.

Importantly, even where express consent is unnecessary, your neighbour still needs permission from the landowner or someone else legally entitled to give it. 

You can ask the council’s planning enforcement team to investigate whether the sign is being displayed unlawfully, although any enforcement action is at its discretion. This is separate from your right to pursue a civil claim for trespass.

Ultimately, while your neighbour may be making a fresh start with her hairdressing business, she cannot simply brush aside your property rights. 

Given your understandable wish to maintain good relations, I would suggest starting with a friendly conversation, explaining that you would like the sign and stones to be removed from your land and the flower bed restored. If that fails, you can consider more formal action. 

Joanne Ellis, a partner and dispute resolution specialist at Stephensons, said: The starting point here is to establish exactly where the A-board has been placed. 

If it is positioned on your land, rather than on land your neighbour owns or has a legal right to use for advertising purposes, then your neighbour should have sought your permission before placing it there.

As the owner of the land, you would generally be entitled to remove the sign and return it to your neighbour, provided you do not cause any damage. 

However, while that may be legally permissible, it is unlikely to be the best first step if you are hoping to maintain a positive relationship with new neighbours.

Given that they have only recently moved in and are starting a new business venture, I would suggest having a friendly conversation explaining that you would be more comfortable with the sign being displayed on their property and land.

It would also be sensible to review the title deeds and the terms of any right of way benefiting your neighbour. 

Rights of access are often granted for specific purposes and, depending on the wording, may not extend to activities connected with running a business from the property. 

There may also be restrictive covenants affecting either property which prohibit the erection of signs, advertisements, or other structures, or even from running any business from the properties.

If the sign has been placed in breach of a covenant, or outside the scope of the rights granted to your neighbour, you may have grounds to require its removal. However, legal action should usually be considered a last resort.

With a new neighbour planning to operate a business from home, this may be a good opportunity to agree some ground rules from the outset, including whether clients will use the shared access, where they will park and how any future business advertising will be managed. 

A clear and amicable agreement now could help avoid more significant disagreements in the future.