Next door neighbour stole the garden!

Jowo_2

I viewed three terraced houses in an East London street that all had huge gardens, around a 100 foot, because they'd used the adverse possession regulations to grab some land that ran behind them all.

Except for one property - the neighbour had not only fenced off the area behind the back of their existing garden, but had claimed the next patch along, belonging to the property I viewed. It had a rather bizarre set up whereby at the end of this garden, their next door neighbour had a patio area with a table and umbrella overlooking it as they had pinched it and enjoyed an L-shaped garden that crossed two properties.

WelshNic

And how much hassle would there be between the 2 of you if you did reclaim the garden?

Mallotum_X

As the vendor is a developer let him have the disputes now. But get it resolved before you start putting in offers etc.

mlz1413

if your buying it to live in do you really want to be at war with the neighbour from the start?

i went to look at a house once, it was empty and the garden clearly hadn't been tended to in years, but I noticed the hedge that used to split the garden with the attached neighbour was now fenced into the neighbours garden, with a fence panel clearly at a diagonal from their side (fixed to their wall) into this houses garden and then panels the full length of the remaining garden. The neighbour was out and I loudly asked the EA if the fence looked right to him, with that the neighbour shot indoors - it was enough for me to realise it would be a battle to get it put back and I didn't want to live with neighbours who would already dislike me before I moved in.

having a home is different to having an investment.

Jodie+Matt

our famil is already kind of 'at war' with his family, a commitee my mum was on took the man to court (over alotment issues) he really does think he is something, and despite everything being against him he really stook it out and ended up losing. i know that wasnt a family issue but needless to say, they dont like us anyway. he lives directly oposite us, and although we dont like him/he doesnt like us, their is no agro, we just dont acknowledge each other. like i say the garden is plenty big enough, and it is only a strip about 6ft wide that he has 'taken'. i know if we did get into something it would get difficult, as he is not the type to back down. and the plans could be complicated, originally it was all one house. so you guys may be right the garden may well belong to him. i will do some investigating

Pennylane

Can't imagine you'd want to go anywhere near the place let alone buy it .... however, who is handling the sale? Is he DIYing it or is it through an agent? If so, ask the agent what's going on?

poppysarah

Jodie+Matt wrote: »

our famil is already kind of 'at war' with his family, a commitee my mum was on took the man to court (over alotment issues)

Walk away!


(What allotment issues - I'm nosey that's all)

Mallotum_X

Why would you want to buy a house next door to him. That does seem like you are just asking for trouble.

Find somewhere else.

mustrum_ridcully

Jodie+Matt wrote: »

our famil is already kind of 'at war' with his family, a commitee my mum was on took the man to court (over alotment issues) he really does think he is something, and despite everything being against him he really stook it out and ended up losing. i know that wasnt a family issue but needless to say, they dont like us anyway. he lives directly oposite us, and although we dont like him/he doesnt like us, their is no agro, we just dont acknowledge each other. like i say the garden is plenty big enough, and it is only a strip about 6ft wide that he has 'taken'. i know if we did get into something it would get difficult, as he is not the type to back down. and the plans could be complicated, originally it was all one house. so you guys may be right the garden may well belong to him. i will do some investigating

I would walk away!

This man strikes me as a potential neighbour from hell, you might not have any problems living opposite but as soon as you move in next door you'll have no end of them.

If he's the sort that would pinch a bit of a neighbours garden then he's the sort that will do only what he wants to do, ignoring enforcement notices etc. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd develop a victim mentality and build a case history about your anti-social behaviour (i.e. kids playing outside, the odd BBQ now and again etc...)

BitterAndTwisted

Imagine: he think he "owns" the bit of garden that the window of the house looks out onto. He gets @rsey and decides that he'll grow whatever he likes in "his" bit of garden including a really nice thick bit of hedge which grows ten feet high and obscures every single bit of light into that room.

This particular bloke sounds like he'd enjoy making other people's lives a living hell, never mind those he already carries a grudge against. I would steer well clear unless he's a nonagarian with a heart-condition.