To ask for part of my garden back?!

[lovelilies]

Honestly not sure if IABU or not here.
Diagrams and photos attached
NDN wants to 'finish off' the fence which currently divides our houses.
The fence was like this when I bought my house 2 years ago and I haven't really thought much about it but now I want to build onto the back of our house and realised it appears like NDN has 'taken' some of my land!

What's the MN verdict? And what should I do next?
The house next door is housing association, if that makes any difference.

I painted he wall by the way.
Not sure where the actual boundary is, and how to find out? I'd assume it would be where the drainpipe is?

The bit he's trying to claim

You need to check where the property line actually is; should be in your paperwork. The property line for garden land isn't always exactly halfway between houses. And if it's been like that since you bought it, then it might be their land. Check before you approach the housing association.

Does the drainpipe serve both houses or just ndn's?

Which paperwork? Would it be on the deeds? With exact measurements?

Drainpipe serves both houses

I actually think the fence should actually follow the line of the short bit at the far end.
So not that he is about to steal a bit at the far end, more that he's already stolen a longer sliver at the house end

Your deeds will say. If not contact Land Registry.

That's what I think Breakfast.
Question is, what do I do about it?
Is it up to me to pay for it moving or would the HA have to?

you definitely need to get your land registry records

Looking at the diagram and the last photo it looks like you have part of his already.

Get a copy of your deeds. Find out where the boundary is and who owns that fence. If the fence is on your land, move it if that boundary is yours, or ask the housing association to move it if the boundary is theirs. NDN shouldn't be doing anything with the fence at all - it's between you and the housing association.

Just got this from the land registry... Any ideas?
Damn it won't let me upload another pic 🙄

It's an exact rectangle, but no measurements. How do I find out the rest?

I think you need to talk to the HA. More pics, diagram to scale. I agree that the short bit he wants to move looks like the original fence line.

It looks like he’s stolen a foot of your land and is about to claim the last bit. Take the land registry stuff to the housing association with photographs.

Was your house for sale for a while and empty before you moved in? My guess would be that’s when he made his move.

Can't see your latest pic, but where is the fence line in relation to the house wall on the deeds? And where is it in reality?

My fence looks like it is over a neighbours garden, but in reality it is straight with the party wall, it's just the layout of windows and doors that makes it look that way.

Yes it was empty for a few months before I bought it, repossessed.
I'll contact HA on Monday.

I agree, just go to the HA with maps and photos and ask them to explain to their tenant in writing where the boundary is.

Is that crime scene tape on your trampoline ?

Yes Chaos DS wants to be a police officer and it's the 'jail' 😂🙈

in my experience, social housing borders are sometimes a bit 'flexible'. this is fine when house is rented but once its bought it can mean the naturalised boundary (i.e. the one that has been physically there for years) isn't the same as on land registry maps. It happened to me. the neighbours fence was (and always had been) was a good foot into our garden all the way up. But i was told that if they can prove that its always been like that they have a case that its now naturalised.Anyway I didn't want an expensive court case so I let it lie. If that irregular square is shown on land registry docs then tell the neighbour that actually, its yours. if it shows a straight line then maybe make the fence straight. sorry if I have interpreted the diagrams incorrectly.

Whose is the fence and who ereceted the fence that is there ?

If yours is a private house and his HA then it is possible that a previous owner erected the fence, but wanted the 'good' side to face him, so had the fence put up within his own boundary. Hence it looking like the next door has 'stolen' some land.

So maybe your land starts from the outer edge of the fence posts ?