Moving a neighbours fence
Discussion
What's the legal standpoint on moving a fence that your neighbour has erected on your land?
Long story is, we returned from holiday last Sunday morning to find that our new neighbours (we moved in Feb/March, they moved in April) have cut all the trees and shrubs down between our driveway and their path and erected a fence.
Not particularly bothered about the trees going as such, but what I am bothered about is how far over they've put the fence up on our land.
Previously we had an old coal bunker at the side of the garage and in front of that is where we put our two wheelie bins. So we had around 4ft or more from the front corner of the garage to the hedge/tree line. Now we can't even squeeze one bin between the garage and fence.
We spoke to the neighbours on Monday evening and told them we weren't happy as it's not in the right place, stumps have been left on our side (bit of a poor show I thought) and asked them what they intend to do about it.
Much mumbling about it being better than it was, they paid good money for it, not sure why the fencing people have done it like that, follows what their deeds shows etc.
Ended up in a bit of a stalemate, so I popped round with a copy of our deeds to show them the boundary line actually curves away from our property and into theirs, so they've got the curvature wrong. This was followed by the husband stating "oh, I know about that" and shutting the door on us!
From looking at their house head on it's easy to see why they've done it, they can now get a car down the side of their house and we overhead them saying to a friend they want to put a garage there.
Doesn't look like they're really willing to resolve it amicably as it'll scupper their extension plans.
Am i well within my rights, legally, to remove said fence from my land? Obviously without damaging it! Or is it a case of gather as much evidence as possible and legal/via solicitors?
The panels will slide out and I'm sure my father in law will have some kind of machinery to lift the concrete posts out.
ETA - the neighbours land registry title/deeds also show the same curvature of the boundary towards them as ours do.
Long story is, we returned from holiday last Sunday morning to find that our new neighbours (we moved in Feb/March, they moved in April) have cut all the trees and shrubs down between our driveway and their path and erected a fence.
Not particularly bothered about the trees going as such, but what I am bothered about is how far over they've put the fence up on our land.
Previously we had an old coal bunker at the side of the garage and in front of that is where we put our two wheelie bins. So we had around 4ft or more from the front corner of the garage to the hedge/tree line. Now we can't even squeeze one bin between the garage and fence.
We spoke to the neighbours on Monday evening and told them we weren't happy as it's not in the right place, stumps have been left on our side (bit of a poor show I thought) and asked them what they intend to do about it.
Much mumbling about it being better than it was, they paid good money for it, not sure why the fencing people have done it like that, follows what their deeds shows etc.
Ended up in a bit of a stalemate, so I popped round with a copy of our deeds to show them the boundary line actually curves away from our property and into theirs, so they've got the curvature wrong. This was followed by the husband stating "oh, I know about that" and shutting the door on us!
From looking at their house head on it's easy to see why they've done it, they can now get a car down the side of their house and we overhead them saying to a friend they want to put a garage there.
Doesn't look like they're really willing to resolve it amicably as it'll scupper their extension plans.
Am i well within my rights, legally, to remove said fence from my land? Obviously without damaging it! Or is it a case of gather as much evidence as possible and legal/via solicitors?
The panels will slide out and I'm sure my father in law will have some kind of machinery to lift the concrete posts out.
ETA - the neighbours land registry title/deeds also show the same curvature of the boundary towards them as ours do.
Edited by DanSkoda on Wednesday 13th June 10:11
Hopefully a picture will help?
The red outline is the neighbours, don't have a digital copy of ours, but our property is the one on the left.
What they've done is from the bottom left of the boundary line, gone in a straight line to the rear. Effectively cutting us off from the curved area. It's a good 50ft long run too. If it was a few inches here or there I wouldn't be so fussed, but it's a fair few feet out.
Photo from the roadside shows how they've actually stepped it off their back fence and bent it into our garden.
The red outline is the neighbours, don't have a digital copy of ours, but our property is the one on the left.
What they've done is from the bottom left of the boundary line, gone in a straight line to the rear. Effectively cutting us off from the curved area. It's a good 50ft long run too. If it was a few inches here or there I wouldn't be so fussed, but it's a fair few feet out.
Edited by DanSkoda on Wednesday 13th June 14:14
Photo from the roadside shows how they've actually stepped it off their back fence and bent it into our garden.
Edited by DanSkoda on Wednesday 13th June 14:20
Some further images for you all.
And old Google street view from a long time ago, but shows how close the trees/hedges were to their path.
And then the overhead view where again the curvature can be seen, albeit not too clearly.
In my mind, once they are presented with such images I don't see how they can do anything but sort it. Looks like we need to document everything and go via solicitors.
Regarding the while we were on holiday coincidence, could well just be good timing, but then again it is a small village so only takes one person to mention we're going away on such and such a date for it to find it's way around
And old Google street view from a long time ago, but shows how close the trees/hedges were to their path.
And then the overhead view where again the curvature can be seen, albeit not too clearly.
In my mind, once they are presented with such images I don't see how they can do anything but sort it. Looks like we need to document everything and go via solicitors.
