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Shared Garden - Neighbour plans to divide
*POSTERPOTS*
Posts: 27 Forumite
Hi
We share a large communal garden space at the front of our house (freehold), with our petty neighbours, they have decided to divide the garden with a fence referring to the Land Registry for the division.
We don't object to the fence as it will be better for us as we have more land than them and better boundaries.
Do we need to consult the council? I'm worried they're going to take too much land that's not theirs. Where can we see the exact dimensions of what they own? We can't find any paperwork from when we purchased the property.
They literally told us last week by text they were doing this and have already got workmen coming and going prepping the work.
Any urgent advice would be greatly welcome!
We share a large communal garden space at the front of our house (freehold), with our petty neighbours, they have decided to divide the garden with a fence referring to the Land Registry for the division.
We don't object to the fence as it will be better for us as we have more land than them and better boundaries.
Do we need to consult the council? I'm worried they're going to take too much land that's not theirs. Where can we see the exact dimensions of what they own? We can't find any paperwork from when we purchased the property.
They literally told us last week by text they were doing this and have already got workmen coming and going prepping the work.
Any urgent advice would be greatly welcome!
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Comments
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Don't understand how this can be a communal garden yet you say you own more of the land than your neighbour.
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Plans should be on the land registry website
I am not a cat (But my friend is)0 -
Slinky said:Don't understand how this can be a communal garden yet you say you own more of the land than your neighbour.0
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Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? If so, call them up for advice and guidance.Have you looked at the plan on your deeds? Although not large enough to be ground-accurate - a pen line can be a metre wide... - it should give a good idea of where the boundary is, so you can - right away - figure out where this is, to thebest of your current knowledge. If they are clearly straddling that, or you suspect they will, then you need to make it clear - in a recorded way (literally by having your phone set to record as you do so, and/or else have one or more witnesses with you) - that they need to show you a detailed, accurate plan that shows the exact position of the boundary before they continue.If you believe them to be literally trespassing (or about to), you state that they do NOT have permission to be on your land, and that you INSIST they stop all work until they can show you an accurate plan that PROVES the correct boundary line.If they just continue, then you can at least tell them that they are being 'put on notice' that if the fence encroaches your land an iota, then you have the right to remove it, and will take civil action against them if necessary; they HAVE been warned in ADVANCE.Speak calmly, reasonably, and pleasantly at all times. ALL you are doing is "trying to CLARIFY that everything is being done CORRECTLY, so that no-one needs to have to PUT IT RIGHT AFTERWARDS, with all the hassle THAT would involve...!" - "I am entitled to that, amn't I?" If they want to get tetchy, that's up to them - "There is no need for that manner, and it's very disappointing. Now, can we talk calmly?". If they swear or behave in a manner that's clearly threatening, then you call the local police, 101.PHEW! Ok, that's the worst case scenario, and that's if they are ploughing ahead with abandon, and don't engage in any reasonable way.If what they are doing looks to be generally fine, and your only concern is that they don't encroach on your land, then a more gentle approach can be undertaken, but again recorded and ideally witnessed (narcy folk can be very reasonable when others are watching). Make it clear you don't at all mind what they are actually doing, but are simply checking that they DO know where the EXACT borderline is, "because an error here can cause all sorts of legal issues, certainly when either of us comes to sell. And, also, neither of us want to lose out on our rightful land, do we?!" Then ask for a view of the plans their builder is working from. If they refuse, then it's the scenario in the earlier paragraph.You can also address the builder the same way - 'I believe you may be trespassing, or simply do not have accurate-enough plans to determine that you are not. I need to make it clear that you do NOT have permission to come on to my land, and you are being put on notice about this. If this fence is placed on my land, by intent or even in error, you will be liable for putting it right. It's really worth everyone's time to get this done properly, first time - isn't it?'.If it's all relatively calm, and their plans seem ok, and you are generally happy for them to proceed, then there is one other issue you can bring to their attention if you want to; "Are you planning to put the new fence ON the boundary line, or on your side of it? I ask because, if it's ON the line, then it's effectively shared-ownership, so I can paint my side any colour I like, and hang things on it... If it's wholly on YOUR side, then it's wholly yours." (Obviously only say this part if you want to - if you think it'll serve your purposes).Are your houses detached or semi? If the latter, and if they are mirror images (or just identical), then it is usually very straight-forward to determine where the two houses 'join'. In which case, is it equally easy to determine the 'join' at the road end? If 'yes' to both, then draw a straight line (literally or meta), provided the deeds plan also shows it's a straight border.If your houses are detached, are there any fixed features - a garage, a house wall, a gate post - that can help determine the boundary line?I hope you have LP? Good - what are you waiting for?! :-)1
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If everything is actually 'ok' - they are sticking to the boundary line, and there's no real concern, then minor issues such as their post holes crossing over the boundary aren't worth making an issue of - ie, don't try and stop them, as this would be 'unreasonable' (and they are probably allowed to anyway...). But, by all means ask nicely that they restore your ground to its current condition.
