Help: Have Neighbours Illegally Installed a Fence at Our House?

Adamc

Hi all

The neighbours have attached a fence to the brickwork outside our home and in doing so blocked access to a shared pathway.

Please could anyone advise us on what to do. I've uploaded a video and some pics to the links below to show this:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sz8nnyzBvKLBupyr8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EKNkHZBrk6ncyynA6

Many thanks in advance

Simby

If I understand correctly the shared pathway is between your houses? To allow you access to maintain the side of property?

So you can still assess the shared pathway from the street but not from your own pathway? As their new fence blocks access to your pathway from the shared pathway?

Just checking I understand correctly.

I don’t think they can affix anything to your house which they seem to have done , how do you get on with the neighbours? Could you ask them to shorten the fence so it is not a fixed to your building?

Tigsteroonie

You obviously have a copy of deeds, they might not ... So my first suggestion would be to pop round with those deeds and have a calm conversation with them explaining that it's a shared access and that wish to continue using it as such.

You never know, they could be mortified when they find out. For every situation that makes it onto the internet because the neighours are horrible and being obstinate, there could be ten situations where the neighbours come to an amicable solution and it never makes it to the 'net.

Adamc

Simby wrote: »

If I understand correctly the shared pathway is between your houses? To allow you access to maintain the side of property?

Yes and to access the the back garden gate.
We can still access the side of the property via the back garden gate

So you can still assess the shared pathway from the street but not from your own pathway? As their new fence blocks access to your pathway from the shared pathway?

We cannot access the shared pathway from the street unless we do so via the neighbour's front gate/garden.

Just checking I understand correctly.

I don’t think they can affix anything to your house which they seem to have done , how do you get on with the neighbours? Could you ask them to shorten the fence so it is not a fixed to your building?

It was there when we got home from work and they said they were going to contact the installer to come and ask us what could be done to rectify the situation such as put a gate there. The next day they had changed their minds and said that they would be unwilling to take the fence down.

Adamc

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

You obviously have a copy of deeds, they might not ... So my first suggestion would be to pop round with those deeds and have a calm conversation with them explaining that it's a shared access and that wish to continue using it as such.

You never know, they could be mortified when they find out. For every situation that makes it onto the internet because the neighours are horrible and being obstinate, there could be ten situations where the neighbours come to an amicable solution and it never makes it to the 'net.

Thanks for that. I should have mentioned they were quite willing to try and rectify the problem when we originally knocked on the door after returning from work to find a fence attached to our house.

They told us that they had planned on putting a gate there so that we could access the shared pathway.

They said that the installer would be around the following day to discuss what could be done to resolve things. We waiting in but nobody came. At 7pm we saw the neighbours on the street and asked them what was happing to which they replied that the fence is staying as it is.


The problem is we pay a monthly maintenance fee to the housing company (part of which is for maintenance of common areas) and we are unsure if we are now responsible for the upkeep and removal of a fence we neither wanted nor installed. They've also drilled into our house while we were at work ...

Alfrescodave

Are you happy with the inclusion of a gate in the fence, I think that would be a way of acheiving agreement over what could turn into a tricky relationship.

Simby

If you are happy with the installation of a gate, it might be the best way forward

They should not have drilled into your property but sadly they cannot go back and undo the drilling .. the best they could do is remove the fence and repair the hole..

Regarding maintenance of the fence as it’s your neighbours fence you would not pay to maintain it nor would the management company .

tom9980

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Are you happy with the inclusion of a gate in the fence, I think that would be a way of acheiving agreement over what could turn into a tricky relationship.

That would be a mistake in my opinion, the fact is the installer/neighbour have made a mistake and it is them who need to rectify it, rolling over to help someone fix their mistake is as likely to cause problems in the future especially when it comes time to sell the property.

Adamc

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Are you happy with the inclusion of a gate in the fence, I think that would be a way of acheiving agreement over what could turn into a tricky relationship.

You know I don't think that we are but it may be the only way forward. However, we feel there is the potential for us to incur expenses in the future as a result of the fence being installed on our property, and we really don't want that (what if the housing company say we have to remove it sometime down the line when they come to inspect or maintain the common areas?)

We will have to contact the housing company as we did not install this fence and we don't know if authorisation from them was needed in the first place. This may cause problems when we come to sell.

AdrianC

What does the shared path give access to at the back? Has that been blocked?

If not, then a gate in that fence would be the easiest solution, since you have no right of access over their path forward of where your front path joins the shared access.

Simby

Adamc wrote: »

You know I don't think that we are but it may be the only way forward. However, we feel there is the potential for us to incur expenses in the future as a result of the fence being installed on our property, and we really don't want that (what if the housing company say we have to remove it sometime down the line when they come to inspect or maintain the common areas?)

We will have to contact the housing company as we did not install this fence and we don't know if authorisation from them was needed in the first place. This may cause problems when we come to sell.

Is the fence on your property or attached to your property?

If it is actually on your property then you should ask the neighbours to take it down or move it to their property.

You do not have to ask the housing association for permission for your neighbours, however your neighbours may need permission to put a fence up.

The housing association cannot tell you to remove your neighbours fence but they can tell your neighbours to remove it