Access rights for landowners

25th Mar 2026

Author: Jill Benbow

If you own or manage land, access issues rarely stay small for long. What starts as a walker stepping off the right route, a dog running where it should not or a gate being left open can quickly become a pattern. Once people start treating informal access as normal, it becomes much harder to correct.

That is why it helps to understand not just the legal position, but what you can do early on to protect your land and avoid a practical problem turning into a wider dispute. In most cases, the challenge is knowing what rights actually apply to your land, what is not covered by those rights and what action is most likely to work in practice.

For many landowners, prevention is still the most effective first step. In this article, Jill Benbow explains what you need to know about access rights, the difference between rights of way and open access land and why early, practical steps often protect your position better than reacting later.

Understanding what rights apply to your land

One of the most common causes of confusion is the difference between a public right of way and open access land.

A public right of way, such as a footpath, bridleway or byway, follows a defined route across land. People can use that route, but that does not give them a free right to roam beyond it. If you want a broader overview of how these routes affect your land, our article on public rights of way is a useful starting point.

Open access land is different. Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the public can usually access mapped open country and registered common land on foot for open-air recreation. That is a wider right than simply following a path, but it is still a limited one.

That right does not automatically allow everything. Unless there is a separate right or you have given permission, the public cannot simply cycle, ride horses, camp, play organised games or use non-tidal watercraft on open access land. If someone goes beyond those limits, they can lose the benefit of the access right, become a trespasser and, if asked to leave, may not return using open access rights for 72 hours. Where the problem becomes persistent, a landowner may also be able to seek an injunction.

For you as a landowner, the practical starting point is clarity. You need to know where any recorded rights of way run, whether any of your land is mapped as open access land and whether any part of it is excepted land or subject to restrictions. That early clarity often prevents much bigger problems later.

Why prevention is often the best first step

When access problems arise, many landowners understandably ask what legal action can be taken. The difficulty is that formal action is not always the quickest or most practical answer when an issue is happening on the ground.

If people are already straying off a route or misusing land, the immediate priority is usually to manage the situation clearly and sensibly. Court action may have a place where problems become repeated, disruptive or damaging, but for many day-to-day issues the better first step is to make your position obvious and reduce the chance of further misunderstanding.

That is why prevention is so important.

Clear signage can make a real difference. If visitors can see where they should go, where they should not go and why, many problems can be avoided before they start. Signs can help mark the correct line of a path, remind people to keep dogs under control, warn of livestock or explain temporary restrictions linked to safety or land management.

Just as importantly, the wording should be calm, accurate and easy to understand. The aim is not to create confrontation. It is to make expectations clear. In many cases, a sensible sign in the right place can do far more than a strongly worded notice that people ignore.

It is also worth looking at your land as a visitor would. If the correct route is unclear, if a gate naturally draws people the wrong way or if a worn track makes an informal route look established, confusion becomes much more likely. A practical review of entrances, boundaries, gates and route markers can often reduce repeat issues significantly.

If you have footpaths crossing working land, our article on public rights of way over farmland may also be helpful, particularly where safety and day-to-day land management are concerns.

When you can restrict access and manage sensitive areas

If part of your land needs protection from the public, for example during lambing, livestock handling, forestry work, fire risk periods or to safeguard nesting birds, it is worth knowing that access rights are not always “all or nothing”.

In some circumstances you may have the right to restrict access, or restrict particular activities, where that is necessary for land management or public safety. In practice this often starts with clear signage and sensible route management. If that is not enough, it may be possible to apply for a formal restriction or exclusion through the relevant authority.

This needs to be done properly. Restrictions are fact specific, they need the right justification and the approach should be proportionate to the issue you are trying to manage. If you are considering this step, it is usually better to take advice early than to try to fix things once a pattern has already set in.

Dogs, livestock and why this matters more than ever

Dogs are often where access issues escalate. There are already rules around dogs on access land, including the short lead requirement near livestock and the short lead rule applying between 1 March and 31 July each year.

