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I have posted previously about my parents' boundary dispute so OP can have a hunt around for my previous posts on the issue. It actually sounds very similar to yours, except my parents had lived in the house for over 20 years when the new neighbour moved in and told them the boundary was wrong. We were arguing over a 6 inch strip of land. The neighbour was utterly intransigent and would not listen to any argument we made and insisted we took him to Court. So we did, after 4 years of arguing with him.
The Court process took over 2 years and cost in excess of £18,000 in legal fees, although this was far less than it would have cost if I had not been able to do a lot of the work myself and pull in some favours. The previous poster who refers to Judges hating boundary disputes is entirely correct - we were warned repeatedly by the Judge in the preliminary hearings that this matter should be sorted out between us. It was not until the 2-day final hearing that the Judge realised that we were dealing with an entirely irrational and unreasonable person. We won the case and were awarded over £14,000 in costs.
Unfortunately, principles cost money. 6 years of immense stress and upset which cannot be overestimated, including several visits by the police (who were largely unable to help), a stone wall being stolen and then returned with the stones broken, repeated threats and trespass. A horrible time. Both my mum and the neighbour moved a few years later.
Let me know if you have any questions I may be able to help with.0 -
Thanks for the support guys, really appreciate it.
solicitor is advising me to get a survey done and then go to court. There is also an error on the title plan which show a straight line but it's not straight on the ground which actually compensates if you look at it carefully meaning the boundaries have always been accurate.0 -
I have posted previously about my parents' boundary dispute so OP can have a hunt around for my previous posts on the issue. It actually sounds very similar to yours, except my parents had lived in the house for over 20 years when the new neighbour moved in and told them the boundary was wrong. We were arguing over a 6 inch strip of land. The neighbour was utterly intransigent and would not listen to any argument we made and insisted we took him to Court. So we did, after 4 years of arguing with him.
The Court process took over 2 years and cost in excess of £18,000 in legal fees, although this was far less than it would have cost if I had not been able to do a lot of the work myself and pull in some favours. The previous poster who refers to Judges hating boundary disputes is entirely correct - we were warned repeatedly by the Judge in the preliminary hearings that this matter should be sorted out between us. It was not until the 2-day final hearing that the Judge realised that we were dealing with an entirely irrational and unreasonable person. We won the case and were awarded over £14,000 in costs.
Unfortunately, principles cost money. 6 years of immense stress and upset which cannot be overestimated, including several visits by the police (who were largely unable to help), a stone wall being stolen and then returned with the stones broken, repeated threats and trespass. A horrible time. Both my mum and the neighbour moved a few years later.
Let me know if you have any questions I may be able to help with.
This is what im afraid of, you having spent £18000 and getting £14000 back in court cost seems pretty darn unreasonable to me and makes the law system a joke.
But just for peace of mind I will be more than willing to do it.0 -
Thanks for the support guys, really appreciate it.
solicitor is advising me to get a survey done and then go to court. There is also an error on the title plan which show a straight line but it's not straight on the ground which actually compensates if you look at it carefully meaning the boundaries have always been accurate.
well he would, wouldn't he?
Be wary of this getting out of control.0 -
moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »
Re removing part of your fence the day after you moved in - I think it's pretty standard practice for nfh's to "leap in fast/leap in hard" on a new neighbour. That being in order to try and establish at the outset that they are "in charge" and new neighbour (ie yourself) should do what they want. I've been in that position myself - ie of neighbours of current house trying very soon after I moved in to "lay down the law" that things were going to be their way. It didn't work.
Good luck.
...couldn't agree more, we moved in to a house in Dec which has a nice sized front garden but also a bonus good size piece of land that runs down the left our our garages. Our neighbours to our right (due to the angle of our house are actually behind us) had all their relatives over Christmas parking on it.. stopped for a while then in spring my wife came home from work to see they had paid a gardener who was busy trimming the(our) hedge on it and my wife told him to stop as it was our land. a few weeks later they had a big party and again used it as their overflow car park. I put up a few 'private' signs that evening and she came over the next day and asked if that land was on our deeds, I said yes, in which she replied,.. "oh, well we have been maintaining it for the last few years" (our house was rented out for 4 years before us), then said, "we don't park there all the time", then said "oh,.. er, and its on our deeds as well",..
