HELP! Neighbour has moved fence during COVID lockdown and taken land

Gerard55

Hello, I'd appreciate any help or advice you all may have.

I have a property which is currently vacant. I have been made aware by some friendly neighbours that the neighbour on the other side of my property has it seems taken advantage of (i) the coronavirus lockdown situation and (ii) the fact that we currently do not have tenants and the property is vacant.

It has come to our attention that the said neighbour has trespassed onto our property. Whilst in lockdown, he has removed the fencing (inc. removed ivy on fence and cut out holes in fence) towards the back of our property and relocated it, taking a chunk of approximately 3ft of our land, including about 6 mature trees. He has also committed criminal damage as he has chopped down some bushes at the back of our property (and left the tools behind!) and removed and repositioned a gate which leads onto the parkland which the garden backs onto.

We are currently gathering all documentary evidence we have.

Some info which may help you in advising me:

• We bought the property in 2011 
• Have since been renting it out
• Have my own personal photos and also a video which shows the trees on our side and fencing as it was when we bought the property
  
• Have a 1:200 scale (good detail) site plan of the property including fencing from 2008 (when previous owners sent plans to council)
• Have plans submitted in 1999 for the neighbours house which clearly show the trees drawn on our land (but scale is not good and it is a rough drawing)
  
• Have title plan (which I know is inadequate for determining boundaries due to OS inaccuracies and scale)

We need to arrange a meeting with him - while of course maintaining distance - or a call to discuss 
This is pure hand grabbing and he is a greedy sod that won't be persuaded (had problems in the past when we wanted to replace the old fence)

But wondering if I can get advice and where I stand with the evidence I have? 
Cheers,
Gerard

princeofpounds

Can't post a long reply right now, but a couple of brief points:
- Try gardenlaw boundary forums, it's not very active but is very targeted to what you want.
- Your house insurance may include legal cover that can help you.

jonnygee2

Wow, a land grab! 
This kind of thing has been protected against pretty much since the law began. If he won't budge get legal advice. 

Chandler85

I'm purely commenting because you have decided that because a fence was moved during the ongoing COVID it is somehow different to normal?  There is an obsession with everything being COVID related.  This isn't, it is nothing to do with COVID, don't pretend it is.

A neighbour has moved a fence and taken your land, that is all.

Gerard55

Chandler85 said:

I'm purely commenting because you have decided that because a fence was moved during the ongoing COVID it is somehow different to normal?  There is an obsession with everything being COVID related.  This isn't, it is nothing to do with COVID, don't pretend it is.

A neighbour has moved a fence and taken your land, that is all.

Of course it's nothing to do with COVID-19. I completely agree. My point was, rather, that this has happened during lockdown. A time in which I am unable to obviously go visit my other property as we are not legally allowed to and I am 75 years old. And a time in which the neighbour has maybe taken advantage of this situation because he fully well knows I cannot inspect my property.

Gerard55

princeofpounds said:

Can't post a long reply right now, but a couple of brief points:
- Try gardenlaw boundary forums, it's not very active but is very targeted to what you want.
- Your house insurance may include legal cover that can help you.

Thanks. I tried to sign up to Garden Law a few days ago however unfortunately I haven't received any email from an administrator to verify my account...  

FreeBear

Gerard55 said:  this has happened during lockdown. A time in which I am unable to obviously go visit my other property as we are not legally allowed to

You need to have a read of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 - Section 6 states "During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse. " and then goes on to provide some reasonable excuses.The list is not definitive, nor does it exclude visiting your property to check on and secure a boundary.

zagubov

I would assume he is allowed to but vulnerability due to age makes it a grim prospect. Possibly wondering what could be done from a distance to undo this. 

vitaweat

zagubov said:

I would assume he is allowed to but vulnerability due to age makes it a grim prospect. Possibly wondering what could be done from a distance to undo this. 

Contact a solicitor and ask him about bringing in the police..?  A visit from plod should make him think twice.

[Deleted User]

Police will say its a civil matter and do nothing.  Get the neighbour (if they haven't already) to visit your property and take new photos.  Find a solicitor.  Send evidence to solicitor and and ask them to send relevant letter.  However, where coronavirus will affect this is that not all solicitors are working on a level they were before the restrictions.  And actually getting any action from the neighbour could be an expensive process, even though you have right on your side.  

Davesnave

It doesn't matter that there are Covid restrictions now or that you're 75; what matters is what happens when you're free to visit the property and who you might take with you at that time.If you have family/close friends to help, or it's close enough to hire burly labour, you have more choices.

If someone has moved a fence and you're sure of your case, have evidence to show this etc, then it's possible to take it down,  and either re-erect it in the right place, or if it wasn't yours, erect your own.

This person knows going to law will be expensive and slow, so you either make a direct response like that, or else decide that a metre of land is not worth the hassle and get on with your life. All  Covid restrictions do here is give you more time to think this through.

How far away is this property?