Boundary Fence Definition?
Discussion
Long story short:
A while ago I came home to find my neighbour had come onto my land and felled several shrubs/trees, he said were blocking light form his garden. Some of the stumps were more than a metre from the boundary. The boundary is a well maintained solid fence, my land being higher than his accross the boundary. The felled branches were left where they had fallen. I immediately had words with him, and provided him with documentation outlining the many and varied reasons what he did was very, very wrong (the stuff about overhanging branches etc) and have had no further issue (to date).
My 'cosmetic' boundary, edging the lawn, is a line of Lilandi about 2m from the fence. Between this and the fence are said trees & shrubs, I don't bother to maintain it much.
It appears that the law is not really much use, becasue what he did isn't damage to property (trees) and trespass isn't a big deal apparently. I could have taken him to court for loss of privacy and possibly fly tipping, but with no guarantee of any action being taken against him (unless anyone knows differently?).
Anyway - I mused that a 12' concrete fence (I wouldn't see it so no issue there) would put a permanent end to this, but 6' feet is the limit...for a boundary fence. Since I have the 2m buffer zone between my Lilandi and the fence, my question is: How far from a boundary line does the 6' limit apply? Presumably I could erect a 12' fence along the middle of my lawn if I wanted? So how close is too close?
Ta.
A while ago I came home to find my neighbour had come onto my land and felled several shrubs/trees, he said were blocking light form his garden. Some of the stumps were more than a metre from the boundary. The boundary is a well maintained solid fence, my land being higher than his accross the boundary. The felled branches were left where they had fallen. I immediately had words with him, and provided him with documentation outlining the many and varied reasons what he did was very, very wrong (the stuff about overhanging branches etc) and have had no further issue (to date).
My 'cosmetic' boundary, edging the lawn, is a line of Lilandi about 2m from the fence. Between this and the fence are said trees & shrubs, I don't bother to maintain it much.
It appears that the law is not really much use, becasue what he did isn't damage to property (trees) and trespass isn't a big deal apparently. I could have taken him to court for loss of privacy and possibly fly tipping, but with no guarantee of any action being taken against him (unless anyone knows differently?).
Anyway - I mused that a 12' concrete fence (I wouldn't see it so no issue there) would put a permanent end to this, but 6' feet is the limit...for a boundary fence. Since I have the 2m buffer zone between my Lilandi and the fence, my question is: How far from a boundary line does the 6' limit apply? Presumably I could erect a 12' fence along the middle of my lawn if I wanted? So how close is too close?
Ta.
Spare tyre said:
No matter who is in the right or wrong, avoid legal action at all costs, disputes ultimately only have one winner, that's the solicitor
I consulted my solicitor, who was ready to take proceedings against him for various reasons. I opted not to, and to simply go around there and talk to him (which is exactly what he should have done before doing what he did). foxsasha said:
Was he contrite when you had a word? If so why do you feel he might do something similar in the future?
No apology, he thought he could remove the entire tree, not just the overhanging branches. He also thought he had a "right to light", which is also incorrect. I printed the guidance from gov.uk on boundaries, which outlined what you can and can't do, but he still didn't seem to understand.Difficult to tell whether he'd do it again or not tbh, but if he does it'll no doubt end in court.
Mr GrimNasty said:
What he did was criminal damage and you should have involved the police, they will probably be reluctant to get involved but you should press, at very least a visit from the neighbourhood PCSO and a warning.
In fact you should probably still report it, so there's a record if he does it again.
He knows exactly what he did and that it was not acceptable, don't fall for that nonsense.
And yes you sound like you are in danger of losing the plot and becoming the problem too - long deep breath and stop thinking about Berlin walls!
It's not criminal damage, it's not a Police matter. If it was, things would be considerably easier.In fact you should probably still report it, so there's a record if he does it again.
He knows exactly what he did and that it was not acceptable, don't fall for that nonsense.
