Whos Fence?

1jim

Hi
Proabably wrong forum so feel free to delete/move as required
We have been in our current house for 3years and some new neighbours have just moved in, the fence to the left hand side of the back garden (as you look at the house from the road) has just blown down,,,, we have a letter from our solicitor (from when we moved in) saying that we were responsible for the right and the rear boundary only, we have maintained those fences and the previous neighbour looked after the fence when it blew down last year (even if it was a botched job)... Anyway today the lady next door says "your fence has blown down" as if we were blind, I politly pointed out that is was infact her fence.... she disputes this saying that the fence to the left as you look at a property is always yours, I later showed her the letter from the solicitor saying that we were only repsonsible for the right side and the rear of our property but she still says that its our fence, in the meantime she keeps pushing the fence back into our garden squashing my plants
Any ideas on what I do next?
thanks
Jim

Doozergirl

Have a look at this website. I've only just looked for the first time, but my Brother In Law has a dispute currently and swears by the site. There's lot of experts there, apparently.

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/boundaries.html

say 'hi' if you see him

tanith

Its usual that the fence whose back faces your own garden is the fence you maintain..
I do remember our solicitor showing us the plans of our house when we bought 7yrs ago and it was clearly marked which was our fence... best check it out first . The only thing is this lady having only just bought is likely to of seen the plans of her land quite recently so be prepared that she might just be correct.....

Good Luck

Red_Elle

Considering that she has only just moved in, she's hardly going about being neighborly :rotfl:

Never been in a similar situation, but I have heard that it is usually advisable to sort things out in a friendly manner or things can turn sour quite quickly - think 'neighbours from hell'

cattie

A lot of people are under the impression that there is a hard & fast rule that the fence to one particular side of the garden is legally the responsibility of the owner. But I believe there is no truth to this. To find out which fence is your responsibilty you should look on the paperwork from the land registry & the area that falls within your boundary is marked in red.

You have the letter from your solicitor stating which fences are yours & you should advise the neighbours to check their legal documents to see what side of the fence is their responsibilty.

Bad luck you seem to have an unneigbourly neighbour to keep shoving the broken fence over to your side of garden. Once I'd confirmed it definitely wasn't my responsibility I'd shove it back into her garden double quick.

Doozergirl

cattie wrote:

Once I'd confirmed it definitely wasn't my responsibility I'd shove it back into her garden double quick.

And buy a great big dog! :rotfl:

suki1964

Have to agree with cattie - there is no hard and fast rule.

The house I just sold - ALL the fences were mine/new buyers. This is because they were all on the inside of the boundry lines.

The only way to sort it out is to check the paperwork

topmum

I deal with these a lot. The Land Registry is your best bet as it will give you a definate answer. Hope it all works out for you. Keep as calm as you can - hard i know x

MortgageMamma

I'd be more wound up about the damaged plants grrrrrr.

1jim

Thanks Guys
Just been on to the land registry website, spend a whole £6 to get copies my title deeds and it shows that the broken fence is hers!!!!!
feel like cheering but will have to try and keep a sombre face when I show her the deeds
as for the fence panel its going back into her garden sharpish


Thanks Guys, I appretiate all your support and advice
cheers
Jim

Red_Elle

I'd be tempted to stick the deeds in an envelope, tie some balloons to it (saying 'Congratulations), with a weight on the end and leave them on her doorstep.

Obviously that is not in keeping with my earlier, keep on friendly terms, post, but it would be funny.