Fence Dispute?

ssolstice

I will hopefully be getting a hold of the relevant documents from our solicitor on Tuesday when they are open again, but in the meantime, wonder if anyone here might be able to help out.

My neighbour has painted the fence between our gardens in baby blue. as a reult my black (his fence was black originally) fence looks like a blue zebra, as the edges are blue and the faces black - it looks awful. The posts are in our garden which leads me to believe that it is our fence and I would be within my rights to paint it black again. The neighbour has said, 'I'm not arguing - it's staying blue!' Then tonight he showed me some sort of document that he claims he got from the builders which says that the boundary fences have joint ownership.

If my solicitor confirms this, where does this leave me with regards the fence - I don't want this to cause a huge falling out between neighbours but at the same tight I don't want to look out my window to the sight that currently greats me! If the fence is indeed owned jointly, does this mean he is within his rights to paint the sides as he has?

bobhawke

It is only your fence if it is within your boundary. Need to check deeds to see who is responsible for it though from what you're saying it sounds like you're out of luck.
Nail some more pailings to fill in the gaps and paint them black if it bothers you that much.

Tr1pp

If it is jointly owned fence as your neighbour says then you have as much right as he, id paint the edges back to the original colour.

im sure he wont like the look on his side and paint them blue again, you in turn will probably paint it back and so on and so forth until a compromise is reached or one of you kills the other.

Im of the opinion that if its a joint ownership fence and he wont compromise (hes already stated he wont) then why should you!

Outpost

Arguments, bad blood, hostility, solicitors, all over the colour of a fence? Life's too short...

clockworks_2

I think Outpost is right , your relationship can only go downhill from here.

Loanranger

Could you very carefully paint the edges black where his blue paint has dripped down? Sounds as if he's slapped it on, I'm suggesting you might carefully go over it again, taking care not to drip black over his edges.
Neighbour disputes are notorious for getting out of hand and if it were me I'd do everything possible to not let this escalate. Meanwhile, I'd be marking his card as a t*** and being careful not to do him any neighbourly favours.

ukjoel

If your sun side of him go lleylandii on his !!!.

When he cant see the blue fence as his source of sun has gone leaving his garden in eternal darkness and despair then renegotiate.

pinkmexican

Hmmm, funny as OH is dealing with the same dispute at the mo (are you in Berkshire?). If it is your fence you have the right to paint your side whatever colour you want, however if I understand it correctly you cannot paint their side of the fence (although if they gave you permission fine, but you have no rights to ask etc). But if it is your fence you can force them to replace it or repaint it to fix the damage they have caused as they should not have painted it.

If it is their fence I don't think there's anything you can do, as I don't think you can even paint it.

This is my understanding (and I have to admit I may not have been listening properly), if you need I can ask OH later.

Good luck with the Solicitor.

diable

I'd just leave it or if it really bothers you then put a fence up on your side in between the posts and if the sun is shining from a direction that suits you then i'd go as high as legally possible to give him some shade for the attitude he has.

Jake'sGran

Outpost wrote: »

Arguments, bad blood, hostility, solicitors, all over the colour of a fence? Life's too short...

Agreed! The people at the back of us must have hated our old fence but they never said anything. In any case it was 6ft so we could not chat over it. One day I heard the new man yelling at my weird husband who was cutting off leaves of a bamboo growing behind the fence and..... pushing them back through the slits. How daft is that.

I insisted we buy a new fence but I was a bit scared telling the angry man. After it was done, very neatly, he came round to our house when I was on my own and said we should have had the decency to inform him. I agreed and asking him to stay and talk to me but he refused and wouldn't tell me his name.

I'm annoyed that we got off to such a bad start with these new neighbours. Life really is too short. I just want a quiet life

GlynD

Put battens between the gaps, then you won't see the blue paint and get more privacy. After checking if it is legal for you to do so of course.