And yes you sound like you are in danger of losing the plot and becoming the problem too - long deep breath and stop thinking about Berlin walls!
Mr GrimNasty said:
dr_gn said:
Mr GrimNasty said:
What he did was criminal damage and you should have involved the police, they will probably be reluctant to get involved but you should press, at very least a visit from the neighbourhood PCSO and a warning.
In fact you should probably still report it, so there's a record if he does it again.
He knows exactly what he did and that it was not acceptable, don't fall for that nonsense.
And yes you sound like you are in danger of losing the plot and becoming the problem too - long deep breath and stop thinking about Berlin walls!
It's not criminal damage, it's not a Police matter. If it was, things would be considerably easier.In fact you should probably still report it, so there's a record if he does it again.
He knows exactly what he did and that it was not acceptable, don't fall for that nonsense.
And yes you sound like you are in danger of losing the plot and becoming the problem too - long deep breath and stop thinking about Berlin walls!
fido said:
dr_gn said:
It's not criminal damage, it's not a Police matter. If it was, things would be considerably easier.
Cutting down the tree is criminal damage. The trespass bit is a civil offence.That's about it. Have I really been given duff info by both the police and a solicitor who specialises in disputes such as this? It's a pretty simple scenario, I've not missed any show-stopping information I don't think.
fido said:
dr_gn said:
I called the police for advice ..
Okay, I see where you went wrong .. I would have demanded they come round - criminal damage to my property etc.kinabalu said:
I'm interested in this as well, the OP original question, can anyone answer it, how far in can he build what he wants?
I've just built a fence on a sloping boundary, 10 foot 4 x 4 sunk 3 ft into the ground so on my side it's 7ft high, the other more like 9, try getting over that!!
I placed it 6 inches inside the boundary.
I think there is a requirement for planning permission for a structure - such as a platform - over 1m in height, anywhere in a garden. So for a treehouse for example, you need planning permission, but for a conifer, presumably you don't?I've just built a fence on a sloping boundary, 10 foot 4 x 4 sunk 3 ft into the ground so on my side it's 7ft high, the other more like 9, try getting over that!!
I placed it 6 inches inside the boundary.
thelawnet1 said:
why do you have a leylandii hedge in the middle of your garden, rather than on the edge?
did he ever mention that you have a nasty leylandii in your garden, and could you trim the evil thing?
if your hedge was above 2m tall and you refused to cut it down, what he did was fair enough tbh.
It's not in the middle of my garden - it's about 2m from the boundary, and it's on the periphery of my lawn, which is on a kind of plateau. My land slopes down to the fence. The garden is huge, so 2m is irrelevant to me, and it formed a nice barrier between my neighbours and us. The lilandi is my choice - I value my privacy; if I decide I don't want to see any of his house (including the roof) I will let it grow 20 ft high if I wish. I'll also build an unsightly concrete wall on the boundary to the legal limit of height so he can sit and look at that too (I won't see it). If he has a problem, it's entirely his fault.did he ever mention that you have a nasty leylandii in your garden, and could you trim the evil thing?
if your hedge was above 2m tall and you refused to cut it down, what he did was fair enough tbh.
If I can build a 12 foot wall within the 2 m slope, I'll do that instead, hence the original question (which I'm still not clear on the answer to).
megaphone said:
I'd love to her the neighbour's side of the story on this one.
I understand that.As far as I'm aware (what he told me himself), the story is the trees were - in his opinion - causing his shrubs/whatever to die, so he simply cut mine down. No issue previously, no contact, nothing.
I went round and explained his rights, and said in future, please come round or call, let me know of any issues and I'll sort them - exactly as I assumed he'd do.
I also went round to the other neighbours and made sure they were all happy with the boundaries and trees etc. I offered to pay half the cost of removing any excessive overhanging foliage (even though it's not my responsibility to pay) AND if they wanted to trim them themselves, offered to burn the trimmings/branches on a bonfire on my land to save disposal costs for them. Offered to help them cut the branches it if necessary.
