Garden boundaries

[alika123]

I understand that the left hand side fence in my garden is mine, my next to neighbour is building an extention and has taken down half of the fence without my prior knowledge. I am know left facing a brick wall. should he not have gotten my promission? In regards to the brick wall will I have to get it rendered or is it down to next door. I am also worried that they might have overstep the boundaried as the footings were on my side which have since been refilled with soil, I have tried to contact the council to no avail, how do I find out if he is within his boundaries?

[pigletste]

I had a similar problem with my neighbor. If in the US usually the county registers the deed to the house or property. Sometimes the county will offer a website where you can enter your address & a plat map of your property, with measurements, will be available for printing. Your neighbor should've asked before he acted. Best bet is to find out who or what registered the property deed & go from there. Good luck!

[Lindy Loo]

The neighbour should have asked you first out of courtesy, especially if the fence is yours. Try the council building regulations dept, they can tell you about planning permission, but depending on the size of the extention it may not have been needed. They should also be able to tell you about boundary regulations. If you own your house the boundaries should be marked on the deeds (with your morgage lender) or if it is rented, contact your landlord... If you neighbour has gone over your boundary then you may have to get legal advice, as I'm sure that this sort of thing must stay within the boundary of the property. Hope you get it sorted ok...

[Drewhound]

There isn't any set law on who the fence belongs to (such as the left hand one belongs to you). You really need to find out where your boundary is before you go further, I think you need a surveyor to check that accurately and also to provide expert evidence if they have encroached on your property. You need to be sure of your facts because litigation will be expensive, have you talked to them about it?

[stoo_pid]

You might find this link useful http://www.rics.org/Property/Propertymanagement/Boundarydete rmination/boundary_disputes.htm

[vittoria]

As far as I know, someone is allowed to extend the whole width of the property up to 3 metres into the garden. But if the extention goes more than 3 metres into the garden, they have to keep a certain distance from the boundary between themselves and their neighbour (on the side). I would try and ask the Planning Department to come and inspect the premises, acting with tact in order to avoid a confrontation with your neighbour. I recently read somewhere that local authorities have no way of knowing someone is extending in breach of planning law unless they have a tip off from nearby residents.

[Upforit]

The legal position concerning planning and boundaries is complicated and litigation can go on for years. As already stated, common courtesy should have been applied, and the neighbour should have discussed his plans with you. As far as ownership of the fences is concerned, I think you will find that the owner of the property on who's land the fence posts are is responsible for the maintenance of the fence, and this implies ownership. But again, the (UK) law is vague and counter-claims can go on for years. Each case, as it is civil and not criminal law is weighed on its merits and there is no 'guilty' or 'innocent' as such. It will be judged on a balance of probabilities. And as for maintenance (rendering) of the brick wall, it belongs to your neighbour and is his responsibility. You have no liability for maintenance.I understand that UK law is vague on this point, too and basically says that to maintain the wall, the owner must get permission to come onto your property to conduct maintenance, but also has right of access to maintain his property!! Get out of that one!