Council boundary issue.

sherb1e

Hello all, in 2004 we bought our ex council house. At the rear of the house is a council owned garage block, for the residents of the local houses to rent or buy. When we bought there was already a pair of gates in the garden giving us access to the secure garage block. These gates were installed by previous owners now over 20 years ago. Last year our garden was made over and this included a new rear fence and two new gates. We have now re eived a letter from our council to remove the gates and fencing and put back to original state.
Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Sherb1e

davidmcn

Have they stated why they want you to reinstate the fence? Do your titles include any rights over the garage block?

sherb1e

Hi im unaware of any rights over the garage block,there are only two properties at either end that does not have a garage at the bottom of their garden, a complaint was noted by a resident,

Norman_Castle

Did the fence belong to the council?

Davesnave

Do you have any photogrphic evidence of how the fence was before you replaced it?

silvercar

Try and find evidence of the previous gate. google street view is a good place to start. There is a way to find previous versions. Viewing in satellite mode may show the gates better, if the camera didn't visit the garage block.

Write to the council with all your evidence that all you did was replace old gates with new and state that the change therefore is a repair/ maintenance/ update.

I would think the access has been around long enough that it is too late for enforcement action, but even so there could be no bar to you having gates as part of your boundary. The legality would be whether you have access rights and therefore the right to use the gates for their intended purpose.

sherb1e

We have photos of the gates prior to replacement, and were given keys to the garage area security gates on purchase. The real issue may be whether we have access rights to our gates. We replaced gates etc and did not create any new opening that hadnt already been in situ for approximately 20 years.

JP08

Just to recap - you bought your house from the council in 2004 with the gates present in the form you have just replaced effectively like for like ?

Ie these gates were acceptable to the council when they owned and sold the property ?

Slinky

Do the gates open inwards or outwards? And are they the same way as before you replaced them?

stator

Access rights are not relevant, if you walk or drive over people's land you might be liable for damage as it's a tresspass but that doesn't have any bearing on your fences. You can replace all your fences with gates if you like or remove your fences altogether. The question is whether you owned the fence you replaced. If it belonged to the council you could be in trouble. Also check your deeds to see what obligations you have, as there could be some conditions in there but they might not be enforcable.

sherb1e

We are at least the 3rd owners since bought from the council. The gates open outwards as before and the old concrete panel fence was disintegrating and in danger of collapse. I am unaware of the ownership of the fence but assumed it was mine to keep in good order. I will look at the deeds to see if there is anything relevant.

Thanks again