Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that NDN should care how shit this looks from my garden. FENCE THREAD - pic enc.

235 replies

PauperTroll · 28/03/2019 19:11

He's put up curved trellis all the way along the wall and stapled tatty strawberry netting to the back (our side) of it so he's not overlooked by the houses perpendicular to us.

But it looks horrible from my side. And the trellis has made it very tall.

I'd saved up for a few years to do my garden up a bit this spring and now this has made it look crap. I can't really afford to put something up on my side to hide his netting.

There's fuck-all I can do, I assume - I asked him (nicely) if I could remove the netting and if the trellis would be obscure enough to stop the neighbours overlooking him. He said no, that it was on his property, and that he wasn't going to remove it and that if I didn't like it I could install something on my side to cover it.

Is there anything I can do???

to think that NDN should care how shit this looks from my garden. FENCE THREAD - pic enc.
OP posts:
flabbythighs · 31/03/2019 19:51

It does look like the wall is entirely on your land and just because he had an agreement with the previous owner unless it's written into the deeds it holds no legal merit

Boundary disputes can be costly , my friend took her nasty NDN to court on a dispute which was very obviously her land yet they lied in court and won costing her not only the strip of land but £150k costs and compensation

If you are selling in the future you must declare any disputes with neighbours

If it was my property I would seek professional advice, solicitor, surveyor etc to what the likely outcome could be without telling your N
I would then evaluate the situation and decide what outcome was the best one for me taking in every likely scenario
I might decide that a good repaint of the wall and some rustic screening on my side looked ok was the better route and kept my blood pressure stable

Ps I might consider getting some very noisy wind chimes on that side of the garden

Sweetpea55 · 31/03/2019 20:03

The brick wall itself looks pretty naff too

Warpdrive · 31/03/2019 20:05

I suspect (but you’d never know for sure til you looked at the deeds) that CFNDN built that wall on your land (even tho it wasn’t yours at the time) to give him extra inches in his garden.

I really hope that’s the case then you can dismantle it.

wigglypiggly · 31/03/2019 20:09

You need to look at the deeds to see who owns that wall, if it's yours you can have it taken down if you want to. If you're happy with the wall paint it, put some hanging baskets on it and screening, you could paint it a nice co.our with masonry paint. If the trellis is attached to his side of the wall then he needs your permission to attach anything to it.

Notastepparentbut · 31/03/2019 20:13

You really need to go to a solicitor for proper legal advice on this.

Original poster
PauperTroll · 31/03/2019 20:28

Grin at noisy wind chimes

I don't like the wall but couldn't afford to replace it. All I want is rid of the mesh.

I might be able to get a bit of free legal advice on it. It's a bigger issue than the mesh, I need to know about my boundary.

OP posts:
Original poster
PauperTroll · 01/04/2019 12:11

Update: I found the land registry docs which for some reason weren't with my deeds. While they obviously don't show who owns which wall they do show that my property ends at the edge of my house. The disputed wall is within my boundary.

So unless he has a legal amendment document to the contrary, I can be pretty sure that the trellis is on my property and I can take off the mesh.

I'm talking to him later if anyone has any ideas how to kill him with kindness and get this sorted without bad feeling?

OP posts:
PanamaPattie · 01/04/2019 12:19

If the wall is within your boundary I don’t see why you would not get NDN to knock it down and rebuild within his boundary. Having said that, you could say to him that as a compromise he must take down the trellis and netting or you will take a sledgehammer to the wall that is currently on your property. If the wall stays, it still may cause an issue when you sell because the property boundary is unclear.

IncrediblySadToo · 01/04/2019 12:41

I’d just go for killing him frankly.

Before you talk to him I would see about that free legal advice. My concern would be that by allowing him to put the trellis there that you are effectively moving your boundary and that in 20 years that becomes legally his. Whilst you might not be there in 20 years you might be storing up an issue when it comes to selling it. There are some absolutely barking property laws.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/04/2019 12:52

If he's planning on growing something on the trellis ,you won't even see the green matting stuff in a short while as it'll be covered in a climber.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 01/04/2019 20:38

Good work Op

Warpdrive · 01/04/2019 22:56

What happened?

Original poster
PauperTroll · 02/04/2019 07:02

I've put off speaking with him until my dad can sit in on the conversation. NDN has got a bit nasty. A friend of mine was delivering some topsoil to me yesterday and NDN started talking to him. Apropos of nothing NDN started talking about the trellis Confusedand how if we took it down there would be trouble and he'd "put it up again in red white and blue" (he's a gammon-faced Brexiteer and DH is Irish..)

OP posts:
SubisYodrethwhenLarping · 02/04/2019 10:49

So he is bordering on a racist (I am sorry I don't know exactly how far along the red line is between being horrible/vile and racist but I think he is crossing it) perhaps you get your dad or DH to video your conversation with him on mobile

Or you record your dad talking to him

Then there is a record of the conversation with a clock on the screen so it shows you haven't edited the video

He is a vile bully and a massive CF

youngestisapsycho · 02/04/2019 11:17

He is a cock! I still dont know why you havent just removed the mesh though?

Original poster
PauperTroll · 02/04/2019 12:18

Because I should tell him first, and explain the facts of the matter.

Taking it down without warning would be inflammatory as he's convinced that he's in the right. I need to show him - calmly and with proof - that he's not.

OP posts:
Original poster
PauperTroll · 02/04/2019 18:26

Update: I've had my free legal advice. Upshot is that the trellis, plus it's ghastly mesh, is definitely on my property and I am entitled to ask him to take it down. In fact, I can remove the entire wall should I wish whether he paid for it or not.

OP posts:
PanamaPattie · 02/04/2019 18:28

Excellent news. Take the wall down!

Original poster
PauperTroll · 02/04/2019 18:37

and replace it with bunting made of EU flags Grin

OP posts:
iwantatattoo · 02/04/2019 18:47

Well done op - when do you meet the monster?

Original poster
PauperTroll · 02/04/2019 20:01

He's away until Thursday, irritatingly.

OP posts:
BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 02/04/2019 20:06

Caveat - I know nothing at all about property law.
But...
Regardless of who built or paid for the wall, it seems that 100%of the wall is on your land (at the house end of the garden at least, it's a lot harder to define a boundary further down the garden)
Has he added trellis and netting the full length of the wall?

Therefore if he considers it HIS wall, it's trespassing.
Diito the trellis and netting - it still seems to be inside your boundary.
So you are within your rights to remove the netting which is inside your boundary, but you must return it to him.

Notwiththeseknees · 02/04/2019 20:35

Well done Paups! Good idea to have your dad as back up too. And at least you have a couple of days to work out what you are going to say to him and what you want him to do.

Peterpiperpickedwrong · 02/04/2019 20:54

I can’t wait until you tell him Grin

Warpdrive · 02/04/2019 22:15

Me too. I would put money on him having the wall on your land to give his garden a few extra inches. CFery!