Moving a neighbours fence

[7795]

Nimby said:

Build your own fence on the boundary and annexe theirs.

That would be two offensive...;)

[V8RX7]

I have mentioned before that my father had similar on land he bought to develop.

After asking them to move their fences and offering to sell them the land, to no avail.

We went early sunday morning (Dad, me and a mate) and ripped out the fences and piled them up on their land.

We never heard from any of them.

That fence could be ripped out in 15 mins.

[CharlieH89]

V8RX7 said:

I have mentioned before that my father had similar on land he bought to develop.

After asking them to move their fences and offering to sell them the land, to no avail.

We went early sunday morning (Dad, me and a mate) and ripped out the fences and piled them up on their land.

We never heard from any of them.

That fence could be ripped out in 15 mins.

This would what I would do.
No wasting money on legal representation.
If they have done something they shouldn’t have done and it can be proven then return it to how it was.

A drug dealer wouldn’t go to the police if someone had robbed him

[johnoz]

JQ said:

DanSkoda said:

The latest update is the better half is keeping me on a short leash as my ideas apparently aren't sensible or the best way to go about it

In other news, we've sent them a letter basically stating before any remedial work is undertaken we need to get together, go over everything and agree where the fence should be located. In the bin isn't a sensible suggestion apparently!
I imagine they'd just move some panels out slightly to give us the bin space back and overlook the rest of it given half a chance.

We're having a boundary assessment done by a suitable qualified person this weekend. So they will be able to draw something up a bit more professionally and might have access to more data than us such as aerial photographs maybe?

Had a text from a member of the parish council this evening expressing their disbelief as to how brazen the neighbours been with the positioning of it. And that was just from them driving past it today!
Shame the parish council doesn't have much power to make them behave themselves though.

Father in law who knows a little bit about this land business and boundaries is back from holiday soon so he might be able to chip in with some input too. If not, he has enough machinery kicking about to correctly locate said fence

Edited by DanSkoda on Wednesday 13th June 23:46

Edited by DanSkoda on Wednesday 13th June 23:47

I should have said earlier, if you need accurate Ordnance Survey plans of your boundary feel free to drop me a PM, happy to help out a ph'er.

OP did you note the above comment!

[DonkeyApple]

CharlieH89 said:

This would what I would do.
No wasting money on legal representation.
If they have done something they shouldn’t have done and it can be proven then return it to how it was.

A drug dealer wouldn’t go to the police if someone had robbed him

But the mere act of opening up a thread on PH about this clearly precludes the OP from being such a person. Ergo, we can assume a more staid solution/approach than getting all ‘Big Vern’.

[Sa Calobra]

V8RX7 said:

I have mentioned before that my father had similar on land he bought to develop.

After asking them to move their fences and offering to sell them the land, to no avail.

We went early sunday morning (Dad, me and a mate) and ripped out the fences and piled them up on their land.

We never heard from any of them.

That fence could be ripped out in 15 mins.

This is what I said to do earlier. When a neighbours vine hedge thing was growing over my shed. I didn't dispose of it for him. Just put the lot back in his land. No show of weakness.

OP the longer you leave it the more he'll become entrenched in his idea that it's his.

[robinessex]

WinstonWolf said:

We need a photoshop expert to superimpose the land registry plan over a satellite view of the property.

I'd never trust a land registry boundary entry as correct unless I had cast iron proof it's correct. Often quite wrong I've found.

https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/27/draw...

[s55shh]

old boss had boundary/footpath dispute with Manchester City Council and the Ramblers Association a few years ago. His costs exceeded £250K and he didn't get all of it back even though he won.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/great...

[V8RX7]

s55shh said:

old boss had boundary/footpath dispute with Manchester City Council and the Ramblers Association a few years ago. His costs exceeded £250K and he didn't get all of it back even though he won.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/great...