I said, hold on i have my deeds on my phone, (as i had it all online from the recent move), she panicked and said, oh don't worry about it now, just check later,...
Paid £5 and downloaded a copy of her plot from the land registry and posted her a copy along with ours,...
we were lucky as its very very obvious where the line is and not had a problem since, but yes, they really do try it on the second they see new neighbours,.. !0 -
I like that one - "posted her a copy along with ours" (ie of the Deeds).
She really shouldnt have lied should she?:rotfl: I bet you punched the air in triumph and then held up a glass of champagne inside your house waved in the direction of their house the second you had sent hers to her:rotfl:0 -
My situation was the same as yours, and the other poster.
Please please consider how much this land is worth to you. As I said before, I am now on anti depressants and having to move because of a neighbour like yours. So I have to add those costs- estate agents, stamp duty, moving costs, prescription charges- to the 2k I have paid out so far.
If we had gone to court it would have cost more, as even if costs are awarded it is never the full cost. As illustrated by the poster who was forced to go to court.
We got a survey done. It was pointless, the neighbour wouldn't accept it. You can speak to a specialist boundary surveyor for free for 30 minutes. Call the RICS and they will give you a number.
Also, don't beat yourself up about not having legal cover. We have it, but they wriggled out saying that the legal costs were not proportionate to what the dispute was over.
You probably have a case for adverse possession. But if you claim this and the neighbour disputes it you will have to go to court to resolve it anyway. The Land Registry have excellent guides.
Unless you are willing to lose at least 4k and possibly more you may have to negotiate with him.
It is SO unfair. The law really does not protect those who are unable to enforce it.
And living next door to someone you hate is never going to be good.0 -
moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »I like that one - "posted her a copy along with ours" (ie of the Deeds).
She really shouldnt have lied should she?:rotfl: I bet you punched the air in triumph and then held up a glass of champagne inside your house waved in the direction of their house the second you had sent hers to her:rotfl:
Ha yes.. if she had said, oh sorry we didn't realise then that would have been fine,.. when she said "oh, er its on ours as well" she just made herself look silly,..0 -
My situation was the same as yours, and the other poster.
Please please consider how much this land is worth to you. As I said before, I am now on anti depressants and having to move because of a neighbour like yours. So I have to add those costs- estate agents, stamp duty, moving costs, prescription charges- to the 2k I have paid out so far.
If we had gone to court it would have cost more, as even if costs are awarded it is never the full cost. As illustrated by the poster who was forced to go to court.
We got a survey done. It was pointless, the neighbour wouldn't accept it. You can speak to a specialist boundary surveyor for free for 30 minutes. Call the RICS and they will give you a number.
Also, don't beat yourself up about not having legal cover. We have it, but they wriggled out saying that the legal costs were not proportionate to what the dispute was over.
You probably have a case for adverse possession. But if you claim this and the neighbour disputes it you will have to go to court to resolve it anyway. The Land Registry have excellent guides.
Unless you are willing to lose at least 4k and possibly more you may have to negotiate with him.
It is SO unfair. The law really does not protect those who are unable to enforce it.
And living next door to someone you hate is never going to be good.
I know what you mean but I have to fight this as I don't want to wake up everyday and see his extension encroached on my and also show him that I am serious once I get the survey done and show him It will be up to him to accept or not. to be honest. I will ask him to take me to court and prove I stole his land. The fact he done it without my consent and and has made no effort to get a solicitor shows he know he is wrong but just being very difficult.
It'd sad you had to move house just cause of a stubborn neighbour
wish the law was more straight forward with these kind of cases.0
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