fence issues

worried123

Hi, jsut a quickie.    My bordering 6 foot fence that i have just had erected.  neighbour quick to knock on my door when it came down in bad weather saying it needed sorting out...which i was fully aware of...now that a new fence has been erected and paid for by myself she is putting throwing washing on top of it to dry.   Does she have a right to do this is my question...jsut need to know before i push it off the top of my fence into her garden.
thank you

Rosa_Damascena

worried123 said:

Hi, jsut a quickie.    My bordering 6 foot fence that i have just had erected.  neighbour quick to knock on my door when it came down in bad weather saying it needed sorting out...which i was fully aware of...now that a new fence has been erected and paid for by myself she is putting throwing washing on top of it to dry.   Does she have a right to do this is my question...jsut need to know before i push it off the top of my fence into her garden.
thank you

Bottom line: its up to you to maintain it and you erected it as a boundary rather than a drying rack for your neighbour's personal utility. If its compromising the fence more than general weathering you may have good reason to ask her to desist.

Pragamtic approach: there are diplomatic ways of approaching this.

worried123

Thanks for your opinion.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Worried.

You paid for it - it belongs to you. The fence, I mean. I mean, the actual fence...

So, if you want to remove these panels and put them elsewhere, you can. If you just want to say "Stop using my fence for purposes it was not intended for", then you can do that as well.

A slightly different issue is whether it's also the boundary you are 'responsible' for. If it isn't, then the above still applies 'cos it's your physical property. If this border is also your 'responsibility' (usually marked with 'T's on the deeds plan), then that doubly makes you entitled to be completely unaccepting of what she's doing.

I'm assuming it's the latter situation since she had a 'go' at you to sort it when it came down, and you were 'happy' to replace it?!

In which case, you are 100% entitled to tell her to not do anything to that fence that will compromise it in any way. You OWN it. It's YOUR responsibility. She is not even allowed to paint her side*. Attach trellis. Allow plants to climb up it. Now't.

* Not allowing neighbs to paint their side could be considered churlish, since in most cases it will save you having to do so, and should also prolong its life. However, they SHOULD ask permission, first, and if they paint it sloppily so that the colour comes through, you can tell them to stop and remove permission to do so.

To answer your Q, then, yes you can tell her to stop. There are at least three good reasons why she should - one is that it'll dampen the timber panels for longer so could shorten their life, the clothes are an eyesore (perfectly legit reason), and the third is that her clothes are actually trespassing!

I wouldn't push her clothes off. At least not without first explaining (as bluntly as you wish) what the facts are. Best to not start off 'blunt', tho' - be super-reasonable, and give the valid factual reasons why you 'request/insist' it stops; "It belongs to me, it cost me a bomb, it could reduce its life, it doesn't look good, and you are placing items effectively over the border into my garden".

If she tries to argue - I bet you a £iver she will - turn it to asking her things like "WHY do you think it's ok to put your clothes over the border into a neighbour's garden?!" Ask this in a bemused manner, as if you are talking to a child-mind - which you are.

If she persists and/or rants, then chuckle, sigh and explain (and have it recorded somehow, either by a follow-up letter or by using your phone) what you are now going to have to do.

This, I'd suggest, would be one of two things; If you have LegProt on your household insurance, call them up, apologise for troubling them for such a seemingly trivial matter, but you've tried to reason and she's a loon, and ask if they'll send out a 'cease and desist' letter.

Or, simply inform your neighb that you will now need to give your fence extra protection in order to cope with what she insists on doing, and paint the top rail surface of your fence with anti-climbing paint ( https://www.screwfix.com/p/blackfriar-anti-climb-paint-black-1ltr/5810p )

For this option, you MUST cover yourself (no, not in the paint, tsk) by being able to PROVE you informed her you were going to paint the fence top, and warned her 'Best check it's dry before going anywhere near my fence again...'.

Don't forget - be horribly bemused about the whole thing - that'll super wind her up. Explain clearly, calmly and rationally your reasons for her to stop. Let her rant - smile and chuckle at the things she says. Shake your head sadly. Ask her why she thinks she can do things that most human beings would consider entirely unreasonable. If she becomes belligerent, do NOT reply in kind. Just have a look that says 'Wow!'.

(Lawdie, I enjoyed writing that :-) )

worried123

Hello Jeepers
Thank you so much for your really informative reply and tips on how to approach the issue with her.   You enjoyed writing it and i really enjoyed reading it.  Thank you!
Have a nice day.

FreeBear

Jeepers_Creepers said: There are at least three good reasons why she should - one is that it'll dampen the timber panels for longer so could shorten their life, the clothes are an eyesore (perfectly legit reason), and the third is that her clothes are actually trespassing!

And if old fashioned creosote has (or will be) used on the fence, the clothes will pick up the smell and possibly stains too.

twopenny

Being more passively aggressive I'd start with a simple warning that you are going to preserve the fence with something that will likely stain fabric so she should take care. You are forwarning her so not responsible.
It's just quicker. But with a totally reasonable smile and concern.
Or you could plant raspberry canes there. Bonus they'd stain ( you could make sure of that) and you'd have fresh fruit. Bonus!
Frankly I'd have stained them already with bird poo, readily available.
Totally unreasonable behaviour. She's pushing your buttons.

Rosa_Damascena

I had no idea it is hate-thy-neighbour month on MSE. Did I miss the memo?

The OP's neighbour is TTP but creosote and brambles are a bit childish (not to mention carcinogenic in the case of the former).

Jeepers_Creepers

An approach is obviously the first thing to do, in a calm and measured way. You explain the reasons why you'd like/need it to stop.

If they are bolshie and/or belligerent, then you turn it to asking them "Why do you think..." "So can I put my washing on your..."

At all times you don't show any annoyance, regardless of how annoying they are; that would only bring you down to their level and give them more 'justification' in their minds.

Hopefully that would have been enough*.

If it's unsuccessful - they are off-t'scale loons - then you have the two options open to you - LegProt or paint. For the latter you MUST protect yourself 100% so that she can't allege you did it without warning.

* Best possible situation during the approach is to have a witness - and if there's someone on their side too, that's doubly-good. It's not even to act as a witness - a secondary source of recall - but just to make them behave reasonably at the time. 'Inside', these folk know what they are saying and doing - it's all very carefully measured in order to feed this wee nasty thing inside of their heads - and part of that will tell them to not expose their unreasonableness to others other than the target; they won't 'expose' themselves (unless they are simply insane).

Oh, and record any conversation' - have your phone ready. Surreptitiously is fine.

Slinky

Or of course the washing can 'accidently' fall into your garden, so she has to come round and ask for it back. A few trips like that and it's likely to stop. Particularly if you can make some comments about the size of her bloomers or the stains........

Davesnave

Almost certainly a wind up, or a complete loony.

Bird feeder alongside. Stains arise naturally. Win-win, especially for the birds.