House being built close to fence

markin

The have been a number of stories in the press about developers moving fences and then the owners being up in arms and running to the press but the is never anything they can do if its on the deeds.

baser999

OP has noted there is flooding, perhaps due to compacted ground, so developer likely having to deal with that before even erecting scaffolding to save it sinking.

Section62

baser999 said:

OP has noted there is flooding, perhaps due to compacted ground, so developer likely having to deal with that before even erecting scaffolding to save it sinking.

A scaffolding plank offcut dropped on the ground which the baseplate then sits on will probably be all they actually do.  The load on an individual pole for a two-storey scaffold isn't massive, and scaffolders should be used to working with soft ground.

gcoopermax

Thanks folks, I have an update on this. The builder is happy to keep the boundary where it is and is going to amend the boundary of the new house being built to "as-is" position. I raised a concern that since our deed doesn't include the additional land included within our garden, there may be an issue while selling the house, and the builder mentioned that our deed can also be adjusted to expand the garden. 

We have agreed to let them raise scaffolding on our garden for 4-6 weeks, and after that as a goodwill gesture, they will put French drains all through the garden (as we have water logging problem currently which has been raised with builder last year), will redo the turf and also put a drain on a location of patio where the water accumulates. 

Sounds like a good deal!

kipperman

Make sure you get all that in writing!

ThisIsWeird

user1977 said:

FreeBear said:

user1977 said:

Have you checked whether you actually own this "extra" metre of garden? If not then the developer is probably entitled to shift the fence to where it was meant to be...(and if that doesn't happen and you don't otherwise acquire title to that strip, you've then got a future legal headache)

As for the OP, I'd accept scaffolding (it won't be up too long) as long as damage is made good, and the fence remains where it is.

But how much good will it do the OP for the fence to remain where it is, if they don't own the metre of land in front of it?

Hopefully they will ultimately own it, and it's enough space to plant a couple of Portuguese Laurels or summat.

user1977

gcoopermax said:

the builder mentioned that our deed can also be adjusted to expand the garden. 

Well, yes, we know that. But will they do it, and pay your costs for getting it done?

Because in the meantime it sounds like you're agreeing to them having scaffolding in the bit of your garden which is actually still their garden, not yours...

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: Hopefully they will ultimately own it, and it's enough space to plant a couple of Portuguese Laurels or summat.

No. Please do not plant laurels - They are a real thug of a tree, and darned difficult to get rid of. If you cut them down to ground level, they'll throw up suckers all over the place. Same goes for bamboo or leylandii. Pyracantha is another that should only ever be planted with caution (also suckers from roots).

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: Hopefully they will ultimately own it, and it's enough space to plant a couple of Portuguese Laurels or summat.

No. Please do not plant laurels - They are a real thug of a tree, and darned difficult to get rid of. If you cut them down to ground level, they'll throw up suckers all over the place. Same goes for bamboo or leylandii. Pyracantha is another that should only ever be planted with caution (also suckers from roots).

Oh no! I've just planted three of them

Thug ma botty.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: Hopefully they will ultimately own it, and it's enough space to plant a couple of Portuguese Laurels or summat.

No. Please do not plant laurels - They are a real thug of a tree, and darned difficult to get rid of. If you cut them down to ground level, they'll throw up suckers all over the place. Same goes for bamboo or leylandii. Pyracantha is another that should only ever be planted with caution (also suckers from roots).

Oh no! I've just planted three of them

Thug ma botty.

Portuguese Laurel can grow at 300-600mm per year (depending on conditions) and can reach a height of 7.5m. Keeping it trimmed to a reasonable height (I'd suggest no higher than ground level ) will occupy a lot of your time.

If you want a slow growing evergreen hedge, Myrtle is good - Has scented leaves & flowers and won't swamp a garden.