Can anyone comment on this boundary issue

Tyler_Durden_UK

ashe said:

Tyler_Durden_UK said:

Threat of legal action now

Simply reply with copies of the boundary images. A link to adverse possession rules changing and and tell her she is welcome to apply but confirm in advance you will decline the request and say you are looking forward to them spending tens of thousands of pounds on legal fees with no basis in law on their side 

I wonder is she can reply on the post 2002 rule - 

1. Reasonable mistake as to the boundary: that the squatter owns land adjacent to the subject land and reasonably believes that they owned the subject land.

Slinky

Tyler_Durden_UK said:

Slinky said:

Have you put their plants into any form of container or just dumped them on their drive?

Just left them on the drive

It would have been better to retain the moral high ground by putting them into some pots to keep them alive IMO.

Jeepers_Creepers

Dear lawd - no. You gave them plenty of notice. They failed to reply.

Tyler - no more comms by text.

What is it you want to do with that space? Pave it? Well, start to do so. Put your own plants there? Well, do so. It's yours. If you put a plant there and they touch it, call the police - immediately. This would not be a civil dispute - it would be criminal damage, just as if they came on to your drive and pulled the wiper blades off your car.

If you need to call the police - and a fair chance you will - just explain calmly the facts; you were happy to let them also tend that border in the way that many neighbours often tend to a shared border since they both benefit from how it looks, and they seemed more willing to effort into it than you. But then they suddenly tried to claim it as theirs, so you obviously had to make the situation clear. You gave them a week (or whatevs) to remove any plant that was theirs, and when they failed to reply you did what you told them you would do; carefully removed their plants. "Here's the deeds plan... Oh, and they've just tried to do the same to land on their other side owned by the council - would you believe it!"

Mantra:

1) It's my land. Always has been. Always will be. I've always considered it mine. Used it as mine - I weed it, open my car door over it, even walk on it. I know where my property's boundaries lie - it's a straight bleedin' line, innit.

2) I was happy to allow my neighb to also tend it - share in the effort of keeping it tidy - as it's a nice feature for them too, and I didn't want to be churlish or precious about this. If they want to help look after my border too, that's fine by me.

3) But then neighb claimed it's theirs! They also claimed the land to their other side is theirs! Oh my - we have a right one here. Council put the kibosh on the other side, and I'm having to do the same on my land to dispel any confusion.

End of.

If they want to try and make a claim, that's their call. This is not a legal dispute at the moment. It might become one if they actually launch a claim, but that's by-the-by - you can't allow for stupid. It's not a concern for when you come to sell - 'yes, daft neighb tried to pinch a bit of my land, but obviously failed.' If you DON'T tackle this, then it WILL become an issue as your deeds and the actuality will not match.

Give your head a shake. Think this through at it's most basic level. Imagine you trying to claim any part of a neighbour's land as yours just because you walked on it/pulled weeds out of it/took their bins out from it. It's NUTS, isn't it?!

Remember the mantra. Don't deviate from the mantra. Don't get side-tracked. For even the remotest chance of them managing a claim, they would have to prove they had sole use of that land without your permission for X number of years. They cannot.

But, how cunning! They know that 'property/neighbouring disputes' are anathema to many folk, so they are using that line to try and make you back away rather than challenge them. The answer is simple - "This ain't a dispute, pal - you are going to be put firmly back in your box."

Norman_Castle

You were already in a boundary dispute, so was she. Its also likely any future buyers would have questioned why the deeds didn't match the property.

Silver_Shark

It's not a legal dispute until the neighbour goes to a solicitor and proves they have been using your land for eighteen years and it will cost them. In the meantime it's your land and if I were you I'd offer to sell it to them to settle the dispute.

Tyler_Durden_UK

I have Jeepers_Creepers said:

Dear lawd - no. You gave them plenty of notice. They failed to reply.

Tyler - no more comms by text.

What is it you want to do with that space? 

Mantra:

1) It's my land. Always has been. Always will be. I've always considered it mine. Used it as mine - I weed it, open my car door over it, even walk on it. I know where my property's boundaries lie - it's a straight bleedin' line, innit.

For even the remotest chance of them managing a claim, they would have to prove they had sole use of that land without your permission for X number of years. They cannot.

I have already started putting decorative stones on the area, thing is I had no idea until recently that it was my land, I assumed (wrongly, as they did) that it belonged to my neighbour. Would this be considered them having sole use of that lnd without my permission ? Text comms have stopped and of course they are getting solicitors involved. I may try and pot up the plants I removed.

Silver_Shark

It's not about permission, it's your land and you can prove it. It's up to the neighbour to prove they have been using it for eighteen years. You're doing right thing by using it now as you see fit and it's wise to not let their plants die so they can plant them elsewhere.

theoretica

Silver_Shark said:

It's not about permission, it's your land and you can prove it. It's up to the neighbour to prove they have been using it for eighteen years. You're doing right thing by using it now as you see fit and it's wise to not let their plants die so they can plant them elsewhere.

More than that - it is up the the neighbour to prove that the owner has not used it for that time. 

Silver_Shark

theoretica said:

Silver_Shark said:

It's not about permission, it's your land and you can prove it. It's up to the neighbour to prove they have been using it for eighteen years. You're doing right thing by using it now as you see fit and it's wise to not let their plants die so they can plant them elsewhere.

More than that - it is up the the neighbour to prove that the owner has not used it for that time. 

The OP has been in his house for ten years, the neighbour took possession of that land long before he moved in. He only has to prove he legally owns that land.

Jeepers_Creepers

Silver_Shark said:

It's not a legal dispute until the neighbour goes to a solicitor and proves they have been using your land for eighteen years and it will cost them. In the meantime it's your land and if I were you I'd offer to sell it to them to settle the dispute.

I'd only offer to sell it to them as a joke - a snip at £30k, or go whistle.

(I wouldn't offer to sell it at all...)