Neighbour threatening to try and complicate sale

Pendrive

Emmia said:

It would solve the issue if you just install a fence on your side of the boundary. Neighbour disputes need to be declared and are likely to put buyers off.

I appreciate this will put you "out of pocket" but the end goal must be a successful sale at a price you're happy with.

I had a very similar situation with a neighbour I had previously had no problem with and practically nothing to do with, and did precisely this. And refused to engage with the neighbour in any way from the start. I wonder how many other neighbours these days are aware of the implications of a 'dispute' and try to use the threat of one as leverage for something? Or some other reason? - mine attempted to demand things be done for him at my expense, but I think was also worried about who he might get next as neighbours. I was also lucky that previous occupants bought it who knew him better than I did. I think it's best not to engage neighbours as little as possible, really, these days. 

Sistergold

I think the best approach with neighbours is not to appear too worried. Always be reasonable and good ofcause but after that don’t be bullied into anything.

WIAWSNB

thebottomline said:

My wife and I are looking to put our house on the market soon, and have always had good neighbourly relations. The short version is we feel our neighbour is threatening (blackmailing might be too far?) us, using the threat of raising a formal complaint to the council to complicate our sale, and we're unsure what the best course of action is. Yes, that does effectively seem like what he's doing.

Info: our shared boundary is their responsibility. Others have explained what this mean in practice. Unless the deeds state in writing what form a physical boundary should take, it is effectively left for neighbours to sort out. If one simply refuses, or offers only a wire fence as this guy has, then there's very very little you can do about this, except install your own fence, ideally on your side of the boundary line.

A few years ago, shortly after we moved in, a storm took down part of our shared boundary. We didn't know who was responsible at the time, and was having some fencing fixed on another boundary, so had that done at the same time. I'm guessing, but obviously don't know, that this new fence was most likely installed on the neighbour's side of the boundary line? Ie, exactly where the old fence was? That means that you own the physcial materials, but that it's effectively trespassing on the neighbour's land - not that anyone would successfully challenge this.
A year or so later, further up the boundary the fence goes down (different panels, not the ones that were fixed).
The neighbour writes to us asking us to fix the panels. He's an arrogant, entitled soandso.

We get the deed, see it's their responsibility, and share this with them, but say we know paying for fencing is a pain so we're happy to split the cost. Very kind of you, but you are dealing with an a,e,s&s.

Neighbour refuses, saying they've thought about it and don't want proper fencing now, just want sticks in the ground and wire. Annoyingly, he's playing a game, knowing that you will most likely capitulate.

This is not great for us - both us and neighbour are dog owners, we have bedrooms on the ground floor, their garden is full of rubbish and is unsightly and we also want the privacy we had when we bought the house. In which case, if you'd simply replaced these last few panels, the situation would have stopped there - and you could have ignored any attempts at 'blackmail'.

We say this, neighbour says they'll sort it if we do some other bits (have some hedges trimmed, approve a tree to be cut down, which includes moving telephone cable). We oblige at our cost. Of course, we don't know if these requests of his were actually quite reasonable?

Over a year later, fence is still stick and wire. Neighbour now refusing to replace despite us holding up our end of the bargain. Uh-huh. Quelle surprise.

We explain we're looking to move now, and are happy to pay more than half for the fence to be made right. Again, very kind offer, and again, he's an a,e,s&s.

Neighbour refuses, but says we can do the fence at our cost and further trim some hedges that are on our side of the boundary. Do the fence, ignore everything else - unless you actually should do them?

We say we can't afford both, the hedges were trimmed last year late in the season to the lowest level the tree surgeon was comfortable with without risking the hedges drying.

We have proceeded to have some screening put up within our side of the boundary (not replacing their fence). Shame.

They have messages asking if we're having the hedges done. We've reiterated we can't afford both right now. 'Can't afford it' is not a valid excuse. If your hedges are breaching whatevers, then you are obliged to sort them.

Out of nowhere he's threatened to put a complaint into the council if we don't look at the hedges. Whatevs. If it's a valid complaint, then he's entitled to do this. If it ain't, then the council will soon put him right.

