Boundary issues

moneyistooshorttomention

Obviously, agreement with your neighbour as to where the boundary lies would be preferable if possible. I can see where your neighbour is coming from - with his concern about being able to get at the other side of his shed to maintain it and that sounds like a valid reason for him having put it a distance in from the boundary (ie in order to make sure he can do so).

If you can agree the boundary with him - then maybe put just a little shortie wall (ie a 1' or so high) along that point. That would be a fixed marker for the boundary. Then get something in writing (signed by you both) saying that that wall is at the true boundary point agreed by you both - that would act as an indicator of how things are for any future owners of either of your houses. I'm thinking of the type of little shortie brick wall that might go around a raised bed in a garden by choice anyway.

With it being a little shortie wall - then its still perfectly possible to access that strip of land for maintenance of it against any troublesome type weeds that decide to take up residence there.

If you can't agree the location of this wall - then you're into a different ballgame. But I would think its worth trying to get that agreement in the first place.

jamesp31

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Obviously, agreement with your neighbour as to where the boundary lies would be preferable if possible. I can see where your neighbour is coming from - with his concern about being able to get at the other side of his shed to maintain it and that sounds like a valid reason for him having put it a distance in from the boundary (ie in order to make sure he can do so).

If you can agree the boundary with him - then maybe put just a little shortie wall (ie a 1' or so high) along that point. That would be a fixed marker for the boundary. Then get something in writing (signed by you both) saying that that wall is at the true boundary point agreed by you both - that would act as an indicator of how things are for any future owners of either of your houses. I'm thinking of the type of little shortie brick wall that might go around a raised bed in a garden by choice anyway.

With it being a little shortie wall - then its still perfectly possible to access that strip of land for maintenance of it against any troublesome type weeds that decide to take up residence there.

If you can't agree the location of this wall - then you're into a different ballgame. But I would think its worth trying to get that agreement in the first place.

we will put up a picket fence as that will be by far the cheapest option for us ( no cost because we can do it ourselves) to act as the boundary, I don't think agreeing a line is so much of a problem, but the majority of his panels are well within his boundary, so being upset at 'losing' a foot of land, surely he should of sited his fence in the right place to begin with

moneyistooshorttomention

Who knows what way some people are thinking in the first place? A friend of mine has a double fence up along one garden boundary - one is the neighbours and she has put up one immediately in front of it. I still cant quite follow the reasoning of either of them on this....

Sometimes it takes a while for daylight to dawn as to why someone is being so insistent that things are one particular way. It took me quite a while to figure out why my nfh argued the toss like no-one's business about one particular thing here....and I can see part of why she was thinking that way now, as something else she had obviously anticipated would happen if I made my own decisions myself (ie rather than her making them for me) has now happened and I can see it affects her. She was still in the wrong - as it wasn't her place to make MY decisions about MY garden for me.

On the other hand - you may never know why they think that way. You are making a fundamental assumption that people think logically - many don't...

jamesp31

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Who knows what way some people are thinking in the first place? A friend of mine has a double fence up along one garden boundary - one is the neighbours and she has put up one immediately in front of it. I still cant quite follow the reasoning of either of them on this....

Sometimes it takes a while for daylight to dawn as to why someone is being so insistent that things are one particular way. It took me quite a while to figure out why my nfh argued the toss like no-one's business about one particular thing here....and I can see part of why she was thinking that way now, as something else she had obviously anticipated would happen if I made my own decisions myself (ie rather than her making them for me) has now happened and I can see it affects her. She was still in the wrong - as it wasn't her place to make MY decisions about MY garden for me.

On the other hand - you may never know why they think that way. You are making a fundamental assumption that people think logically - many don't...

I can't believe that so many people have so many disputes over a boundary. Whatever happened to 'your side' and 'my side' ?!

moneyistooshorttomention

jamesp31 wrote: »

I can't believe that so many people have so many disputes over a boundary. Whatever happened to 'your side' and 'my side' ?!

You better believe it - unfortunately.

If you tried looking at that forum DavesNave mentioned - ie the gardening one - you'll be horrified at a lot of the stuff that happens.

After moving to my current house and reading that forum I've encountered/read about a lot and I think the first question of all I will ask (and MUCH more clearly than I did this time - ie where the vendor was somewhat less than truthful about the state of play) is to do with the boundaries.

I will ask the vendor to literally pace out exactly what they regard as theirs and then ask the next door neighbour to do the same - to see if they match. Should I sell this house on ever - then I will literally pace out the boundaries for would-be buyers and tell them exactly whats what. Fortunately - I've got my own to a position where my nfh occasionally comes up with tiny acts of spite and noticeably-often making it plain she is watching what work I'm doing in my own garden. But, by and large, the situation (her) is under control now.

paddy's_mum

jamesp31 wrote: »

I can't believe that so many people have so many disputes over a boundary. Whatever happened to 'your side' and 'my side' ?!

If you have ever had to deal with a neighbour from hell and been compelled to pay out many thousands of pounds in legal fees to prevent a land grab of the only access to your property, you would know the answer to your question!

I now operate a once-bitten-twice-shy policy regarding my boundaries and it may well be that your neighbour isn't being nasty, just wanting to avoid any possibility of doubt, now and in the future.

Mojisola

paddy's_mum wrote: »

I now operate a once-bitten-twice-shy policy regarding my boundaries and it may well be that your neighbour isn't being nasty, just wanting to avoid any possibility of doubt, now and in the future.

There's also sometimes simple reasons - designing the garden from scratch and wanting matching fencing on all sides, wanting to tie climbing plants on to the fence and hang baskets or bird feeders off the fence or wanting your side of the fence a particular colour.

Mistral001

If the boundary fence has been removed by the OP, then it is the OP's responsibility to replace it and not only replace it, but replace it in the correct place. This is not done just "with the agreement of the neighbour" but by using deeds maps. This can only be done by people the courts recognise as expert. So if the OP does not want to hire a solicitor, the least I think he/she needs to do is to employ a chartered surveyor. (I am not one by the way, but I am a building professional who has seen many of these situations escalate into a neighbour from hell just because the correct advice was not sought right from the start)

lincroft1710

Mistral001 wrote: »

If the boundary fence has been removed by the OP,

and it belonged to the OP there is no legal requirement for him to replace it

Mistral001

lincroft1710 wrote: »

and it belonged to the OP there is no legal requirement for him to replace it

Does the OP know for certain that they own the fence since they did not erect it themselves? It could be the original fence erected when the properties were built and be shared by the properties on either side.