Separately, there has also been a significant legal update on livestock worrying. The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 is now in force (in force from 18 March 2026), strengthening the offence and increasing penalties, alongside stronger powers for investigation and giving the police stronger powers to investigate incidents. For landowners, the practical point is that dog control is not just about good countryside behaviour. It is backed by stronger enforcement, and it is worth recording incidents carefully.

Modern trespass can take different forms

Trespass does not always mean someone simply walking across a field.

Modern problems can include repeated vehicle access, organised activity such as running events or orienteering, wild camping and low-flying drones used in a way that adds to disruption or intrusion.

It is easy to focus only on what is happening at that point in time. In practice, a wider pattern may be developing. If the same issue keeps returning in different ways, it is sensible to treat it as one ongoing problem rather than a series of separate annoyances. A 72 hour ban of specific parties, may not get rid of the problem long term, so you need to know who to report these matters to, whether a formal restriction or exclusion may be appropriate, or what steps you can take to control that use.

If you are already dealing with broader misuse of your land, our piece on unlawful use of rural land looks at some of the practical issues landowners and occupiers can face.

Keep an eye on patterns, not just one-off incidents

Not every access issue will need formal action, but repeated problems should not be ignored.

If something keeps happening, it is sensible to keep a clear record. That may include dates, times, photographs, what happened and whether any damage was caused. If you have reported anything to a local authority or the police, keep a note of that as well.

This helps you in two ways. First, it allows you to see whether you are dealing with an isolated incident or a growing pattern. Second, it puts you in a much stronger position if you later need advice, support or action.

A clear record can often make the difference between feeling that a problem is hard to prove and being able to show exactly what has been happening over time. If informal use is becoming more regular, our article on prescriptive rights explains how informal use can, in some circumstances, become much more significant if it is left unchecked.

What is changing in the wider picture

The wider landscape is still evolving, which means this is an area worth keeping under review. There has not been one single overnight change to access law, but there have been a number of developments which point to a steady shift in how access is viewed and managed.

Some of those changes are already here.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 strengthened the duty on relevant authorities in relation to protected landscapes by amending section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, replacing the requirement to “have regard” with a stronger duty to “seek to further” the conservation and enhancement of these areas. The government also announced in December 2024 that it intends to remove the 2031 cut-off date for recording certain historic rights of way when parliamentary time allows.

Defra has also set out reforms aimed at speeding up updates to the legal record of rights of way, including the correction of administrative errors and more ability for local authorities to reject weakly evidenced applications. There is continued debate about extending access rights to additional land types such as woodlands, green belt land, waters and more grasslands, and this has been proposed via a private member’s bill, but it did not progress through Parliament and is not law at present. Coastal access also continues to expand in stages as further stretches of the King Charles III England Coast Path open and if your land is coastal or close to the coastal margin, this can create new access rights in specific areas.

The practical point for landowners is that legal reform is only part of the picture. Even before the law changes, changing public expectations can bring more pressure for informal access, organised recreational use and activities that go beyond what landowners had traditionally expected to see.

How Butcher & Barlow can help

Access issues can be difficult because they often sit somewhere between land management and legal rights. You may be dealing with repeated trespass, uncertainty over a right of way or concerns about how future changes could affect your land. In each case, the right next step will depend on the land, the history and the nature of the problem.

We can help you understand where you stand, what is proportionate and how to protect your position in a practical way. Sometimes that means helping you review the issue early and put the right measures in place. Sometimes it means stepping in when a problem has become more persistent.

If you would like clear, practical advice tailored to your land, get in touch with us and ask for Jill Benbow in our Property Dispute Resolution Team or Mike Bracegirdle in our Agriculture and Rural Affairs team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information in this article was correct at the time of publication. The information is for general guidance only. Laws and regulations may change, and the applicability of legal principles can vary based on individual circumstances. Therefore, this content should not be construed as legal advice. We recommend that you consult with a qualified legal professional to obtain advice tailored to your specific situation. For personalised guidance, please contact us directly.