Can my neighbour reclaim a boundry

clem28_2

Hi,
Our neighbours have fallen out and now we dont get on,(will not resolve).
He has now after we have been in the property for 11 years said that a boundry fence is in his land by 4 inches and he is saying he wants to reclaim the land.
The fence has been in place before we bought the house so its an existing boundry, no changes to the existing fence line has been done by myself or my neighbour .
What can be done by him ,can he enforce that we re sight the fence.
any help
thanks
clem

DTDfanBoy

Who owns the fence, if it's yours he can't just pull it down or move it, on the other hand if he owns it

clem28_2

we own the fence.

Xeorix

Take a look at your deeds, I would be surprised if the fence is on his land unless the previous neighbours agreed to remove the original, and he planted a new one on his land.

If the fence is on his land, then theres nothing you can do about it

DTDfanBoy

Well your neighbour has a rather uphill battle then, it's going to be a costly job proving that your fence is 4 inches on his side of the boundary

konark

This could get expensive if he starts to get solicitors involved.

Tell him its your fence and he isn't to touch it. If he tries to knock it down call the police, tell them he's going to cause a breach of the peace (i.e you're gonna hit him). Police will tell him to stop touching fence. and if he touches it again they will arrest him.
If he takes it out when you're away then have him for criminal damage.

Alternatively, just move, who wants to live next door to a prat like that.

27col

I would be very surprised if any house/estate plans showed a boundary to an accuracy of 4 inches.

arcon5

konark wrote: »

This could get expensive if he starts to get solicitors involved.

Tell him its your fence and he isn't to touch it. If he tries to knock it down call the police, tell them he's going to cause a breach of the peace (i.e you're gonna hit him). Police will tell him to stop touching fence. and if he touches it again they will arrest him.
If he takes it out when you're away then have him for criminal damage.

Alternatively, just move, who wants to live next door to a prat like that.

Don't think we can make that kinda judgement from this post.

tired_dad

unfortunate situation but if you feel something may happen when your out it may be worth considering having a cctv feed of your fence being careful to arrange the camera so its only taking pics of your land and no one else's. I would check on the legality of this before committing

pimento

Let him do it. Four inches is nothing and you'll get a brand new fence at his expense.

malebolge

Unless you are careful, this could end up being expensive, in both financial terms and in ill will between you and your neighbours. As has been suggested, the first thing to do is to look at your deeds. If the fence is on his land, then move it. (I'd be inclined to move it onto my land, but paint the side that faces him purple, orange & yellow, but I'm a !!!!!! at times ) If it is not clear in the deeds, then as you've lived in the house for a long time, and the fence was up even longer, I'd want proof that the strip of land is actually the neighbour's. A solicitor's letter could do that if you're willing to spend about £60-100. If the proof is forthcoming, then again, you'd have to shift the fence, or offer a sum of money to buy the strip. Unless the previous occupant of your house drew up a determined boundary agreement, then all there will be is a general boundary agreement. The law on this states: 'The boundary of a registered estate as shown for the purposes of the register is a general boundary, unless shown as determined under section 60 of the Land Registration Act 2002' I reckon that your neighbour would have a very difficult job proving the 4" strip was his, so I'd stick to my guns and leave the fence.