property and boundary question...
Discussion
My neighbour has been away for a month and whilst he has been away a team of polish builders has been in raising and levelling his garden.
Where his garden meets mine they have used the existing fence (mine) to retain the soil. So the soil is now a good 1-2 ft above the gravel board and onto the featheredge boards themselves. I'm thinking that this will put additional strain on the pence posts but also cause the fence to rot a lot quicker than it otherwise would. Can he do this ?
Also where theere currently is no fence they have put metal stakes in the ground to prop up some scafflod planks which are retaining the earth. However these stakes are in the middle of the line betweeen the existing fence posts (where I need to put the fence. Does the line of the fence normally demark some sort of 'no man's land' where either side can doe what they want ? Or should the stakes be on his side of the pence posts ? Sounds petty, but means that I can't now put up the fence between the posts without moving it over a couple of inches
Any advice gratefully received.
Where his garden meets mine they have used the existing fence (mine) to retain the soil. So the soil is now a good 1-2 ft above the gravel board and onto the featheredge boards themselves. I'm thinking that this will put additional strain on the pence posts but also cause the fence to rot a lot quicker than it otherwise would. Can he do this ?
Also where theere currently is no fence they have put metal stakes in the ground to prop up some scafflod planks which are retaining the earth. However these stakes are in the middle of the line betweeen the existing fence posts (where I need to put the fence. Does the line of the fence normally demark some sort of 'no man's land' where either side can doe what they want ? Or should the stakes be on his side of the pence posts ? Sounds petty, but means that I can't now put up the fence between the posts without moving it over a couple of inches
Any advice gratefully received.
You are certainly spot on that the fence is not designed to act like a retaining wall , it will rot .
If the neighbour has indeed increased the natural level of the land by more than 300mm then a planning application is most likely required for the works as it will increase the risk of overlooking / loss of privacy to your property .
If the neighbour has indeed increased the natural level of the land by more than 300mm then a planning application is most likely required for the works as it will increase the risk of overlooking / loss of privacy to your property .
As said, your first port of call should be your local council's planning dept.
Aside from that you are 'right' but stuck with civil proceedings/threats/solicitors letters if your neighbour is the unreasonable sort who can't just be politely chatted with. You'd be looking at negligence (fence damage - they have no right of support from your fence and the consequence of their actions is obvious) and private nuisance potentially, especially if their soil were to collapse onto your property, and more doubtful - an on-going trepass.
First thing to do is put them on notice of their liability for any damage to your fence, and ask them to remove any encroachment (keep in mind that boundaries are an imaginary line of no thickness and rarely definable to within inches or even feet, so think long and hard about creating a boundary dispute for the sake of inches as it will ruin you).
It is an established principle that when raising soil levels it is up to that person to provide adequate retaining structure entirely on their property.
Aside from that you are 'right' but stuck with civil proceedings/threats/solicitors letters if your neighbour is the unreasonable sort who can't just be politely chatted with. You'd be looking at negligence (fence damage - they have no right of support from your fence and the consequence of their actions is obvious) and private nuisance potentially, especially if their soil were to collapse onto your property, and more doubtful - an on-going trepass.
First thing to do is put them on notice of their liability for any damage to your fence, and ask them to remove any encroachment (keep in mind that boundaries are an imaginary line of no thickness and rarely definable to within inches or even feet, so think long and hard about creating a boundary dispute for the sake of inches as it will ruin you).
It is an established principle that when raising soil levels it is up to that person to provide adequate retaining structure entirely on their property.
Edited by Mr GrimNasty on Monday 6th September 12:38
Your neighbour should build a retaining structure within his property. If his actions damage your fence then I see no reason why you should pay for it.
The legal position is less clear, many titles include rights for support of adjoining land but I am not sure how this works if the neighbout has artificially raised his ground level.
The legal position is less clear, many titles include rights for support of adjoining land but I am not sure how this works if the neighbout has artificially raised his ground level.
Mr GrimNasty said:
It's not unclear at all.
Go on then, clarify the exact legal position! I deal with land and property legals daily and have done for 20 years, in my experience its not clear at all. Arguably the party wall act could come into play.But please clarify, you could save me many headaches and I will pass your clear and absolute advice to my City property lawyers so that I have no issues in the future. Thanks
blueg33 said:
Mr GrimNasty said:
It's not unclear at all.
Go on then, clarify the exact legal position! I deal with land and property legals daily and have done for 20 years, in my experience its not clear at all. Arguably the party wall act could come into play.But please clarify, you could save me many headaches and I will pass your clear and absolute advice to my City property lawyers so that I have no issues in the future. Thanks
JR said:
blueg33 said:
Mr GrimNasty said:
It's not unclear at all.
Go on then, clarify the exact legal position! I deal with land and property legals daily and have done for 20 years, in my experience its not clear at all. Arguably the party wall act could come into play.But please clarify, you could save me many headaches and I will pass your clear and absolute advice to my City property lawyers so that I have no issues in the future. Thanks
I am sure that in principle the neighbour has no right to raise the land and use the fence as retaining, but I am not sure where that is written down or demonstrated. Boundary issues are a huge problem in land legals, and I see a new issue at least once a month despite 20 odd years of land buying
ledger said:
thanks for all the advice. The neighbour is now back form holiday so I will go round and discuss. I just can't see how this is going to get resovled without falling out with the new neighbours.
Have you had your chat yet?It's a tricky one because it's easy to fall out with neighbours and that makes life very unpleasant.
It's your fence (it will have featured in the documents when you exchanged on your original purchase confirming who is responsible for which boundary), he will cause damage to it - I would have thought there's a legal remedy to that, but I'm no lawyer and hopefully it won't come to that.
When you come to repair your fence, his garden will tip into yours won't it? Your neighbour won't want that.
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