Potential boundary dispute

mandyfluffydog

We live in Scotland and recently had a new neighbour move in next door. She has two large dogs and we have already had one incident where I was bitten at the front boundary fence, resulting in hospital treatment, a nasty infection and course of antibiotics and a somewhat uneasy relationship. We were at that point terrified of my dogs escaping into her garden via a rather patchy hedge at the back of the property or her dogs coming into my garden and attacking either us or our dogs.

We obtained quotes to have a wooden fence erected on our side of the hedge to ensure the safety of our family/pets. My neighbour came round to say that she had been talking to our fencing man and was concerned that we would be losing the use of the strip of garden between the fence and the hedge and that we could always have the fence put on her side as at some point she would love to have the hedge taken out. As we couldn't afford to have the hedge removed and there was no offer to contribute towards the work we went ahead and had the fence erected on our side.

After breathing a sigh of relief that we are now safe (at least at the back of the house) we are now concerned that this may lead to boundary disputes in the future. The hedge is still there at present showing the boundary line but what can we do to protect ourselves from any potential boundary dispute in the future.

Any advice gratefully accepted

DVardysShadow

Fairly rapidly you need to either put the fence on the right line or accept that your neighbour may take out the hedge - which will leave no trace of the boundary - with the consequence that you lose the land. You have de facto ceded the land to her already. And if you cannot now maintain the hedge, you will find that she will maintain it at the roots.

david29dpo

I agree, My father did what you did and the neighbour took the old fence/hedge down (owned by next-door) shortly afterwards. (perfectly legal)
This has caused a big problem because its states on the neighbours deeds the fence is theres (the OLD fence)
I had to explain to the (now new) neighbour the fence is dads, the fence on there deeds was taken down by the last owner. There is no proof the fence is on dads land not theres and the sarga goes on.

Mr_Thrifty

Just how difficult can it be to remove a stinkin' hedge?

Get some decent loppers and chop away!

princeofpounds

The boundaries between properties are mapped out on title plans, but these plans are not precise and can only tell you where the boundary is to around a half-metre or so.

So the 'normal' practice (and I am probably oversimplifying here) is that physical features on the ground are what determines boundaries should there be any dispute.

So if the hedge disappears and the fence is the only marker left, there is a good chance that it will be taken to be the boundary. Leave it long enough and it will become the boundary even if you can prove that it wasn't originally.

Will there be a dispute? Given that you are 'giving' more space to the neighbour they are unlikely to raise one in the short term and if it never affects your daily lives it might never be a problem. It could become awkward if either of you ever has plans to build up to the boundary at any point, or if your houses do already meet at the boundary.

So you don't need to panic, but it's not ideal long-term.

At least it sounds like your neighbour is co-operative, if not generously so.

I would have removed the hedge personally.

Perelandra

One thing that *might* help in the future is if you take a photograph of the boundary as it currently stands with that hedge and fence in place (preferably time-dated). This might help support your position in the future.

However, I agree with the above posts.