Regarding the while we were on holiday coincidence, could well just be good timing, but then again it is a small village so only takes one person to mention we're going away on such and such a date for it to find it's way around
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
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
Well this thread has taken off massively more than I anticipated!
While the trees and hedge were nicer to look at that a fence, it's more the taking of the land (and the pee) that I'm less than impressed with.
A suitable compromise for us would be them putting the fence into the correct location and not being a set of weapons grade bellends. The latter may be harder to achieve!
The initial boundary assessment/measurement is circa £140.
We'll also have a word with a solicitor to get their take on it and be as informed as possible.
Hopefully beating them round the head with all the evidence of them being in the wrong and being firm with them will kerb their attempts to try and pull any other underhanded stunts.
While the trees and hedge were nicer to look at that a fence, it's more the taking of the land (and the pee) that I'm less than impressed with.
A suitable compromise for us would be them putting the fence into the correct location and not being a set of weapons grade bellends. The latter may be harder to achieve!
The initial boundary assessment/measurement is circa £140.
We'll also have a word with a solicitor to get their take on it and be as informed as possible.
Hopefully beating them round the head with all the evidence of them being in the wrong and being firm with them will kerb their attempts to try and pull any other underhanded stunts.
The photo looking down the drive at the fence is taken from the public footpath. There's a gap of 3ft or more to the first post where they've left one of the stumps in place.
If you can see the little piece of fence sticking out heading left into our garden, the rear part of their fence is directly behind that. It's arrow straight at the rear, hence why it doesn't show on the photo.
Looking through our previous deeds, our boundary has changed in the area in question.
A little bit of history here, ours has been here from around 1870, give or take. Theirs has been around since very late 1970's, early 1980's.
Previously our deeds show the boundary curved in towards us, well, the one we have from 1960 shows this. The other deeds we have (2 sets from dates that escape me now) show it curving outwards as per the neighbours deeds.
It appears when the land was sold up by the fella who owned all the land surrounding our and adjoining neighbour (we're the right side of a semi), our deeds changed to show the curve outwards. It was all just fields surrounding our house, literally the only one, well 2 including the adjoining neighbour, on the entire street.
To me, it looks like when he divided up the land, he adjusted our boundary to include the trees/hedge that would have seperated the garden from the field.
In other news, the neighbours go away next week apparently. Where's them sausages at?
If you can see the little piece of fence sticking out heading left into our garden, the rear part of their fence is directly behind that. It's arrow straight at the rear, hence why it doesn't show on the photo.
Looking through our previous deeds, our boundary has changed in the area in question.
A little bit of history here, ours has been here from around 1870, give or take. Theirs has been around since very late 1970's, early 1980's.
Previously our deeds show the boundary curved in towards us, well, the one we have from 1960 shows this. The other deeds we have (2 sets from dates that escape me now) show it curving outwards as per the neighbours deeds.
It appears when the land was sold up by the fella who owned all the land surrounding our and adjoining neighbour (we're the right side of a semi), our deeds changed to show the curve outwards. It was all just fields surrounding our house, literally the only one, well 2 including the adjoining neighbour, on the entire street.
To me, it looks like when he divided up the land, he adjusted our boundary to include the trees/hedge that would have seperated the garden from the field.
In other news, the neighbours go away next week apparently. Where's them sausages at?
We're pretty certain the rear garden fence of theirs is in the correct place.
The local landlord mentioned it in passing today that our new neighbours are on holiday next week. What with them being semi or possibly fully retired I hazard a guess that he doesn't mean they'll be off work couped up in the house.
I'm thinking having a chat with the other neighbours or even the parish council could yield the details of the company who carried out the work. Not that I'd go after them, just get so more info on what they were told to do etc.
The local landlord mentioned it in passing today that our new neighbours are on holiday next week. What with them being semi or possibly fully retired I hazard a guess that he doesn't mean they'll be off work couped up in the house.
I'm thinking having a chat with the other neighbours or even the parish council could yield the details of the company who carried out the work. Not that I'd go after them, just get so more info on what they were told to do etc.
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?
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?
We were away this weekend so only just had chance to try and talk to the neighbours.
Try being the operative word!
The husband got rather shirty with the facts presented to him and his wife is a bit more tenacious than we first thought. They're currently out there measuring up, maybe it'll dawn on them that it means they won't be able to get a car down the side of their house after all.
All in all, the letter from our solicitors will be winging its way to them tomorrow.
Me, the FIL and BIL are all ready to rip the fence out but our "better" halves keep telling us no. Spoil sports.
ETA my wife deals with construction issues and contractual stuff all day so I'm letting her take the lead on it as it's her bread and butter
Try being the operative word!
The husband got rather shirty with the facts presented to him and his wife is a bit more tenacious than we first thought. They're currently out there measuring up, maybe it'll dawn on them that it means they won't be able to get a car down the side of their house after all.
All in all, the letter from our solicitors will be winging its way to them tomorrow.
Me, the FIL and BIL are all ready to rip the fence out but our "better" halves keep telling us no. Spoil sports.
ETA my wife deals with construction issues and contractual stuff all day so I'm letting her take the lead on it as it's her bread and butter
Edited by DanSkoda on Monday 25th June 20:15
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