[Tromboneman57]

My wife and I own have purchased a house where one wall is on the border of the neighbour's land, which at present is not built on.

We need to undertake restorative painting/repair work to our wall.

We havemade a polite request to the (non-resident locally) owners of the land.
At present, the owners are denying us any access, mainly due to, it seems, a rather vehement family dispute with the previous owner of our house.

We have workmen ready to work, but do not know now how to proceed. Our Portuguese lawyer has gone away on holiday, and we just don't know what we need to do.

Could anyone help us with what to do next, please, and whether we have any access rights?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Strontium]

Probably not any help but it'll say on your deeds and those of next door (which a registered user of the "land Registry" can get for you) if there's access rights for maintenance, Usually access rights for maintenance are for the big services companies and communal buildings not private detached residences. If not done so then check the boundary stones as these are usually the accepted markers to your property and may not correspond to those on the paperwork, I've seen this before and paperwork was 600 sqM less then the stone markers. The lack of access should have been flagged at before the Promissory then a clause written for condition of sale for the vendor to sort out. I think the only way forward is by negotiation possibly in person as Portuguese prefer everything on a personal level rather than bureaucratic one

 

[JohnBoy]

I'm sorry to hear of the problem you are having. As Strontium suggests, probably the best line to take initially, is for a personal word with the owner of the adjoining property. You could point out that the work that you want to carry out is for the benefit of both parties and that you will obviously make good any damage caused to their property during the works. If the personal approach does not work, perhaps you could try having a word with your local Junta de Freguesia to ask if there is anything they can do to help. As a last resort, there is a court system here that you could use. This is not a formal court as such but a simple way to resolve disputes such as yours and is known as Julgado de Paz. There is a cost of 30 euro to use the court.

You do not have a court in Portimão but there will be a representative there. The best advice, if it comes to it, is to ask at your local Junta or Câmara for the location of the delegation to the court.

Good luck.