New house, neighbours don't want fence up....

[RaggleTaggleTick]

We have just bought our first house. The elderly man who lived there had allowed his neighbours to have full access and use of his garden for 30 years. The neighbours also had the same on the other side, so they have basically had 3 gardens.

They have built 2 large conservatories in their own garden and now have just a tiny paved area of space, they have said they don't know where they are going to put their washing line... They have asked that, even though we need to put some kind of fence up (young dc, they have small but deep pond), we only put a short trellis one up as otherwise they will have no light in their conservatories.

DH wants chest height fences, I would but am prepared to compromise, this is going to get awkward, are we BU?

Please read OddBoots link. It looks as though the neighbours may well now have the right to use your garden

Isn't it nice that 3 households have got on so well that they are happy sharing their open space for each others enjoyment. Why does this make them bad. Yes you need to check about the legalities of putting the fence up and yes you will want to do it for the kids and dog, but assuming that the dog can't jump it 4 foot with or without trellis would be fine, not block light from theirs and allow you to be sociable. Why is everyone so anti next door

Can only speak of the Scottish legal position but having looked at the link about easement would say that they cannot acquire possession of "your" garden because they were given permission to use it by the owners whereas if they had been using land that nobody knows who owns it for a prescribed period they could acquire a right. I would however check this carefully with your solicitor.

I would be quite concerned that the owners on either side of the house ring alarm bells.

pmgkt: OP is not one of the three households and has not agreed to this.

You need urgent legal advice. If they have used 'your' garden for such a long time they are likely to have rights of use of your garden. This may severely limit your use of your own garden!

It isnt a case of being anti next door but of preserving privacy. Not everybody wants to be sociable over the back fence. For many people the back garden is an extension of their home. They dont want to feel that neighbours can just amble through their home any time they like.

In fact who is to say that the current owner of the house was entirely happy about it. It is possible that the neighbours pushed their luck and got away with it.

I would also be very suspect of the solicitor, who may well be thinking of the years of juicy income that will arise from this easement. Also, have the sellers lied on the solicitors questionnaire? If so, then you can get your money back by suing them. Personally, I would run like fury from this sale!

I would ring the solicitor, find out about the rights of use - whatever it's called.
We moved into our forever house last year, and discovered after we moved in that both fences are "ours". They are both in a sorry state, being mostly wired and some slatted makeshift jobs.
Both neighbours have asked politely, not to put high fences up (and not to chop the apple trees down - why would I?)
I can see their point though. It's a street on a hill, the view over the gardens is fantastic, high fences would ruin it. BUT it's a slope, so we dont't see the neighbours from our patio, on one side there is a 5foot drop behind the fence. The other neighbours have a conservatory which is higher, and their patio is on the other side.

In your situation there is no way you can do without a fence. But I would look into the legal matters. Is it a semi? Are the neighbors in question your other semi half? I can also see a lot of other problems arising (noise, etc) because they don't like families with dogs.

Before we even got the house we met the next door neighbour who told us how delighted they were that a family was moving in. They loved the fact that we have a dog, as our house always had a dog living here apparently.
I know we were lucky (but still put soundproofing in all walls to the neighbours, so we never hear them)

Good luck with it all.

PS the old man living here before us had apparently let loads of neighbours walk down the side of the house, down the garden and out the back gate, as it!s a shortcut to the shops. We put a lock on the back gate and so far nobody has complained

Seriously, don't buy.

At best, your neighbours will make your life hell, complaining about the (normal family) noise the children are making in the garden, your dog (occasionally) barking, not liking whatever fence you put up.

At worst, your house will be worthless an unsaleable in the future.

Just a thought, what's the parking situation at the front of the houses...?

It's a Victorian terrace. They are retired so will likely spend a lot of time in their conservatories and pottering around. Bit worried that our youngest could try to scale a trellis fence . I would really just like our own private garden with standard fences....

People can be so strange when it comes to things like this, surely they must have thought it through before they built over their whole garden???

Let us know the outcome, Raggle.

People don't think. That's part of what keeps solicitors in so much business.

The fence might have already been down, or they chatted with the previous owner of your place who'd said they were happy for the gardens to be shared.

Anyway, are you already in or not? If not, pull out of sale unless the vendor can sort this, put up a 6 foot fence and have written confirmation the neighbours don't have right of access to your garden.

If you are already in and it's a bit late, get on to your solicitor, confirm then don't have access and get fences up ASAP. (I'd get the fence up anyway while you're waiting to hear from your solicitor, they might have a right to access, but might not have realised, it won't be that expensive to remove the panels if they do have access)

aaaahhhh.......

Do your neighbours have a right of way across the back of the yard straight behind what would have been the outside toilet 100 years ago?

This is common in our town, passageway between houses and right of way to the houses one over either side of the passageway.

So they want to hang their washing in your garden?
Fuck 'em. Just make sure its sorted legally and stick a 6ft fence up.

they didn't think it through, because they think they can persuade/bully anyone into agreeing to their ridiculous entitled ideas just because they have been there longer, I bet.

It's quite possible the agreement was for them to mow the lawn etc in exchange for use of the garden, and that the elderly person who lived there benefited practically and socially

access is one thing - we have lived in terraced where the neighbours had access rights for putting bins out etc, but the gardens were all still fenced, with little gates in them to keep kids and dogs safe. And non of the neighbours took liberties!

I just remembered the first house (terraced) we lived in had a gate to the neighbour just next to the back door. Two elderly women lived next to each other and didn't want to change out out their nighties to have a cuppa together in the morning.

We lived in an Victorian terrace after that and there was no right of way.
I doubt anything legal is in place, it was probably really an agreement that benefitted both parties. Silly of them to assume it is your problem where they put their washing line.

The access thing made me wonder if the neighbours had simply seen this as an extension of whatever access rights they already had.

Access rights are not the same as acquired right of use ...

Thanks guys, I'll let you know what the solicitor says on Monday.

Walk away.

I'm surprised they got planning permission to build over such a large chunk of their garden. I wonder if this house is really worth the effort. Is the old man still alive to clarify with or is this a probate sale ?