Boundary Fence help!

Debt_Free_Chick

behap wrote: »

The old fence was definately not where the new one is!

And he might have spent years muttering that the old fence was in the wrong place

As you've found out, it's extremely difficult to pinpoint a boundary. There is usually nothing to "reference" the line on a map to. The only way to get a definitive view is to employ a land surveyor and then negotiate with the neighbour .... and you will usually end up compromising. So ... you might gain three inches - is it really worth it? Honestly, if you had viewed the property with the current fence where it is, would you really have thought that it was "in the wrong place"?

It's almost certainly not worth spending thousands on (which it will probably cost) and therefore isn't worth a lot of stress and worry. Make the most of what you have and try to put it out of your mind. Unless - of course - you want to spend a lot of money to get a couple of inches more.

Good luck

Debt_Free_Chick

prudryden has a point about attaching a post to your property though. Worth politely mentioning this to the neighbour.

telfordwhite

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Unless - of course - you want to spend a lot of money to get a couple of inches more.

Good luck

Some may feel this to be money well spent:j

lonestar1

How do you know the old fence belonged to next door ? I suspect this source could also confirm where the boundary should be

Monks_habit

I work in neighbour disputes, and trust me, before you even think if you want to rock the boat with your neighbour, remember that you are stuck with them until one of you moves! and in this current market that could be along time.

They would need the owners (yours) permission to attached anything to you house. regardless whether the house was occupied or not.

check your deeds to see what you are responsable for. You maybe responsable for that boundry and if he has put a new one up, then you might of saved money.

artha

Monks_habit wrote: »

I work in neighbour disputes, and trust me, before you even think if you want to rock the boat with your neighbour, remember that you are stuck with them until one of you moves! and in this current market that could be along time.

They would need the owners (yours) permission to attached anything to you house. regardless whether the house was occupied or not.

check your deeds to see what you are responsable for. You maybe responsable for that boundry and if he has put a new one up, then you might of saved money.

Up to a point I agree with Monks habit but having been involved with two seperate boundary/fence disputes in the last few years I understand how annoying(and costly)something like this can become. It all stems from "an Englishmans home is his castle" sentiments. I will give an exampleof this but try to keep it short. I live in a semi with the other house being a mirror image. I proposed an extension to the front of the house which I discussed with my neighbour before applying. Feedback was neutral so I went ahead with planning applications etc. Objections from the neighbour came in and eventually had to compromise with respect to a wall moved in from the boundary/party wall (important point) by 0.8m and this of course was shown on the scale plans. Building went ahead after approvals but I came home from work one day to find the wall had been demolished. Builder told me that the council inspector had told them to take it down after a complaint from neighbour that the wall was closer than 0.8m to the boundary and the construction of the extension was suspended. It turned out that the neighbour had used the existing fence as a reference point for the location of the border, the inspector had agreed and the wall was demolished. I checked the distance using the brickwork as a reference and found it was OK realising that the fence had been modified/repaired over the years and no longer defined the legal border. In a furious mood I contacted the council and explained the position. They considered their position and eventually agreed that building could continue but denied that they had asked for the wall to be demolished (not true according to the builder). This shows the problems that can be encountered by using a fence as a boundary. In law as far as I know, anything that can be moved easily(such as a fence) cannot be defined as a permanent structure and cannot define a boundary. A boundary for a pair of mirror image properties (unless the deeds show otherwise) is a 90 degree line drawn from the centre of the party wall.

Anything on your side of the boundary as defined in this way is your property. Anyone who moves/constructs something onto your property as defined in this way is in the wrong. If the posts were originally on your property(as defined above) it is your fence and you are responsible for maintaining the boundary. As far as I can interpret the law (may be superceded by specific covenants in the deeds) you only have to respect the border with respect to your actions i.e the fence could in theory be removed but as long as you don't trespass there is no requirement for a fence.

hethmar

Having just been successful in a court case against our neighbour from hell - I am in two minds here.

Firstly, you dont appear to have a nice neighbour to begin with. If he did surreptiously steal 6 inches of your land, Id have expected him to keep his head down and be pleasant, not shout at you to get off his property.

If he has started off in this vein, should you really give in to his bullying?

We were the ones who had been in our house for 15 years before old neighbour died and the executors sold the house to a pig of a man. Oh how I wish I had confronted him after the first incident of his arrogant behaviour, may be that would have put a stop to him taking more and more liberties (and all for the 2 and half years he was renovating the place and not even living there). It culminated in him trying to take about 4 feet of our land over a length of 350 feet - couldnt have it any further and hence the hell we have been through over the last few years with him running rings round the solicitor by just not playing the game as he should.

Its up to you, but I would at this stage, demonstrate you are not weak by some albeit pleasant assertiveness re the attachment of the fence to your house - he should not have done that and he is taking the mick.

Ms_Chocaholic

When we had a boundary dispute some years ago with our neighbour, I contacted the Land Registry and they sent someone out (free of charge) who had the deeds and measured various parts of the garden and concluded that the boundary fence was indeed in the wrong place.

This could in no way force the neighbour to move his fence (we would have to resort to legal action for that) but it proved the boundary line. Luckily for us, the miserable sdo moved to Bournemouth and the new owner moved the fence to the correct boundary line.

hethmar

Check out the Garden Law website for advice.

behap

I didn't think so many people would have an opinion on it! When we first looked at the property when the old fence was where is was, it was exactly in the middle of both properties, so when the new one went up, we noticed straight away the boundary had moved. In fact most visitors we have had to our house comment on the posts, particulary the one that is screwed to our house, as they reckon too that its well over the boundary. Another thing springs to mind too in that the fence he replaced dividing him from his neighbours on the other side (he is in the middle of us and them) is bang on down the line i.e. 2 and a half bricks including posts! So if all the houses are the same, I don't see how the boundary on our side should be any different. The thing is as some people have said "is it worth arguing over when the space taken by the neighbour is very little", I don't think it is worth doing if it causes lots of hassle, but on the other hand he didn't have that thought about us either. What I may do is find out if his fence has crossed the boundary to be 100% sure, and though I probably won't take it any further if it has definately crossed the boundary, I will let him know that I'm not happy about it, tell him i'll lean on it as and when I feel like it because of that fact and then let him stew!