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Thanks everyone. Great advice.
We are two detached houses. The space in question is a large plot of open grass, and both properties jointly own the land but there is a boundary.
These are our 3rd set of neighbours and we have always just shared the land, my husband regularly maintained the grass, even though they never returned the favour. We just got on with it but the new neighbours are spiteful and wish to separate their side to ours.
We paid for laurels and iron fencing around the perimeter to prevent anyone walking onto our ground, cost shared by previous owner. So now all of this is on their side of the space.0 -
*POSTERPOTS* said:We are two detached houses. The space in question is a large plot of open grass, and both properties jointly own the land but there is a boundary.
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*POSTERPOTS* said:
We are two detached houses. The space in question is a large plot of open grass, and both properties jointly own the land but there is a boundary."Jointly own" suggests there is one plot of land with one title with both you and the neighbours being identified as owners, however, it sounds like what you mean is each of you own a separate piece of land with no physical boundary feature (fence/hedge/wall) between them.Can you clarify which it is, as the answer is really important to getting the right advice.*POSTERPOTS* said:We paid for laurels and iron fencing around the perimeter to prevent anyone walking onto our ground, cost shared by previous owner. So now all of this is on their side of the space.Did you check for covenants and/or the need to get planning consent to do this? Very often where there is a 'communal' arrangement of front gardens with no physical boundaries between them the development is 'open plan', and protected by covenants and/or planning restrictions which prohibit fences/walls/hedges without getting consent first.The good news is that if this applies in your case, the neighbour can't put up a fence between your garden and theirs. However, the bad news is that the perimeter boundary fence/hedge may be in breach as well.4 -
Section62 said:*POSTERPOTS* said:
We are two detached houses. The space in question is a large plot of open grass, and both properties jointly own the land but there is a boundary."Jointly own" suggests there is one plot of land with one title with both you and the neighbours being identified as owners, however, it sounds like what you mean is each of you own a separate piece of land with no physical boundary feature (fence/hedge/wall) between them.Can you clarify which it is, as the answer is really important to getting the right advice.*POSTERPOTS* said:We paid for laurels and iron fencing around the perimeter to prevent anyone walking onto our ground, cost shared by previous owner. So now all of this is on their side of the space.Did you check for covenants and/or the need to get planning consent to do this? Very often where there is a 'communal' arrangement of front gardens with no physical boundaries between them the development is 'open plan', and protected by covenants and/or planning restrictions which prohibit fences/walls/hedges without getting consent first.The good news is that if this applies in your case, the neighbour can't put up a fence between your garden and theirs. However, the bad news is that the perimeter boundary fence/hedge may be in breach as well.
Would a photo of the land in question be helpful? Obviously you won't know any of the legal side of things but might help with my original post..0 -
There is a land registry site that superimposes boundaries on an google maps ( or similar ) view - which is good.
Land Registry UK - Map Search (landregistry-uk.com)
may help.0
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