Neighbour has threaten me

Simon20203

So our neighbour has stated that a bit of land between our two properties is his - he is claiming that his garage he built 5yrs ago is suffering from damp inside due to the land that fills this space.

We have a  4/5ft high wall on our side and the majority of space between our wall and his garage wall is filled with a gravel/concrete/stone mix and there is less than 1ft of soil on top which we grow plants and Strawberries. His garage and our wall is built into a steep hill. 

Before he built his garage their was a fence up and we always had a soil strip for plants on our side. As far as we can tell on the deeds and by the basic lay of the land this is our land and he has built his garage right up against our boundary. 

He wants to pull up the plants and fill the space up with concrete and put slabs on top - we believe he will angle the slabs towards our wall and this will cause us issues. 

We have told him we do not want this done and it is our land but he says he is just going to come into our yard and do it. He even asked me 'are you going to be in the yard at 5am in the morning... Are you going to be in the yard at midnight'. He was very threatening and has left us very shooken up. My wife is 25weeks pregnant and we have two small children and I go to work at 8am tomorrow morning. She does not feel safe with the behaviour he was displaying. We have reported the incident to the police and they have stated he can't come into our yard and cause damage to our property and to call them if he does. 

To us it is very clear on the deeds that this is our land and the fence he removed was also ours but we didn't mind because his garage wall left a nice tidy looking boundary (it was an old fence anyway). If he wants to claim this is his strip of land then surely he has to get a solicitor and take the matter to court?? 

Is there anything else we should consider? He is the one that wants to enter our yard to commence work on our land and we have said no but he is not happy about this and says he is going to do it anyway. 

Any advice would be appreciated. 

greatcrested

Did the police just say this informally, or was a record made of the complaint so it is on file? It willmake a difference if you have to call them.

But if the plice have told you to call, then that is what you should do. Ring and say someone is causing criminal damage. If that is also linked by the police to the earlier threats they are more likely to repsond and have words with your neighbour.

Your other option is to apply to a court for an injunction prohibiting him from undertaking works between these two walls. If he ignored that it would be contempt of court which is a serious criminal matter. But getting an injunction will

a) cost you money (and time) and

b) involve convincing the court that you own the land, which it seems likely he will dispute. So you'd have to argue your case, probably with the help of a solicitor and possibly a surveyor to act as an expert witness following examination of both your Title Plans, and the physical boundary.

jimbog

Perhaps a letter from a solicitor would help to remind him?

Simon20203

He also removed the fence post beside the oil tank and moved it in because he couldn't attached post to his garage due to his drain pipe being in the way but when you look at the boundary straight on from the front of the house you can see where he has moved the post in and the fences moves back out at the very top where the original post has not been moved so he has already encroached on our land. 

Simon20203

The police made a record of the incident so there would be something to refer to if something were to happen. 

It's a small bit of land so I really don't want to be put at any expense myself but I am not happy that filling it with concrete will solve his problem and not create a problem for us. My father is a builder and says he should of built his garage with cavity walls and also damp proofed them.

I also don't want my plants removed - this is year four of the strawberries and hopefully it will be our best crop yet.

He removed the first existing fence without our permission and this was probably our fault for not demanding he put it back then but it seemed harmless at the time. 

My dad says if we want to build a garage later on we wld build on top on this wall and the space on the side is where our spouting would go so this would be our airspace. 

The smaller wall below this wall is over right on the boundary so you can see this thick wall at the back has been built over a bit and therfore leaves a natural space. 

AdrianC

You have, I presume, looked at the maps on his and your LR plans - and compared the boundary line to any obvious features on the ground?

Simon20203

AdrianC said:

You have, I presume, looked at the maps on his and your LR plans - and compared the boundary line to any obvious features on the ground?

Yes the little wall that separates the two drives at the front of the house is where the line is marked and follows the line 'straight' up to the back - whereas our thick retaining wall at the rear steps in a little off this front little wall leaving this disputed space. I. E if the little wall at the front was to continue up straight it would clearly mark the boundary. This is why it's hard for me to understand why he is even claiming this is his land.

But he is obviously just very annoyed we didn't give him the okay to go ahead with the filling it in with concrete plan so now he is suggesting it is his land anyway. 

Simon20203

I also asked him to put his plans into writing and he just said 'no, Im not doing that, I'm just going to go ahead and do it' 

[Deleted User]

 Get a cctv camera to watch him, best evidence if he comes round at an early hour. 

m0bov

Do you have legal cover with your insurance? If so get them to write to him. Have the police visited? If not, tell them you are being threatened and harresed.

HampshireH

Probably best keeping it to 1 thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6146644/neighbours-garage-issue#latest