Neighbour removed there old fence and then painted

parking_question_chap

Just to clarify for us, did you approach your neighbour beforehand about the state of their fence?

If you had offered to foot some of the bill in the first place you might not be in this situation. Perhaps they could not afford a new fence and didnt want to admit it.

Better communication in the first place might have prevented this current scenario.

brewthebear

The house was a new build we built ourselves, we approached neighbour on the house that also runs in conjunction along bottom of plot as the fence there was even worse . She made it clear we was not to touch fence, as the other (neighbour who painted our fence) part of the fence run joined along the boundary.

It was not an option for us but to put fence up away from their fences we could not leave the old fences showing which were an eyesore, we had new fences on all other sides of the plot.

Davesnave

To be fair, when people ask on this forum about neighbours with dodgy fences/no intention of fixing them, the answer often comes back as : "Erect your own fence on your side of the boundary."

That's what you did, but your care not to disturb their fences meant that you were further on your side of the boundary than it was wise to be.

Presumably you're happy with where the fences are or you wouldn't have put them there, so I'd address the painting issue and consider what would be cheap and effective to mark the real boundary, rather than think about moving them.

paddy's_mum

Sounds to me like Roughneck fencing pins and the Pallets-R-Us solution is called for.

OP - you really do need to address the boundary reinstatement issue asap. If you have a mortgage, the finance company will not be pleased to perhaps discover in the future that your lack of action has generated a dispute which affects the value of the property they are financing.

Good luck.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Why are some people saying OP has !!!8220;lost their land!!!8221;? They may have lost easy access to it but they certainly haven!!!8217;t lost possession of it. It!!!8217;s still their land.

In the first instance I would place a string line along the line of the old fence. To be on the safe side I!!!8217;d put this on your side of where the old fence lay because you don!!!8217;t know precisely where the old boundary line is so err on the side of caution. Then approach our neighbours to tell them as they have removed their fence you have taken steps to mark your side of the boundary and will they be reinstating the fence?

If they are not then you need to make a choice between moving the fence, leaving it marked with something a bit more permanent than string (eg ground markers) or doing nothing and risking losing rights to the land in the future.

I do agree however that depending on your neighbours you may find yourself involved in a boundary dispute if they question where the boundary ought to be.

brewthebear

Going to visit the neighbour and find out why they removed fence and painted ours will update when I get an answer

Biggles

Penitent wrote: »

Should we be concerned that it's been 2 days and you're not back yet? The neighbour didn't paint the fence red, by any chance?

You're right, I think we should send a search party out. We should be able to find the house easily, there can't be that many with red fences.

RichardD1970

missile wrote: »

It was a mistake to locate your fence 1 foot from the boundary, presumably at your cost(?).You should have talked to you neighbours and got their agreement to replace the fence(S).

Perhaps you should seek their agreement to relocate fence to the boundary - at your cost.

Exactly this.

My neighbours totally remodelled their garden and wanted all the fencing matching so asked us if they could replace our fence between their and our gardens.

They got the effect they wanted and we go a new fence to replace the one which would have needed replacing in the next few years.

bmthmark

I am amazed that you put up a new fence 1 ft in to your own land. If I were the people living behind you I would remove the old fence as well. Why would they keep the old fence up when there is a nice new one there now?

I can see why you are unhappy but maybe trying to split the cost and replacing the existing fence would of been a better option.

The only real option for you now is to move the fence back 1 foot to reclaim your land. I would be amazed if your neighbours erect a new fence, especially after waiting 15 years.

Good luck though

Davesnave

bmthmark wrote: »

The only real option for you now is to move the fence back 1 foot to reclaim your land.

A reminder (yet again) that the OP has not lost their land, nor do they want to move the fence.

A variety of options have also been discussed regarding ways to mark the boundary.