Problems with Neighbours!

Mojisola

crazyguy wrote: »

What a load of tosh, no court in the land would allow such an idiot to have a right over the other side of a property if its on your land you can paint it if you choose to do it luminous yellow its your perogative, the only part I agree with is hanging things from it.

Painting it is up to you !

This is completely wrong. If the fence was put up by the owner (or a previous owner) of the next door property, the whole fence (both sides of it) belongs to the neighbour. You have no right to do anything to it.

Chickabee

tara747 wrote: »

Chickabee, out of interest, where does your sister live? I'm from 'the country' too, and still find city living a bit claustrophobic.




/QUOTE]

In South Belfast- unfortunately not leafy Malone Road otherwise i doubt she would have some bully trying to intimidate her over a fence that looks like its been assembled in a 'P7 woodwork class!

Yes we grew up in the country and only travelled to Belfast for work/ Uni etc - don't get me wrong i love certain aspects of city life but at the end of the day its hard to beat country living.
Surely if most people had the choice they would bring kids up in the country rather than in the city

wifeforlife

Chickabee wrote: »

Thanks for all your suggestions- i might suggest to her that she asks her mortgage provider for a copy of the deeds so she can see exactly where the boundaries lie.

And yes he tried to intimidate her - but she was having none of it.

In all seriousness if she's in Belfast tell her to visit land registry today and she can have a look at boundaries today in the public office

sleepymy

This thread is bonkers 0.o Part of my family's business is building fences, no wonder they see so many neighbour disputes around the country!

jadedson

Who says it is his fence! Is it on the property boundary? Is it comfortably within his property. If he had left enough room and an access to go over to the other side of the fence and still remain on his property it is his. If he built it on the property boundary he has effectively abandoned the other side of the fence and the OP can paint it if she pleases.

If the OP puts up her own fence, comfortably within her own grounds leaving a maintenance space, then the neighbour will remove his fence, quite happily use the extra bit of space and after 12 years can claim adverse possession.

The thing is the OP has to live here, so peace should be maintained. If I were her I would finish painting the fence, in the dead of night or when he's on his holidays. He won't know as long as she is careful and doesn't cause any drips down the other side or in between the slats. I wouldn't paint it a bright or dark colour either, just something nearer the colour of the fence for perservative purposes and to smarten it up a bit. Once done, leave it at that.

sleepymy

Chickabee wrote: »

In South Belfast- unfortunately not leafy Malone Road otherwise i doubt she would have some bully trying to intimidate her over a fence that looks like its been assembled in a 'P7 woodwork class!

Yes we grew up in the country and only travelled to Belfast for work/ Uni etc - don't get me wrong i love certain aspects of city life but at the end of the day its hard to beat country living.
Surely if most people had the choice they would bring kids up in the country rather than in the city

Some of my dad's worst clients are the wealthy ones, they're more likely to refuse to pay for work after it's finished or try to find non existent faults to try to force a discount. My family are from a very uppety part of the country and my old uncle was conned out of land by middle class country people.

On the flipside, I live in a council estate and my neighbours are great. A previous "tattooed" neighbour's DIL hit my car one night, no witnesses, but he came up to my flat to tell me and insisted on paying for a tiny scratch on the bumper.

Town or country, money or none, makes no difference. People are people, some of them are nice and some of them will club you with a spade over a garden fence :whistle:

jadedson

To my knowledge a wall that has been built on a boundary is legally known as a party wall. That means both of them own their half of it even if one of them paid for the building of it. It also means each side maintains their own side. I think it's the same for fences, but it would take a solicitor to confirm that.

I don't think the position of the boundary is a problem here, but if it is, engage the services of a land surveyor who will be able to access the relevant documents, make some investigations and conclude where the red line on the map should be on the ground. Its specialist work, there is no point looking at a land registry map and trying to make some conclusions looking at a bit of garden, with no measurements, no knowledge of scales, no scale rule even.

Chickabee

jadedson wrote: »

Who says it is his fence! Is it on the property boundary? Is it comfortably within his property. If he had left enough room and an access to go over to the other side of the fence and still remain on his property it is his. If he built it on the property boundary he has effectively abandoned the other side of the fence and the OP can paint it if she pleases.

If the OP puts up her own fence, comfortably within her own grounds, then the neighbour will remove his fence, quite happily use the extra bit of space and after 12 years can claim adverse possession.

The thing is the OP has to live here, so peace should be maintained. If I were her I would finish painting the fence, in the dead of night or when he's on his holidays. He won't know as long as she is careful and doesn't cause any drips down the other side or in between the slats. Once done, leave it at that.

My sister has no dealings with these neighbours at all. Probably because when she first moved in the wife (or partner- she doesn't know if they are married or not) next door wouldn't even look at her never mind say 'hello welcome to the area'!

And as for trying to paint when he is not about- he always seems to be about! She is not sure if he works. My sister works long hours but even on her odd day off he doesn't seem to have moved from next door.
I think i'll have to go around and paint it for her in the dark with a flash-light! Sisterly love

tara747

Norman_Castle wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1301359/Couple-painting-fence-fined-80-criminal-damage-flecks-ended-neighbours-side.html


Officers visited Kay Balsdon, 47, and her 29-year-old partner Chris Bates - and they were threatened with prosecution if they refused to accept the on-the-spot fine.

Ridiculous behaviour on the part of their neighbour imho. :eek: What happened to good old fashioned communication?

Chickabee wrote: »

tara747 wrote: »

Chickabee, out of interest, where does your sister live? I'm from 'the country' too, and still find city living a bit claustrophobic.

In South Belfast- unfortunately not leafy Malone Road otherwise i doubt she would have some bully trying to intimidate her over a fence that looks like its been assembled in a 'P7 woodwork class!

Yes we grew up in the country and only travelled to Belfast for work/ Uni etc - don't get me wrong i love certain aspects of city life but at the end of the day its hard to beat country living.
Surely if most people had the choice they would bring kids up in the country rather than in the city

I agree.

I live in South Belfast too (Lisburn Rd), thankfully my neighbours are very nice.

jadedson wrote: »

Who says it is his fence! Is it on the property boundary? Is it comfortably within his property. If he had left enough room and an access to go over to the other side of the fence and still remain on his property it is his. If he built it on the property boundary he has effectively abandoned the other side of the fence and the OP can paint it if she pleases.

If the OP puts up her own fence, comfortably within her own grounds leaving a maintenance space, then the neighbour will remove his fence, quite happily use the extra bit of space and after 12 years can claim adverse possession.

The thing is the OP has to live here, so peace should be maintained. If I were her I would finish painting the fence, in the dead of night or when he's on his holidays. He won't know as long as she is careful and doesn't cause any drips down the other side or in between the slats. I wouldn't paint it a bright or dark colour either, just something nearer the colour of the fence for perservative purposes and to smarten it up a bit. Once done, leave it at that.

I don't understand the 'adverse possession' bit, can you explain that? Thanks.

jadedson

it means that they will claim to own it. It can sometimes be called squatters rights. If a person occupies a bit of land for 12 years they can go to their solicitor, give evidence (either dated photograph or witness statements) and with not very much hassle will claim that strip of land as his own. If the original owner contests the claim things can get expensive, court fees, solicitor fees etc. If the man is legal aided it won't cost him a penny (although Legal aid are cracking down on what cases they pay for) but it could cost the OP's sister a great deal of money if she's working and not able to use legal aid herself.