Boundary Issue

housebuyer143

If you were there first and you were told that the old owner put up the fence, then tell them that. 
It's your fence on your boundary and although they are responsible for the boundary, that doesn't exclude you being able to put up your own fence which you maintain. 
They are not allowed to take down your fence if it's on your side of the boundary.

Shadowscribe

BarelySentientAI said:

Shadowscribe said:

 BarelySentientAI said:

Shadowscribe said:

My question is that if the adjoining boundary between our house and the adjoining house is owned by the neighbour, would there not have been an inward T on our copy of the Official Copy of the Register of Title which would show that the boundary belonged to the adjoining neighbour? 

So I guess my question is, surely on our title plan there would have been an inward T showing that the boundary is owned by the adjoining property and/or if ownership of the boundary had changed we would have been notified? 

No.  There is no need for the T on your plan.

Shadowscribe said:

To put a fence up on our land would be very expensive - it's a 60 ft long garden and would need concrete posts, gravel boards and the panels and a bit resentful to do this when there is already all of these in place but neighbour wants a communal garden. 

Removing the fence doesn't mean they are suddenly allowed to wander through your garden at will.  There is still a property boundary.

The simplest way to stop people crossing your property boundary, however, is for you to put up a physical barrier.

Thanks for this, guess I'm confused as to why we were told that it was a shared boundary when in fact it seems that it is the neighbour's ownership - thought to give that advice, that would have to be no inward T on either plan? 

I think they think it will allow them to wander into our garden at will and we don't want to get into a confrontation with them but know that we do need to stand up to them. Just worried about what they will do to us if we do install a physical barrier given they want our garden to be part of theis. 

That's it.  Your plan tells you what you are responsible for.  It doesn't need to tell you what anyone else is responsible for - although sometimes they do.

The copy you've seen having Ts 'added' and signatures on the plan suggests that it has been modified later and has been submitted as an approved modification, like somehow they've gained the responsibility and had the plans changed to reflect that (but that's complete speculation on my part).

That is the likely possibility I just thought we would have been notified of the modification. Just trying to make sure I fully understand where we stand. 

Shadowscribe

housebuyer143 said:

If you were there first and you were told that the old owner put up the fence, then tell them that. 
It's your fence on your boundary and although they are responsible for the boundary, that doesn't exclude you being able to put up your own fence which you maintain. 
They are not allowed to take down your fence if it's on your side of the boundary.

This was what I thought but their argument is they own the boundary so can do what they want with the fence and the boundary itself. 

Just trying to understand where we stand and what are rights are. 

BonaDea

Is it possible to 'own' a 'boundary'?  Surely it's just a notional line marking a division of territory, not a tangible thing?  I can how someone might own the physical thing (fence, hedge) that demarcates the boundary but not how one might own the boundary itself since it's an abstraction, a concept.  

Shadowscribe

BonaDea said:

Is it possible to 'own' a 'boundary'?  Surely it's just a notional line marking a division of territory, not a tangible thing?  I can how someone might own the physical thing (fence, hedge) that demarcates the boundary but not how one might own the boundary itself since it's an abstraction, a concept.  

Sorry think I might be using the wrong terminology - just been a long a couple of days trying to figure this out and stopping the fence from being taken down and having the neighbour and their dogs coming into our garden

Myci85

If they have dogs, they have a responsibility to make sure they are not coming onto your land. I'd be asking them how they plan to do this if they take down the fence. 
And if the fence belongs to you, as you bought it with your house, they surely can't just take it down as it is your property. I'd be interested to see how they could prove the fence is on their side of the boundary as opposed to your side of the boundary, which is the only way I can see they would be allowed to remove your fence. 
As a last resort you could presumably move the fence a few inches in to your garden, but that just seems like cost and effort for no reason. 

Shadowscribe

Myci85 said:

If they have dogs, they have a responsibility to make sure they are not coming onto your land. I'd be asking them how they plan to do this if they take down the fence. 
And if the fence belongs to you, as you bought it with your house, they surely can't just take it down as it is your property. I'd be interested to see how they could prove the fence is on their side of the boundary as opposed to your side of the boundary, which is the only way I can see they would be allowed to remove your fence. 
As a last resort you could presumably move the fence a few inches in to your garden, but that just seems like cost and effort for no reason. 

As I said they want the two gardens to be shared and to become one garden which we are resisting but it is causing an unpleasant atmosphere. 

Their argument is they own the boundary  (according to their title plan) therefore  they own the fence so can take the fence out. 

housebuyer143

They can't own the boundary. They can own a fence/be responsible for it if it's on the boundary line, but they can't own anything that's on your side of the boundary. If you built a fence on your own land, it's yours. The fact that it divides the houses doesn't therefore give them power over it. 

The boundary isn't a tangible thing, it's just an invisible line that legally separates the houses.

Shadowscribe

housebuyer143 said:

They can't own the boundary. They can own a fence/be responsible for it if it's on the boundary line, but they can't own anything that's on your side of the boundary. If you built a fence on your own land, it's yours. The fact that it divides the houses doesn't therefore give them power over it. 

The boundary isn't a tangible thing, it's just an invisible line that legally separates the houses.

This is what we thought, but they say the inward T on their plan means the fence is theirs /they are responsible for it. 

I'm sorry I'm not communicating this very well; it's all very stressful. 

housebuyer143

Shadowscribe said:

housebuyer143 said:

They can't own the boundary. They can own a fence/be responsible for it if it's on the boundary line, but they can't own anything that's on your side of the boundary. If you built a fence on your own land, it's yours. The fact that it divides the houses doesn't therefore give them power over it. 

The boundary isn't a tangible thing, it's just an invisible line that legally separates the houses.

This is what we thought, but they say the inward T on their plan means the fence is theirs /they are responsible for it. 

I'm sorry I'm not communicating this very well; it's all very stressful. 

No you are communicating it well, but they can't expect to own a fence that is on your land and not theirs.
I think they are just trying to bamboozle you into having some freaky shared garden. Prove it's on your land, explain the previous owner installed it and therefore it's yours and hopefully they will back down. Also make it clear you do not consent to the shared garden and they cannot access your land.

Did they say why they are so set on this shared garden when clearly you don't have any interest in it?