My father always said

"When you go to Court the only real winners are the Solicitors"





(My sister became solicitor)

[jimboS6]

As long as your land is registered with H M Land Registry they cannot claim it under the 10 year rule. A Registered Title will take precedence over a deed in most cases.
If the trees were yours then they have potentially committed criminal damage. (It is a civil matter so the Police won't get involved) Legally you can only remove overhanging branches on your side of the boundary and return them to the owners property without causing damage.
If you live in a conservation area, permission from the Planning Dept is required to remove mature trees. Also check if the trees had TPO's (Tree Protection Orders) as this can incur subtantial fines.
If you decide to remove the fence from your land it would be wise to send your neighbour a recorded letter from a Solicitor giving them advanced warning your intentions with a specified time in which they can move the fence. I think there is a statutory limit of time. Your legal advisor will know.
Do not wait for them to apply for Planning permission for the garage as in most cases it is not required as it comes under Permitted Development Rights.
Boundary disputes are a nightmare, but as a previous post said the boundary would come up in a survey should either of you sell your house.
Good luck.

[ghost83]

I would knock on the door one more time and ask for them to make it right if they slam the door in your face again then definitely legal advice!

I had a dispute with a neighbour over about 6 inch’s over a 20ft length and told them if he did t sort it I would (in a polite manner) he sorted it within 48hrs!

[Digger]

I thought they were away this week!!? OP?

[DanSkoda]

Neighbours went away on Friday I believe.

The guy who did the fencing turned up to collect his money yesterday and was less than impressed with them clearing off on holiday and not clearing their debt with him. He had a good chuckle about the location and said the husband was adamant he'd ok'd the location of the fence with us.

Fencing guy said the neighbour asked for the fence to be 3 metres from the corner of his house as he's planning on having a driveway and garage down the side of their house.
The actual distance from the front left corner of their house to the boundary should be 1.9metres.

Anyhow, boundary assessment has been done, so an independent person has agreed that it's in the wrong place and given us a good estimation of where it should be. Hopefully on the neighbours return from holiday an impartial, expert opinion will give them the hint we aren't settling for what they've done.

The plan is to give them a certain time frame to get it sorted, otherwise we'll sort it and claim via small claims.
28 days sound reasonable? Also, should the demand of sorting within a timeframe be in the form of a letter from our solicitor?

[DonkeyApple]

To be honest, you’re fancying about gossiping with irrelevant punters still.

The common thief next door should have had his instructions from your solicitor a week ago.

[ghost83]

Yep solicitors letter should have been there within days

[shady lee]

I'm afraid I would have the fence ripped out the second the boundary assessment was done, even more so when they are away.

"You cannot negotiate with a lion when your head is in its mouth" ..... Your neighbors don't give a st about you, so it's time to return the favour x5

[dmsims]

Surely a PH DIY SOS could have a wall built in the correct place by the neighbour is back ?

[samdale]

dmsims said:

Surely a PH DIY SOS could have a wall built in the correct place by the neighbour is back ?

Not sure, but it could probably see the fence removed and stacked neatly on the neighbours drive by lunchtime, which is what should be happening.

[mikeiow]

shady lee said:

I'm afraid I would have the fence ripped out the second the boundary assessment was done, even more so when they are away.

"You cannot negotiate with a lion when your head is in its mouth" ..... Your neighbors don't give a st about you, so it's time to return the favour x5

Yup. It feels like OP is being all sensitive about doing things right, whereas the neighbours clearly don’t give a damn: get FIL over and carefully and tidily rip it out and stack it neatly on their side with your letter.
There is clearly no “good neighbourly relations” to be maintained, so just sort it out.
If they want a conversation about putting it on the correct boundary, let them ask first.
Seriously.

[Lazermilk]

mikeiow said:

shady lee said:

I'm afraid I would have the fence ripped out the second the boundary assessment was done, even more so when they are away.

"You cannot negotiate with a lion when your head is in its mouth" ..... Your neighbors don't give a st about you, so it's time to return the favour x5

Yup. It feels like OP is being all sensitive about doing things right, whereas the neighbours clearly don’t give a damn: get FIL over and carefully and tidily rip it out and stack it neatly on their side with your letter.
There is clearly no “good neighbourly relations” to be maintained, so just sort it out.
If they want a conversation about putting it on the correct boundary, let them ask first.
Seriously.

I would seriously consider doing this, return the favour of the surprise when they return from holiday, not like they can say much since they did worse to you, although I'm sure he would!

Then bill them for the assessment and the lost plants etc