Boundry Fence Problem

libbo2003

hello everyone on here
I have a problem with my neighbour. I moved into my house 8 years ago and my neighbour moved in 2yrs ago. For the last 2 years all he done is ask me to replace the garden fence that I own because it is shabby on his side. The fence has been well maintained by me so I have just made sure it is not going to fall down or anything to maybe damage his property. Now he has started to do some work in his garden and because the post dont line up in a straight line he is claiming that part of the fence maybe over his border and if it is I will have to move it. The fence I would say has been there for longer then 10 years at the very least.Anyone know what are the border rights for a fence that neither present neighbours had erected? Also the house is a 100 year old London Terrace house.

libf

Who is responsible for which boundaries should be indicated on the title plan.

Carrot007

1. Plans are not exact.

2. Borders as land naturally move.

3. if it comes to an argument it will be costly and whoever has the most money will likely win on petty issues.

libbo2003

Not got the deeds the mortgage people have them, but on the stuff I received when buying the house, the seller put the right hand fence is mine, but have spoken to neighbours I know further up the road and they say the left side is theirs?? Which is totally confusing!!

libf

https://www.gov.uk/your-property-boundaries

Davesnave

Ignore him. Your title documents, and his, may well say nothing about fences, but at least you seem to agree on ownership. That's good.

Tell him the fence is where it its always been throughout your tenure, and you are not about to move something which has been in its current position for a long time. He saw where it was when he bought his house and he was, apparently, satisfied.

If he doesn't like it, he can always erect his own fence on his own property so that he doesn't see it any more.

Boundary disputes are indeed costly and take ages. Don't go there.

Pricivius

Unfortunately, it is unlikely to be straightforward, although you may be lucky.

First step, check the land registry entries and plans for both properties to see if there are any clues. As libf says, it *may* be on the plan.

Then see if there are any other documents held by the Land Registry for either property. Read these and see if anything helps. Also check your own records when you bought the property in case the previous owners gave you any old documents. When my mum sold her 120 year old house, we gave a huge pile of documents to the new owners setting out the original plans and each transfer over the years...

If there is nothing in the documents, then it's very difficult. It appears that you both agree that you own the fence, but that the line of the boundary is unclear as to whether the fence marks the boundary, is on your side of the boundary or is all over the place - is that right?

I would strongly urge you to try to seek agreement. If the fence is on your land and you can both agree it is, then he is more than welcome to put his own fence on his land. If this is not an option, then discuss what the options are and see if you can reach agreement. If the fence line is indeed wonky, would it be nice for all concerned for it to be straightened up, if we are looking at a matter of cms either way?

I have posted before about my mum's 6 year boundary dispute with a neighbour, which resulted in a court case lasting over 2 years. He was intransigent and no matter what we tried, we could not reach agreement. Over a strip of land 6 inches wide. Our legal fees were over £18,000. The mental strain of fighting with our neighbour was significant. We fought on principle, but principles can be very expensive...

Land_Registry

Pricivius is spot on and the post highlights some of the key points to be considered here, namely that all information is relevant but so too are the neighbouring views/understanding/principles

Pricivius' own example is a telling one and extremely helpful in understanding how far such things can go if agreement cannot be reached. But sometimes such steps are required as it is the law which is the sole arbiter on such matters.

In my experience the court takes a 'dim view' of such matters ever reaching them but such action can still be taken.

Pricivius - you don't mention what the outcome was of your case and I cannot locate an original thread about it on MSE. Can you link us to it perhaps?
And what was the court's view of the case being brought?

I only ask out of genuine interest as such 'real' insight can be invaluable to others

libbo2003

Thanks for great advice guys, these things are never easy I guess. I'm just trying to get as much info from past experiences so I can meet him with some valid points of law. I read somewhere online a very good article of how to deal with these boundary problems. Different ways of dealing with a awkward neighbour one which is of treating it like a game of poker?? lol

Pricivius

So... further details!

The outcome was we won and were awarded 82% of our costs.

The Court were not happy with the matter at all. At every case management/preliminary hearing, we were more or less told to bang our heads together and sort it out. The Judge who heard the final hearing had heard one of the previous preliminary hearings and was initially livid that he had to hear it for 2 days. However, he soon realised that we simply had no option but to fight our neighbour or give him the land as he was so utterly immune to reason/compromise/co-operation. We offered mediation, arbitration, joint experts etc.. Friends went to see him trying to negotiate with him on our behalf; even the police were involved at one stage. The judgment details the Judge's view on our neighbour and his actions and is surprisingly scathing.

I have found one thread I contributed to - posts 59 and 79, I think...

THREAD I CONTRIBUTED TO!

Land_Registry

Pricivius wrote: »

So... further details!

The outcome was we won and were awarded 82% of our costs.

The Court were not happy with the matter at all. At every case management/preliminary hearing, we were more or less told to bang our heads together and sort it out. The Judge who heard the final hearing had heard one of the previous preliminary hearings and was initially livid that he had to hear it for 2 days. However, he soon realised that we simply had no option but to fight our neighbour or give him the land as he was so utterly immune to reason/compromise/co-operation. We offered mediation, arbitration, joint experts etc.. Friends went to see him trying to negotiate with him on our behalf; even the police were involved at one stage. The judgment details the Judge's view on our neighbour and his actions and is surprisingly scathing.

I have found one thread I contributed to - posts 59 and 79, I think...

THREAD I CONTRIBUTED TO!

Thanks Pricivius and apologies as I was looking for a thread started by you and not one added to later.

I know there will be others who have faced similar issues but fortunately they remain rarities and the poker analogy mentioned by OP is a valid one simply on the basis that every player (neighbour) will be different and every hand (property/boundary) will differ.