Legal action help against social housing from private home owner

Sarah.so

Hi hope you can offer me some advice.

My neighbour who lives in socila housing property buillt his fence/wall/part of drive way on my land.

i have been in dispute with the social housing for over 3 years, i have paid for a survey done and it has identified he is 0.9m on my land, social housing demanded a 2nd report, findings were the same. The said they would rectify with in 60 days, then said they wouldnt and offered me £1k for the land (i had to pay costs of changing everything with land registry  etc) i have declined this offer and  then they offered 1k plus costs. again i have declined this.

i can not afford a private solicitor, used one attached to my insurance who have just said because my insurance was taken out 2 years after fence errection they wil now not help. can anyone point me in the direction of any template letters to take this further or offer any advice?

I paid 200 for a 45 min call with a solicitor and i can not afford the 20K they have quoted me to take this to court.

ThisIsWeird

This wall and fence is 900mm on your side of the true boundary? And you can evidence this? Cool.

A few things I think you can easily do. You could give them a fixed-time notice - say a month? - for them to remove the wall and fence, or else you will arrange to have this done and sue them for the cost. Or, if it's an easy-to-dismantle wooden fence, I'd probably give them just one week's notice and remove it myself.

Or, without any notice, you could erect a very simple boundary-marking feature - just a few well-spaced posts with a single wire strung between them if you wish - along the true boundary line (with the posts on your side of this line), and shout "THESE WALLS ARE MINE! AAAAALL MINE!"

What outcome do you actually want? Do you want your land back, and their wall removed? Or do you want proper recompense for giving them that strip? For the latter, if what they built is a proper wall, then it'll cost them £ks to demolish and rebuild a new one on the correct boundary, so they should be thinking in terms of multiple £ks to buy that strip from you, so that they can simply keep the existing wall and fence.

If you just want your land back, I think what I would do is to first install that very basic boundary-marking fence in the true location, pin to the posts the outcome of your surveyor's report (or, better still, stick it to 'their' fence/wall, so it's nicely within your land - if they touch it, it will be very obvious trespass), add a CCTV camera to cover that strip if you suspect the neighbour may react badly*, and then send a recorded delivery letter to the property owner asking them to remove the trespassing walls and fences from your land. Give them a reasonable timescale - say a month - if it involves brickwork, or a week if it's a timber fence. Add that if they fail to do so, you'll employ contractors to remove it instead, and will leave it on their property. You will then sue them for the cost of having this done. I cannot see any obvious way a MoneyClaim.org will fail - you seemingly have all the evidence you require, and will have given them fair notice. 

Are you sure you want this strip back, tho'? It sounds as tho' you didn't previously know it was yours? Or aren't missing it that much? If so, what offer from them would be acceptable?

*If the neighbour interferes with your new 'fence', call the local police. You will have the evidence of the boundary line, and hopefully CCTV of them damaging it. They will only have a 'chat' in the first instance, but will almost certainly tell the neighb to C&D as this is trespass with criminal property damage, and the neighb would be very foolish to repeat this.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: This wall and fence is 900mm on your side of the true boundary? And you can evidence this? Cool.

A few things I think you can easily do. You could give them a fixed-time notice - say a month? - for them to remove the wall and fence, or else you will arrange to have this done and sue them for the cost. Or, if it's an easy-to-dismantle wooden fence, I'd probably give them just one week's notice and remove it myself.

900mm is a substantial amount to lose from a driveway - I certainly wouldn't be accepting any offer (£1K is just an insult).

Whilst I would agree with installing posts & wire on the true boundary, I would caution against removing the current fence & paving just yet - You could find the police getting involved and charging you with criminal damage. Proceed with extreme caution, and take proper legal advice from a qualified professional before going down that route.

ThisIsWeird

I repeat, as I see it, Sarah has two main options. And she should give the neighbour notice of her intent, in writing, for one.

Sarah.so

Thanks both for your comments. 

Firstly yes I want it back and did know and asked repeatedly for it to be realigned properly. Both verbally and in writing to the housing association and the tenant. 

Secondly it’s not as simple as just removing it. I removed the post that was on my living room wall and the fence is now unstable and he called the police and I was hauled in and warned about criminal damage. 

On the neighbours side behind the fence is now a brick wall and part of a new driveway and I haven’t the means to remove this myself. 

I’ve spoken to a solicitor who said o need to take the housing association to court but I don’t know where to start to enforce legal action. 

Sarah.so

Just to add I had a survey done, the housing association also had one done so that’s two surveyors stating he’s on my land plus I did a SARS request that clearly states they have built on my land. 

ThisIsWeird

Sarah.so said:

Just to add I had a survey done, the housing association also had one done so that’s two surveyors stating he’s on my land plus I did a SARS request that clearly states they have built on my land. 

In which case, you surely cannot lose.
I take it you cannot afford to pay upfront to have the wall removed, and then claim?
You certainly need correct guidance on how to proceed so that you don't mess up, but the actual process 'should' be straight-forward.
Perhaps try asking on 'gardenlaw', a more-specific forum, with some knowledgeable - I think 'legal' - folk on it.

ThisIsWeird

Sarah.so said:

Thanks both for your comments. 

Firstly yes I want it back and did know and asked repeatedly for it to be realigned properly. Both verbally and in writing to the housing association and the tenant. 

Secondly it’s not as simple as just removing it. I removed the post that was on my living room wall and the fence is now unstable and he called the police and I was hauled in and warned about criminal damage. 

On the neighbours side behind the fence is now a brick wall and part of a new driveway and I haven’t the means to remove this myself. 

I’ve spoken to a solicitor who said o need to take the housing association to court but I don’t know where to start to enforce legal action. 

Reading this sort of stuff really annoys me.
I presume you explained the situation and showed the police your survey and deeds? 
If you follow the correct process - you present evidence of ownership, and the trespass, and give notice to the miscreant of the need for them to remove their trespassing objects within a fair time period or you will do so and bill them, then you should be untouchable.
Yes, if you simply start taking things down without going through the process, then don't expect the police to spend time listening - it's not their job.
So, two methods; go through the unimpeachable process so everyone knows what's going to happen, or else get it done quickly before anyone can intervene :-)
This is YOUR land.

ThisIsWeird

Do you have friends who will demolish it for you? :-)
Have a f'you party, complete with music and food. 
Give notice. Give them an end time. When it elapses, then GET IT DONE. Make it a fait-accompli.
Once demolished, it's a fait accompli, and the neighb will not be able to do a thing about it.

sevenhills

Contact your local councillor, they have more authority when it comes to dealing with the council.

Sarah.so

sevenhills said:

Contact your local councillor, they have more authority when it comes to dealing with the council.

Local councillors have been contacted and this guy seems to be untouchable!! .. the tenant also has 3 x fences totalling 30ft along my back fence he was turned down for planning permission for an accessible extension paid for by the social housing landlord due to 45 degree law so he built them himself in wood all on his own - which begs the question why does he need an accessible extension!! I can’t do anything about them because they are “sheds” it’s a mess and I have already had one buyer pull out of my house sale! But the councillors just not getting anywhere with any issues we face with this neighbour!