FENCING & BOUNDARIES: can he do that??

shellyl

There is a house which borders the bottom of our garden and there was a low wall separating us. We put up a 2m fence in front of the wall within our garden. The neighbour has now removed the wall, thus gaining about 6 inches which is actually ours behind our fence, and he has all kinds of things leaning against our fence (old paving slabs, planks of wood). Now he has installed a trellis which takes the fence to about 2 and a half metres high. I'm not sure if it's actually attached to our fence or if it is literally an inch from it, but we're not sure he's allowed to do this. Has anyone had a similar experience? We want to go and talk to him at the weekend (in a non-confrontational way!) but would like to know where we stand before we go.

theoretica

Was it your wall or his?

What do you really want him to do? Put up his own fence inches from yours? Not lean things on your fence which are heave and might damage it?

I_have_spoken

Trespass and criminal damage right there.

That said, if the old wall marked the boundary and was co-maintained the neighbour would have been puzzled by your action, seemingly leaving him with the responsibility for the wall. Can see why he decided to simply remove it.

silvasava

Do you have a copy of your deeds or any documents from the purchase of your house. It should say somewhere who is responsible for which boundary - sometimes there is a plan with a T against the boundary which you are responsible for - or it might be noted in the solicitors search.
We had a similar problem some years ago as the side of my garden runs along the backs of 4 houses - each responsible for the fences at the bottom of their gardens! I would advise anyone to make sure they do know who is responsible for which boundary as it does save an awful lot of issues - good luck!

Mojisola

shellyl wrote: »

There is a house which borders the bottom of our garden and there was a low wall separating us.

We put up a 2m fence in front of the wall within our garden. The neighbour has now removed the wall, thus gaining about 6 inches which is actually ours behind our fence, and he has all kinds of things leaning against our fence (old paving slabs, planks of wood).

Now he has installed a trellis which takes the fence to about 2 and a half metres high. I'm not sure if it's actually attached to our fence or if it is literally an inch from it, but we're not sure he's allowed to do this.

If it was his wall, he could take it down. It's unlikely you will get anywhere arguing over six inches.

He shouldn't be leaning anything against your fence or attaching anything to it. Ask him to remove them.

If he has fixed the trellis to your fence, tell him to remove it. It shouldn't be higher than 2m - if you think it's worth the hassle, you could talk to the council about it.

Be careful starting a boundary dispute with a neighbour. If you do, it will have to be declared when the house is sold and could put some buyers off.

shellyl

Thanks for your replies - it's helpful to see the dilemma from different angles.
I'd lie to know, are we entitled to
a) ask him to remove the trellis if it's attached to our fence. And if he refuses can we remove it ourselves or are we then committing an offence?
b) ask him to remove the trellis if it's not attached to our fence, because it is way higher than the permitted 2 metres
c) ask him to remove all the things he has stacked against our fence (concrete slabs, planks of wood etc)


Part of the reason we don't want those things stacked against our fence are because it is actually on our side of the boundary, even with the wall removed, and partly because we're worried it will cause the fence to bow, or lean, or eventually rot in time.

Mojisola

shellyl wrote: »

Thanks for your replies - it's helpful to see the dilemma from different angles.
I'd lie to know, are we entitled to
a) ask him to remove the trellis if it's attached to our fence.

Yes.

And if he refuses can we remove it ourselves or are we then committing an offence?

As long as you can do it without damaging it. Lots of photos or a video of you doing it would be useful.

b) ask him to remove the trellis if it's not attached to our fence, because it is way higher than the permitted 2 metres

You can ask. He can just ignore you.

c) ask him to remove all the things he has stacked against our fence (concrete slabs, planks of wood etc)

Yes.

Part of the reason we don't want those things stacked against our fence are because it is actually on our side of the boundary, even with the wall removed, and partly because we're worried it will cause the fence to bow, or lean, or eventually rot in time.

Good reasons.

Have you seen the https://www.gardenlaw.co.uk site?

shellyl

Yes, mojisola, I have seen the garden law website. I have registered on their forum to ask the same questions but I'm awaiting approval. Thank you for your help.

rach_k

I'd speak to him first - he may not realise there is a problem. When you put up your fence, did you mention that it was 6 inches inside the boundary line? If not, he may have (quite understandably) assumed that you were saying the wall was his and that the fence is on the boundary. There's no real excuse for him leaning heavy things against the fence but some people are genuinely clueless about how their actions might affect others - doesn't mean he won't move them if you ask.

If that doesn't work, do you have fence panels you can lift out to get access to behind the fence? You could erect a very simple fence of a few posts and chicken wire on the actual boundary, or those iron spikes they use to rope off football pitches so he'll know where he can stack his stuff up to. If he won't do it himself, I'd take down the trellis carefully and return it to him.

shellyl

OK, I have returned home after a few days away and have checked out this trellis. It is fully attached to our fence, along with a gate. If we wanted to lift out our panels for maintenance or painting we would not be able to. Not only that, it's ugly and where he's painted it he has splashed paint over our fence. I realise he should not have attached anything without our permission. We will speak to him over the weekend but if he refuses to remove it, what would be our next course of action?

McKneff

I know that he should have asked but are you really that bothered about a bit of trellis, does it not make the fence look a bit more decorative.


At the same time, I can understand that you don't want stuff leaning against the fence at his side.