Everyone I've spoken to whos'e familiar with the land (including my solicitor) says I've done everything right, and my neighbour is completely in the wrong and totally out of order. Personally, I think he is extremely lucky that I decided to deal with it in the way I did.
At the end of the day, this isn't about trees, privacy or fences, it's about manners and respect: Ask yourself, would you go onto your neighbours land one day while they were out, and cut their trees down?
Borroxs said:
dr_gn said:
I understand that.
As far as I'm aware (what he told me himself), the story is the trees were - in his opinion - causing his shrubs/whatever to die, so he simply cut mine down. No issue previously, no contact, nothing.
I went round and explained his rights, and said in future, please come round or call, let me know of any issues and I'll sort them - exactly as I assumed he'd do.
I also went round to the other neighbours and made sure they were all happy with the boundaries and trees etc. I offered to pay half the cost of removing any excessive overhanging foliage (even though it's not my responsibility to pay) AND if they wanted to trim them themselves, offered to burn the trimmings/branches on a bonfire on my land to save disposal costs for them.
Everyone I've spoken to whos'e familiar with the land (including my solicitor) says I've done everything right, and my neighbour is completely in the wrong and totally out of order. Personally, I think he is extremely lucky that I decided to deal with it in the way I did.
At the end of the day, this isn't about trees, privacy or fences, it's about manners and respect: Ask yourself, would you go onto your neighbours land one day while they were out, and cut their trees down?
I think he is lucky that you've acted this way, reasonably, if not necessarily in accordance with all your legal rights.As far as I'm aware (what he told me himself), the story is the trees were - in his opinion - causing his shrubs/whatever to die, so he simply cut mine down. No issue previously, no contact, nothing.
I went round and explained his rights, and said in future, please come round or call, let me know of any issues and I'll sort them - exactly as I assumed he'd do.
I also went round to the other neighbours and made sure they were all happy with the boundaries and trees etc. I offered to pay half the cost of removing any excessive overhanging foliage (even though it's not my responsibility to pay) AND if they wanted to trim them themselves, offered to burn the trimmings/branches on a bonfire on my land to save disposal costs for them.
Everyone I've spoken to whos'e familiar with the land (including my solicitor) says I've done everything right, and my neighbour is completely in the wrong and totally out of order. Personally, I think he is extremely lucky that I decided to deal with it in the way I did.
At the end of the day, this isn't about trees, privacy or fences, it's about manners and respect: Ask yourself, would you go onto your neighbours land one day while they were out, and cut their trees down?
It's far better to defuse this issue if the trees themselves were of little importance to you.
He sounds like a right c*** and sometimes it's better not to escalate a pointless situation.
Once disputes start they escalate. Especially petty ones.
If your leylandi are growing too big, get them trimmed. Good neighbourliness is a two way thing. Be proactive.
I'm not saying 'be pushed around', I think you've done enough to show you know your rights and are willing to take this further is necessary.
I want to know my rights regarding fences, becasue I don't believe he fully understands his rights, even now, and it could happen again. Rather than escalate it, I'd like to do the minimum to keep my privacy. I will keep the lilandi to a reasonable height, and when they form a suitable screen, I may well remove any remaining shrubs etc completely from the 'buffer zone', so he has no further reason to do anything. as I said, it's not the trees themselves I'm particularly bothered about, it's loss of privacy, but mainly the arrogance of the bloke.
TA14 said:
thelawnet1 said:
dr_gn said:
It's not in the middle of my garden - it's about 2m from the boundary, and it's on the periphery of my lawn, which is on a kind of plateau. My land slopes down to the fence. The garden is huge, so 2m is irrelevant to me, and it formed a nice barrier between my neighbours and us. The lilandi is my choice - I value my privacy; if I decide I don't want to see any of his house (including the roof) I will let it grow 20 ft high if I wish.
Nopehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hedge-h...
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