We call our tree surgeon, who reiterates his concerns. We explain the neighbour challenge, Tree Surgeon gives us the details of the department in the council to speak to to have them assess the hedges.

The council employee says they won't look at it now because its bird nesting season, so they recommend not touching the hedges. We tell neighbour this. So that's fine - the hedges are not to be touched until a later date - but then the issue will come back.

Neighbour comes back and effectively says they don't believe us, we're lying and we've never done anything about the hedges (we have evidence this is not the case) and that we wouldn't want a complaint on the record as it'll complicate our sale so we need to do something about it.

What can we do here? Is there anything we can do to be on the front foot and get ahead of any complaint? We have loads of documented correspondence and I'm confident we've always been good, and this is not a formal dispute as we've always been able to agree to things, but I feel we're being threatened to fork out money just because he knows we're looking to sell.

So I wonder is there anything we can do here or are we just bang to rights given the circumstances of us wanting to sell?

I vehemently dislike someone "gaming the system" and using that to have us be out of pocket, but I fear that may be our only option.

Thanks for any advice!

No-one likes someone gaming the system. But...

There are seemingly two issues here; one is the incomplete fence, that - in a fair world - is the neighbour's reponsibility, and the other is the hedge, which we - on this side of the screen - have no idea what the true situation is.

'Hedges' are a toxic subject for many neighbours, often rightly so. So, tell us about 'your' hedge, please? Could your neighbour have a point? Could this hedge even be what's behind his reluctance to act on the fence?

Ok, you cannot do anything about the hedge at the moment due to the nesting season, but it'll remain an 'issue' when you sell. The fence you can sort - and I strongly suggest you do; get it done, screen off the guy, and make your garden look its best. Just do it.

The hedge? Well, an honest appraisal by you - is it 'too high'? Is it causing problems? Is your neighbour justified in feeling aggrieved by it? Yes or no? If 'no', then ignore all the daft things he's threatening - the council will soon work out he's a time-waster. And, you do not have a 'dispute'.

If 'yes', then you need to consider carefully how you are going to pass this unpleasant issue on to your new owner.

If there is any question remaining over whether this hedge is 'too tall' or whatever, then you will need to declare in the TA6 that there are issues that could potentially lead to a dispute. I think you can state that there aren't any current actual 'disputes', but that there are some issues that will need resolving over hedges, once the nesting season is over. The new buyer should be informed that the neighbour will have expectations of them regarding this hedge. If they are valid, then the new owner will likely want to factor in the cost - and possibly ask that as a discount from asking price. If they are not valid claims, then the new owner will be able to tell this neighbour 'non'.

But, you cannot get away without mentioning this.

Also in the 'boundaries' section - 'who is responsible for...' - you should make clear that the side in question is the neighbour's 'responsibility', but that you replaced the fence to ensure it was of the required quality. The fence location is as before.

Trust the council to not act on any silly complaint by your neighbour, but you cannot sell your house without informing the buyer that there are 'issues'. Hopefully the new buyer will simply cut these hedges down to a height that cannot possibly cause any complaint, and then they can tell the neighbour the score.

Albermarle

Pendrive said:

Emmia said:

It would solve the issue if you just install a fence on your side of the boundary. Neighbour disputes need to be declared and are likely to put buyers off.

I appreciate this will put you "out of pocket" but the end goal must be a successful sale at a price you're happy with.

I had a very similar situation with a neighbour I had previously had no problem with and practically nothing to do with, and did precisely this. And refused to engage with the neighbour in any way from the start. I wonder how many other neighbours these days are aware of the implications of a 'dispute' and try to use the threat of one as leverage for something? Or some other reason? - mine attempted to demand things be done for him at my expense, but I think was also worried about who he might get next as neighbours. I was also lucky that previous occupants bought it who knew him better than I did. I think it's best not to engage neighbours as little as possible, really, these days. 

I think that is too negative an attitude to neighbours, many of whom are quite friendly and cooperative, even Down South and even in 'these days'
By not even trying to engage with them, you might well find a potentially cooperative neighbour becoming the opposite if you are blanking them.