Neighbour is taking down MY fence!

lynnemcf

My neighbour has planning permission for an extension. I objected to his extension and stated that under no circumstances could he take down the fence. As I left for work this morning, he handed me a builders business card and said his builder is starting work today, and will be taking down the fence. Does anyone have any advice? I've phoned the number on the builders card loads of times and it just goes to answerphone.

PasturesNew

If it is your fence, legally and in your deeds, then he can't touch it.

Was it mentioned in the planning permission?

What is showing in the plans/permission for the fence?

WTF?_2

lynnemcf wrote: »

My neighbour has planning permission for an extension. I objected to his extension and stated that under no circumstances could he take down the fence. As I left for work this morning, he handed me a builders business card and said his builder is starting work today, and will be taking down the fence. Does anyone have any advice? I've phoned the number on the builders card loads of times and it just goes to answerphone.

He has absolutely no right to do this. The builder will be trespassing on your property and likely causing criminal damage to your fence. You should get in touch with your neighbour ASAP or the builder and inform them you will be calling the police if they trespass onto your land and interfere with your property.

divadee

jackdoor wrote: »

They probably need to take it down for access and plan to reinstate it when finished. Why are you being so objectionable?

i have refused a neighbour this for the very same reason. Its not being objectionable it my fence and my land and i dont want them touching it.

Its there problem if they cant build an extension without moving the fence not mine!! They should of thought about it properly when drawing up the plans.

I hate to say it lynne, but with you being out today at work, then it will probably be all down by the time you get back, but i would still kick off big time with the neighbour and demand it get put back up asap or get a solicitor involved.

vetfred

It's difficult for anyone to say if he can or can't do this as we can't see your deeds and if the fence is actually on your land as you seem to be saying by calling it your fence. I would suggest that it's unlikely for planning permission to be granted to someone if it means their extension would encroach onto your land.

Perhaps you should call the local planning department to voice your concerns and also check out your deeds - you may be talking about a boundary fence which just runs down the middle of two properties so you have to find out if that fence is even in the right place first of all. The deeds may confirm that the fence is actually on his land and has been positioned incorrectly so what you believe to be your land isn't legally your land.

If it's in the right place, is it possible the planning may have rejected your concerns about the fence and allowed him to remove the fence to build to the boundary with or without some sort of provision for re-instatement after the build?

Debt_Free_Chick

Care needed here.

If a fence marks a boundary, then one party might be obliged to install and maintain a fence. However, it would not be true to state that the other party has no rights .... if it's on the boundary, then the fence is simply a marker of where the two landowners' rights meet. It could be said that the boundary itself is jointly owned.

It all rather depends on the facts - and we're a little short of them here to be able to jump to any conclusions.

SquatNow

Probably worth taking a day off work to find out who the fence belong to. Also, if the builder needs to enter your land in order to construct the extension, this can only be done with your permission.

If someone has forced their way into your property by taking down the dividing fence, I would call the police and have them removed.

IIRC, Trespass is a civil matter, but if you ask someone to leave and they refuse or if you ask them to leave and they do but then they repeatedly return, then it's AGRAVATED and they will be arrested on the spot.

mrstinchcombe

SquatNow wrote: »

If someone has forced their way into your property by taking down the dividing fence, I would call the police and have them removed.

IIRC, Trespass is a civil matter, but if you ask someone to leave and they refuse or if you ask them to leave and they do but then they repeatedly return, then it's AGRAVATED and they will be arrested on the spot.

Not a Police matter at all and they certainly wouldn't be arrested unless they actually commited a crime or there is a danger of a breach of the peace.

Aggravated tresspass was brought in to address the problem of hunt saboteurs or protesters and would not apply to this scenario.

shelovestobuystuff

If the fence needs removed for the work to be carried out,e.g so that they can get equipment onto the site or something like that, then they absolutely need your permission.If you dont give permission they will have to get a court to grant them permission to access their property via your land.It probably will be granted if there is no other means of access but could take months.If you want to be awkward about it you can be,and if I had objected to the planning application in the first place as you did I would be awkward about it too.
Yes contact the police.I bloomin would.Think of the mess they are going to make of your garden for one.I wouldnt be having it.

PasturesNew

Not to mention the 6 rottweilers you are looking after from tonight onwards....

... any dog pounds on the way home?

WTF?_2

mrstinchcombe wrote: »

Not a Police matter at all and they certainly wouldn't be arrested unless they actually commited a crime or there is a danger of a breach of the peace.

Aggravated tresspass was brought in to address the problem of hunt saboteurs or protesters and would not apply to this scenario.

Don't fool yourself into thinking a law the was introduced in order to deal with a certain high profile problem is going to be only applied to that problem. If the police decide to take an interest, they'll use any laws applicable. Having said that, good luck to the OP in getting the police interested in a trespass.

However, criminal damage is a different matter. If the builder interferes with the fence without the owner's permission, there is a case to be made for criminal damage to the fence.