Boundary issue - hedge

DaveStaines33

Hello,

I have recently bought a terraced house (a few months ago), that previously belonged to a little old lady (she was 98). It is an end terrace. The little old lady left the front and back gardens to grow a bit wild (mostly grasses and weeds) as she was housebound.

Now, every other terraced house has a hedge, fence or wall separating the front garden from that of the adjacent property, so I thought that I would clear up the front garden of my house and plant a hedge (probably hawthorn or something else native, not leylandii or anything daft). October is here and I have been told that now is a great time to plant a hedge.

So... I mentioned to my (hitherto friendly) neighbour that I intend to plant a hedge, with a couple of low fence panels immediately next to my front door, and he claimed that the boundary isn't the line along which my house and his house meet, but is actually 4" on my side of that line (he might be claiming this because he has had paving slabs installed fairly recently on his driveway, and the edging concrete seems in places to atually be on my side of what I assume is the boundary line. He also had his Virgin Media cable run along what seems to be my side of the boundary, again within the last year, presumably because he didn't want to disturb his slabs).

I asked him how he knows that this is where the boundary is, and he says that he verbally agreed this with the little old lady (now senile and in a home). I suspect that he simply had the work done and didn't bother asking her about it at all. I gather that she had no husband or relatives to help her keep an eye on things.

So I went away for the weekend and have now returned, and it seems that all of the grass / weeds etc. within 1 foot of my neighbour's driveway (i.e. up to 1 foot on my side of the boundary) have mysteriously died in my absence. I asked my neighbour about it this morning and he has denied all knowledge.

I have had a look at the title deed and it simply shows a line extending from the junction of the two houses straight to the pavement. There is no indication of boundary lines being a nominal distance either side of this.

What is the correct way for me to go about planting my hedge (on my side of the boundary line) such that I have the maximum possible come-back (if any at all) should my hedge mysteriously die? I am a little bit concerned that my neighbour is used to getting his own way and doesn't take kindly to people disagreeing with him. Should I write a letter to him first, stating cleary my intention?

Thanks

Dave

southcoastrgi

normally & commonsense says like you think the boundary in your case is where your two houses meet, just because he has laid slabs & had no way to cut them so just laid them as full slabs is neither here nor there, he could tell you the old lady said anything has he got anything in writing ?, it is my understanding that you can plant a hedge on your side, yes it is going to grow & yes it is going to grow over his side & he is entitled to cut it back on his side if he wishes, however & i could be wrong but i don't think you have to take into account potential growth, so i would be asking him to remove his slabs to re-instate the boundary line.

Leif

Who is responsible for the boundary? If he is, then he can put slabs on the boundary. If you, then (I think) you now own the slabs, or that part which goes on the boundary, and you can remove them, and put up a fence or a hedge. You are best to check your deeds, and get proper advice, to make sure that what I say is correct. Then inform your neighbour. He sounds like a bit of a bully, but people do get funny over boundaries. My neighbour claimed they had adopted our boundary, but I showed them my deeds, and we seemed to have sorted out small issues, such as his drain pipe on the boundary, without issue. Hopefully talking and being firm but friendly will do the job.

Oh, and deeds to not specify a boundary to 4". But the presence of other on the ground facts such as walls will help.

DaveStaines33

Hello,

Thanks for the replies!

We have an L-shaped plot, and the deeds show that we are responsible for 5 of the 6 boundary lines, including the one that my neighbour seems to be disputing. The side of my back garden that borders my neighour has the old local authority-built 3-wire fence in my garden (up to the boundary) and the neighbour has put in his own (higher) fence right up against it (which is fine). I have also noticed that the neighbour seems to have lifted out one of his back fence panels and climbed through into my back garden while I was away, as there are some very obvious footprints in the mud.

I might pop into the CAB for some advice on all this.

Oh, and I've been looking at the residence time of weedkillers in the soil and it seems that I might have to dig out and dispose of quite a lot of soil along the boundary before I can plant my hedge. A chat with another resident reveals that y neighbour was spotted spraying the boundary after I went away last week, which at least explains why all of my grass (and weeds) along the boundary are now crispy..

Teresa_Green

Dave, there is a forum on Gardenlaw which has lots of information on Neighbours and Boundary disputes etc.

www.gardenlaw.co.uk

Ectophile

DaveStaines33 wrote: »

Hello,

Thanks for the replies!

<snipped>

Oh, and I've been looking at the residence time of weedkillers in the soil and it seems that I might have to dig out and dispose of quite a lot of soil along the boundary before I can plant my hedge. A chat with another resident reveals that y neighbour was spotted spraying the boundary after I went away last week, which at least explains why all of my grass (and weeds) along the boundary are now crispy..

If it was glyphosate, then it's only a few weeks. Otherwise, it could be a lot longer.

southcoastrgi

just hope he didn't use salt or you could be looking at yrs before anything will grow

DaveStaines33

Update:

Hello, well, I've looked at the deeds and there is another page that I didn't notice showing exact measurements from the edge of the next (offset) terrace row. Having now measured our front, it seems that the neighbour has actually managed to put his block driveway up to a foot over onto our side of the boundary line. When I asked him about this he said: "my blocks have been there for over ten years, so I now own the land irrespective of what your deeds say". He then mentioned something about "adverse possession". I have not heard of this. Any clues??

warmhands.coldheart

DaveStaines33 wrote: »

Update:

Hello, well, I've looked at the deeds and there is another page that I didn't notice showing exact measurements from the edge of the next (offset) terrace row. Having now measured our front, it seems that the neighbour has actually managed to put his block driveway up to a foot over onto our side of the boundary line. When I asked him about this he said: "my blocks have been there for over ten years, so I now own the land irrespective of what your deeds say". He then mentioned something about "adverse possession". I have not heard of this. Any clues??

Essentially Squatters Rights !!

It has to be 12 Years I believe.. and he would have to prove this.... It would have to go through court and could all get messy!! ...... Good Luck with this one!!

Not a great way to start living in a new house, falling out with your neighbour.... would it be worth negotiating with the neighbour and maybe if you don't actually have any issues with the bit he has paved on make that the limit and no more and ask him therefor to be responsible for that boundary!

southcoastrgi

he doesn't sound like a neighbour that is going to be very friendly anyway so this could be a difficult situation which unfortunately only you can judge, yes there are laws in place to protect you but you will have to decide how to proceed, i'm a stubborn git so i would just go out & rip up the slabs in question, but like others have said not a good start to a good realationship with your neighbour

NVRAM

get one of them massive cutters you see the council using to cut slabs.
Wait til he's away and chop off the extra foot?

He did the exact same thing with the plant/weed killer.

Wonder if he would even notice

You could also phone up Virgin Media and advise that they have laid cables on your property without your permission and you want them removed