pesky neighbour and dividing fence

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Mupette wrote: »

i wouldn't go with poisoning a dog.. you could get in serious trouble with that, and then there are your children, what if they touch it.

Can you not attach some screening to the fence... had to do this over the council wire fence i have to stop the dog barking at the neighbours, and it is not expensive, or example wicks sell fencing panels slightly damaged for a fraction of the price.. your not going to loose that much space for the safety of your children

I dont think the OP was being serious some how lol :rotfl:

lostinrates

Could you offer to peel the ivy (most of it) off and then reattach it to the new panels? Just some wire on ''eyes'' for garden wire would support it til it had ''restuck'' itself surely?

mishkanorman

I would be very wary of placing a fence infront of the existing one, your neighbour could then easily take down the existing one and benefit from the tiny bit extra and his dog would still be able to cause damage !

All you can do is find out conclusively who owns the fence, have a look around here for some good advice

onlyroz

Yes, your deeds will say which boundary you have responsibility for - I know that I'm responsible for the left one, looking at the house from the front. We've already replace the front fence and we'd like to replace the back. We've never asked the neighbours for any money, and they've never complained about us performing the replacement. I can see, however, why your neighbour would want to protect his ivy. Would it be possible to patch up the fence with some chicken wire and maybe grow some ivy of your own up your side?

brians_daughter

well, as if by magic (honest ) the fence took a turn for the worse last night - which meant the dog was scratching at my back door at 1am this morning.

Seen Mr Grump this morning before he went to work and he did apologise for the dog - i went to knock him out of bed at 1.15 to remove the dog from my garden... I think we may be getting somewhere.

He was in a rush so i said i would see him later to discuss it. Hes had to keep the dog in today whilst he is at work (due to the fence) and judgiung by the noises i can hear from my garen i dont think there will be much left of his kitchen when he gets home..SOOOO hoping he will let me put the new fence up with minimal fuss now. We will see eh?

Mupette I was saying it in jest - i would never dream of hurting the (or any) dog :T

gratefulforhelp_2

Many old houses (is it old?) have little or no clarity on ownership of boundaries. Having experienced neighbour-from-hell I would put up a six foot fence on the land just your side of the existing fence, and rest secure - leave him to enjoy his tatty, mouldering fence panels and ivy.

pulliptears

First thing to do is download a copy of your deeds (if you dont already have them to hand) and see exactly who owns that fence:
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

If you own the fence, then your neighbour may be in for a bit of a shock as this means he cannot paint it, treat it,attach anything to it, lean anything on it, grow anything up it etc This means his Ivy is on YOUR fence and as such needs to be taken off it immediately.

If its his fence, then you have problems.

I had fence issues with my late neighbours. When we bought our home 15 years ago the man next door had made a palette fence. It looked awful to be fair, but it was his fence and there was little I could do about it. He refused to replace it with anything higher than the 4ft the fence was, and to stop his dog getting over he fashioned stakes, spikes and bits of wire.

It began to lean into my garden, the spikes pointing into my garden and it became dangerous. The couple died (very young but thats another story) and the house was repossessed and purchased by a letting company. They overhauled the entire house, but not the garden. We wrote to them, called them, begged them to replace this by now very dangerous structure, but it never happened.

In the end out of sheer frustration and the inability to use my garden safely any more I went to B&Q and bought fence posts, timber and some incredibly cheap home wood cladding that was in the clearance at about £2.50 a pack and some hard wearing fence treatment. This is the result:



We reckon it cost us about £150. As the garden is so huge we decided to split it down to a decked patio area and a gate then leading to the grassed hill we have. It meant that for the first time in years I had a secure, private garden and it was worth every penny.

The old fence still exists behind the new one. We lost about 8-10" of land but to be honest it was worth it.

Mrs_Arcanum

The ivy is probably contributing to the fence damage

Mojisola

Regardless of who owns the fence, a dog owner has to stop their pet from straying.

pulliptears

Mojisola wrote: »

Regardless of who owns the fence, a dog owner has to stop their pet from straying.

Not technically true,

There are no laws regarding the trespass of dogs...
If a dog of its own accord enters land without permission but does no more, the owner is not liable under civil law for the trespass; nor is it a criminal offence.
If the dog causes any damage whilst trespassing, the law is not clear but it is possible that the dog's owner will be held liable for any damage caused.
If a dog bothers you by regularly straying into your garden the Council can advise further. It can contact an owner on your behalf if you are able to supply the address.