Property Boundary Issue

SA1980

Hi there,
We have been living in our detached property for more than 5 years. 
Our neighbour claims that the previous owner has encroached on his (half a meter) property when replacing the fence posts. It is a bit bizarre as this has never been mentioned in the past 5+ years. 
Looking at the Land Registry docs do not provide any definitive guidance. Neighbour claims he "trusted" the previous owner and let him extend into his property!!! 
What options do I have? 
Get a chartered surveyor for resolution? - who bears the cost?
If the fence has to be moved, who bears the cost?
I am not sure why we should bear any fo the costs as this pre-dates our ownership of the house.
Any views?

lesalanos

What has the neighbour asked you to do?

ElephantBoy57

SA1980 said:

Looking at the Land Registry docs do not provide any definitive guidance.

Is this dividing the two gardens? Is the fence straight, how does it compare with next door at the other side?

Mojisola

SA1980 said:

We have been living in our detached property for more than 5 years. 
Our neighbour claims that the previous owner has encroached on his (half a meter) property when replacing the fence posts. It is a bit bizarre as this has never been mentioned in the past 5+ years.

Is the neighbour planning an extension?  This can be the reason why neighbours suddenly starts questioning the boundaries - every bit of extra garden they can claim means a bigger extension.

I would tell the neighbour that, as far as you are concerned, the fence is in the correct place.

You don't have to do anything - if he wants to prove it, let him spend money on it.

Grenage

I'm with Mojisola; it sounds like they're chancing it.

SA1980

Thanks folks,
@lesalonos - The neighbour has suggested that we move the fence
@Elephantboy - Ours is a corner plot , so difficult to compare it with the neighbour on the other side.
@Mojisola, Grenage: Here's the thing..the neighbour is not planning an extension. This just came out of the blue. We just had some internal renovation work done. All seems very strange to me.
IMHO, if the neighbour wants to claim something - he should get a surveyor at his own expense. I suspect he may get a false report made to prove his point. 

lesalanos

As the others have said I would just tell them that as far as you are aware of and concerned that the fence is in the right place.  Judge from there how serious they are and how far they would look to take it and how much stress that is likely to cause 

Davesnave

If there is no clear answer obtainable from viewing the title plans, then the neighbour will need to hire a land surveyor to give a professional view. Even then, there is no need for you to agree with their findings if you think they're wrong or biased.

A surveyor's report might only be of use if the matter reached court, but the first thing any judge would want to know is why the neighbour apparently allowed the erection of the fence in the wrong place and, secondly, why it took them so long to raise this with the previous owner and you.

It costs good money to move a fence and placing it 0.5m into your land would obviously disrupt your planting, so there's no way you should be considering this without convincing reasons for doing it. You hold all the cards, so keep them close to your chest. Resolution via the courts is very expensive, so my guess is that once the neighbour sees you aren't an easy touch, they'll have second thoughts. After all, a dispute will make both properties less saleable.

SA1980

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reassuring words.
We have secured 2 planning permissions despite the objection of the same neighbour (rear extension + garage conversion) . It is a bit strange why nothing was mentioned then either.
It just all seems very vindictive.

Davesnave

SA1980 said:

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reassuring words.
We have secured 2 planning permissions despite the objection of the same neighbour (rear extension + garage conversion) . It is a bit strange why nothing was mentioned then either.
It just all seems very vindictive.

It possibly is. Planning has well-defined  grounds upon which people may object, so a neighbour may write reams saying why they don't want a development to happen, but if their reasons aren't valid, they count for nought.

twopenny

When you purchased the property boundaries should have been the subject of a search by your solicitor. I doubt that half a metre would show but that is what you purchased - and why it's important not to let anyones new fence be other than exactly where the old one was. I can think of no reason that the neighbour would let someone build onto his land and if he did then he should have mentioned it with the previous neighbour when the house was up for sale.

People do get very shirty about fences and boundaries. I've just moved, 2 very nice neighbours but the minute fences come into the equasion you can feel the defensiveness and frost.