council house garden border dispute please help

winterwhite11

hello, i wondered if anyone can help...
i rent a terrace council house actually it it now housing association..
.i moved next door to an old couple who own their own house...
when we moved in i had a cat and dog and my cat kept going in their garden before i had time to put fencing up which they played hell about ,anyway so i spent £800 on puting up 6 foot fencing , i also then wired the top to stop cat jumping over..
. when i put fencing up i gave them about 2 foot of my garden by accident as the person who done the job for me got it wrong....
now 11 years later their daughter just told me that her dad has got in touch with the council because he wants a normal little fence up instead of my panels and that he thinks we have got some of his garden?..
i now have 2 dogs and 2 cats and if i have to take fence down and put up one of them small wire ones then my cats will get on the road and be run over if they are not stolen first {they cost me £500 each} so are very stealable.
i am really terrified of them getting out and being run over like my first cat was..
the daughter said her dad has the right to choose what goes there because he owns the right side of his garden ..
.so my cats are going to get out and be sure to get run over as most outdoor cats die by the age of 6 through road accidents,,my dogs are going to bark at them every time they go in the garden,,then they will prob get the council on at me again because of barking dogs..
.i cannot reason with them because to be honest they are just the most selfish ,miserable people you could meet...all they have even done is moan about the smallest things such as , and i am not joking, a few blades of grass growing under my fence into their garden..i go in there regular to pick out the odd weed or bit of grass going under..just loads and loads of little things over the years..
our houses back onto a children playing park and the police are always there because they call them on children just because they are playing ball and it sometimes went into their garden, the kids have been banned now from playing..
they put weed killer all over the old mans hedge who used to live here before me.
other people say he never has a nice word to say about anyone....
they was arguing with my other next door neighbours...
i have just always smiled and done whatever they wanted but now i am so upset..the only time they are nice to me is when my cherries are ready and i give them half the tree....
i just read back and notice i have done a lot of moaning myself. i,m sorry but i am so scared at the moment because i know my cats will escape and will get killed and they are sure to get the council on me when my dogs bark at them .
does anyone know what i can do....i,m pretty sure nothing but you never know...
if i had to put a normal wire fence up would i then be able to put another row of panels say about a few feet in if you know what i mean..thankyou

BitterAndTwisted

I can't read all that as the lack of proper sentences and paragraphs is rendering your post unreadable.

If you've snatched someone else's garden, even if unknowlingly you should move the fence. At your own expense. Move it but I do not think you have any obligation to change it as long as the fence is moved to the land which is yours

pmlindyloo

First of all you need to establish where the boundaries of the property you rent are. Since the property belongs to the housing association you should telephone them and ask them.

You have said that you put the fence up yourself (did you get permission?) and you 'gave' them 2 feet of your garden. How do you know that?

In any case, if it were me, I would be straight on to the Housing Association and let them deal with it.

Try not to worry

cattie

Your post is difficult to read because you haven't used captial letters to start each sentence, or paragraphs, which make things much easier to read through. I couldn't actually read beyond a few lines because of this. If you could go back & at least start each sentence with a capital letter I think you will get more response. This isn't a criticism, so please don't think that.

winterwhite11

hi, thanks.
the old couple gave me permission to put up a fence.
i know i gave then 2 foot because there was a fence up which we took down and i put my fence panels up a further 2 foot into my garden.
sorry for the way i wrote everything down but i am in a state at the moment ,i had a nervous breakdown about 18 months ago and cannot cope with this very well ,its hard to think.

shellsuit

I wouldn't worry.

You paid for the fencing and it was erected on 'your' (HA's) land, and you even lost some garden due to that.

If next door want to put up a small fence, they can, but they can't make you take yours down.

Don't let them bully you.

If you're still worried, why not phone the council and see what they have to say?




Just read your 2nd post. Why did they have give you permission to put up the fencing? It was none of their business!

BitterAndTwisted

Oh, many apologies. If you've given them two feet of your own garden then tell them to mind their own damned business. Get onto the HA as you could be shoring up a boundary dispute for them later on when next door's property is sold at some point.

Keep your pusscats safe and STOP giving them any fruit from your garden. They are miserable and hateful ruddy gits and don't deserve your friendly neighbourliness.

It was very apparent from your first post that you're in a bit of a state about this. You're feeling vulnerable and that's very understandable but that's no reason for them to get away with bullying you.

Uk_Lover

Don't know the legal side of things but if your fence is 2 foot inside your garden boundary (your land), I'd think they can't say anything. They could erect another fence on the boundary but not sure if they can force you to take it down. Ring the HA.

ps I just used logic so my idea may be BS !! lol

edit- looks like my logic is right !! first time for everything

k66yla

If your fence is lower than 6'6" there is sweet FA the neighbours can do about it. If the fence is on your land.....tough on them

SailorSam

If he wants a small fence let him put it up in his garden, you keep your fence in your garden.

G_M

when i put fencing up i gave them about 2 foot of my garden by accident

So your fence is in your garden and is nothing to do with the neighbour.

Tell him he can do whateve rhe likes on his land (even put up a little fence if he wishes, and you will continue to do what you like in your garden.

You say:

the old couple gave me permission to put up a fence.

did you get (and keep) this in writing? Not that it affects my advice above.

The only other factors are:
* establishing exactly where the real boundary is - just because you took an old fence down does not mean it was on the boundary. The current fence isn't. Maybe the old one also wasn't! That is a matter between the 2 owners ie the neighbours and the Housing Association
* additionally, there may have been a requirement for you to get permission from your landlord (the HA) to erect a fence. This is not your property, it is theirs.