Neighbours old wall and new fence - are they taking the piss?

[Ihatemyneighbourssomuch]

Attached some pictures and also namechanged just in case the neighbours recognise the pictures!

We don’t get on with our next door neighbours and we no longer speak at all (but that’s another thread).

Last week they cut down a load of their garden bushes that were overhanging our garden, which they are perfectly entitled to do, however in removing the bushes it revealed the wall underneath was badly broken. The wall belongs to them as per the house deeds.

Instead of fixing the wall they simply erected a fence on their side of the boundary so they can no longer see the broken wall, leaving us with an unsightly mess.

We could just leave it but it looks awful and makes our garden look horrible.
We could pay to have the wall fixed but I don’t see why we should pay seeing as it’s their wall!

My question is, are they legally allowed to do this and do we have any claim to insist they fix it as it is their wall and it makes our garden look horrible. Or if we get it fixed can we reclaim the cost from them through a small claims court?

They can no longer see the broken wall because of their lovely new fence, so it’s a case of out of sight out of mind for them I suppose.

Speaking to them about it is not an option - the husband has been verbally aggressive and threatening in the past and I do not feel comfortable having any sort of conversation with him. The wife is not much better.
Any advice welcome please.

Sorry @Wifeofbikerviking - what is in the title register and plan tells you about responsibility for boundary structures, not what side it is on. If the neighbours paid for the wall to be built it should be entirely on their side of the boundary or they have encroached on your land.

They put up a fence on their land infront the wall and they are allowed to do that, your not allowed to touch that wall as its not owned by you.

Whoever said they have given up piece of their land they have not the property deeds will show boundaried and the wall is still there.

You can put up your own fence on your land right next to itor screening so long as its not attached to the wall or ask permission if u can attach.

When i bought my house, the fence on the right owbed by neighbours at some point had long time ago been up with the 'nice side facing into their garden. So of they need to fix it ghey have to come onto my side to do that.

Now I've saved up money im gonna be putting up a fence on my side on my land right up against it (but not attached) to hide the ugly side of the fence.

The new owners (yr long) don't like it tough luck i say this because one of their posts broke and two panels and they didn't even have the courtesy to ask if the tradesman could come into my garden to fix it.

So I wont be showing them the courtesy when I stick my fence up and if they can't maintain it that's their problem.

I'm friendly with all my other neighbours but these one are rude, never say hello even when i do, talk loudly at 7am every morning in the garden, i know their entire life...today they were bitching about some woman they know, he mentioned what days he is working next week....like shut the f up its 7am for christ sake I don't care

What is the cable running along it? If it’s their wall, are you allowed to do that?

Plant a ton of ivy and Virginia creeper and tell it to grow quickly.

Whose cable is it that runs along your side?

In general there's no obligation for someone's fence or wall to "look nice". Unsafe is another matter of course.

The wall and fence combined do look rather high, but if you don't like your neighbours you might not care anyway.

You can conceal it with your own fence, screening, or planting.

The cable is an electricity cable running down to the brick built shed at the end of our garden. We didn’t install it - it was already there when we moved in three years ago.

Just to be clear, I’m not moaning about the new fence, I love the fact it gives us more privacy from them!
It’s just the wall looks horrible now the overhanging bushes have been chopped down.
I will double check the deeds just to be sure it isn’t ours

@NothingIsWrong Yes the end of their garden is a raised patio area and higher than ours which is grass

Id get a fence done on your side if i were you op

Unless the neighbours stole a bit of you garden, it looks like the wall is on your property in the photos based on the supports protruding into your garden and the position of the wire fence. Are your sure it is their wall?

If it protrudes onto your land, you can make them remove it. If it is dangerous, you can make them fix it. If it is ugly, you can't do anything other than put up your own fence on your land or grow plants to hide it.

A PP is correct about the cable. You can't attach it their wall without permission.

If you don't want to install a fence your side OP why not put shrubs or something to block the wall from your view?

Same question as pp but are you sure that brick wall isn't yours or at least shared? Why would they install two further fences their side of their own fence?

My advice - install your own fence so the wall becomes like the filling in a sandwich, and move your electricty cable to be attached to your fence or run it underground so you have no claim or part in that wall.

Do you know who built the wall. I've had a similar scenario. It is possible that the wire fence is the actual boundary and therefore the wall may be entirely on your land and therefore part of your garden.

In my current property the previous owners had built a small wall within the boundary of my property. They told me it was their wall and it also matched the wall on my patio. A surveyor also confirmed it was my wall. We knocked the wall down and put a fence up which is on our property. The neighbours were and are unwilling to put a fence up so it would have just been open land between us (our neighbours are vile, old couple, police have spoken to them about their behaviour but they think they're above the law - another story).
On the other side of my property (my responsibility) there is a wire fence the same as yours which runs through the hedge. I have cut the hedge back to the wire fence and we intend to put up fencing.

Again the surveyor said the wire fence denotes the boundary irrespective of what is built either side.

Could it be possible your neighbours were unpleasant to the previous owners so they built the wall on their side of the boundary. Deeds are not usually accurate in telling you exactly where the boundary is (measurements are rarely included and usually just a line is shown between properties) but they tell you which boundary fences are your responsibility.

It is feasible that should you put up a fence on 'your' side of the wall that your neighbours could then take the fence down and remove the wall giving them a slightly larger garden.
To properly resolve this you may need to get a surveyor out .

That's a lovely wall!

Looks to me as if it could be yours.

@diddl

That's a lovely wall!

Looks to me as if it could be yours.

What are you basing that on?

Build a fence on your side

"What are you basing that on?"

The chicken wire.

If the wall isn't Op's then her neighbours have a fence, chicken wire & a fence!

Well, up to them of course.

But it's easy enough to check, isn't it?

If it's hers she can take it down, if it's unsafe then neighbours can be made to take it down, so likely a win win either way?

TBH I think it's more likely that your neighbours believe that the wall is yours than that they have fenced over their own wall.

@NotDavidTennant

TBH I think it's more likely that your neighbours believe that the wall is yours than that they have fenced over their own wall.

This. Otherwise they would have removed it and not lost some of their garden.

Just ask them ‘is this your wall as it looks a bit loose and unsafe’

I think the wall is on your side, there for yours, because of the chicken wire inbetween.

Just ask them ‘is this your wall as it looks a bit loose and unsafe’
Talking to them isn’t an option unfortunately. I’m not willing to put myself in the position of being shouted at, abused, and threatened again for no good reason. Plus he is almost always high on marijuana. He is truly vile.

I will definitely look at the deeds and find out who the wall belongs to.

The deeds are unlikely to tell you whose wall it is. They simply show who has responsibility for that boundary. A previous owner of your house could have put the wall up in front of the wire boundary fence.

The only way you could tell would be by getting a surveyor to measure the land very carefully but that isn't easy unless the boundary comes right out from a building at a 90 degree angle.

Our ndn started dismantling an unsafe looking wall. Turned out he knew fine well it was our wall. Rental so technically ll wall. He nearly gave my ddog a heart attack and he didn't care.
Planning got involved as our houses are listed..
Our ll put fencing up like your ndn and have an unsightly wall. We have a lovely fence.
Speak to your local council /planning /deeds.