To remove the fence

[NoTreadingHere]

We have a fence that sits about 7cm from the neighbour's wall. It's a huge wall covering the entire length of their property. They never see into our side.

Our relations have been amicable but I've been keen to entirely remove the fence. It's rotting and decrepit, but the issue is that they demand the existing fence replaced (at shared cost) by a new and very expensive new fence to protect their precious 7cm.

They're now moving and are in the process of selling the property. They're not living in the property and I'm keen to have a helper come in and quietly pull out and remove the fencing. DH is totally absolutely against it, mainly because he's timid and conflict averse. I'm fuming as neither the existing owners or new owners would ever know about the fence removal and this is a golden opportunity to solve the fence problem forever. The new owners are unlikely to be any more forgiving (it's that kind of area).

Basically I'm raging that the solution can't be implemented

You have no right to that strip of land.

You may have the right to remove the fence, check your deeds.

If you go ahead and take over that land then you're very likely to have legal troubles in the future.

Frankly you seem to be greedy, grasping, and ignorant.

If I was your neighbour I’d watch you do all this in amused silence and then serve you with a lawyer’s letter to hire a surveyor to reinstate the boundary.

Well it might grow over but it doesn't make it then your land. That is the point everyone is making to you. You come across as you're like well the garden will grow over and it'll just be part of our garden. NO! It is not nor will ever be part of your garden. You've been told countless times that you need to mark the boundary. Ok if grass or the plants hang over its their problem if they want to cut it back. You still have to mark the boundary line!

It doesn't even matter why the wall is there anything anyone does inside their property boundary is of no concern to anyone. Build a wall, a fence whatever the boundary is still the boundary unless it is legally changed.

Would you be amused at the cost? You must be rich!

If they steal the land and it goes to court and they lose they would have to pay costs . I would not try and steal the strip of land .

If there's a wall that close to a boundary then legally the wall is taken as the boundary. So most of the advice on this thread is wrong.

Also the land registry doesn't record the boundary accurately enough to know whose that 7cm is. It sounds like they're trying to do a land grab.

A garden wall is a party wall if it's on the boundary.
https://www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works

This is wrong. The wall on the neighbour’s land is NOT a party wall, it’s the neighbour’s wall. The fence marks the boundary and the fact that the neighbour has built a wall on their land does not change the boundary.

I think you will find you are wrong. A boundary is already clearly marked the land still belongs to the owner even if the wall is there with a 7cm gap. The wall is not automatically the new boundary.

OP made it clear the fence is the boundary not the wall.

Whatever reason for the wall it will have had to leave a gap from the boundary due to foundations etc. But this does not mean the wall becomes the boundary.

Yes, once the garden grows and memories fade, the 7cm is an rounding error lost to time. Seems worth a punt.

There is also evidence of where the boundary is in terms of pictures. I took plenty of pictures and videos before I put my fence up next to my neighbours (whose fence was the boundary)

So I had enough evidence to prove where the boundary was after they decided to try it on like you are.

You are the worst type of neighbour. Why are you so bothered by the 7cm? Why don't you just take the fence down which is the problem right and stick up a wire or whatever to prove the boundary? Why are insisting on taking the land?

If the neighbours are already part way through a sale the new buyers will have bought knowing there was a fence their.

What is the height of the stone wall??

Let me ask you OP if the situation was reversed would you just let it happen?

Pull it down.

if anyone asks tell them you found termites.

when challenged play dumb. Oh it must have been a ladybug. Terribly sorry.

Varies between 10 to 15 feet or so.

If the roles were reversed, I wouldn't care a bit for a tiny nugget of land I could never ordinarily see or benefit from. I definitely wouldn't buy several ladders purely for spying purposes and obsessively monitor the fence and 7cm 🙄

I don’t think it’s stealing. It’s not like OP is building anything there.

Its stealing if she doesn't mark the boundary and then just takes it anyway, which OP has clearly made obvious is what she will do. As her last post oh well who will care about 7cm.

Its not her's to take and yes that is stealing in the eyes of the law. It's illegal to possess land that you know is not your land. She is fully aware that 7cm is not her land. There is a difference if you never knew who the land belonged to and then started using it then you can claim adverse possession. But she is fully aware its not her land

Well, why is it OP's job to mark the boundary? Shouldn't the owners be doing so, as they are the interested party?

It depends on who is responsible for the boundary and therefore the fence.

If OP is responsible for the boundary and therefore the fence then she can take the fence down and mark the boundary how she chooses.

If she is not then she cannot take the fence down.

Neighbours have suggested sharing the cost OP doesn't want to pay.

OP hasn't despite others asking confirmed who is the responsible owner.

However regardless of the fence the land is still the neighbours land.

Why not wait until the house is sold and then pull out the fence?

Because you cannot just take peoples land which is what OP is clearly showing she wants to do. Its not about the fence for OP otherwise she would just take the advice of take the fence down and mark the boundary if she is responsible for it. If she isn't and takes the fence down and she isn't the owner of it then the new owners can legally ask her to pay to replace the entire fence as what she did is illegal.

It's rotting and decrepit, but the issue is that they demand the existing fence replaced (at shared cost) by a new and very expensive new fence to protect their precious 7cm.

This alone tells you that OP does not have good intentions. The 7cm is their land they have every right to ensure its protected with the boundary being marked. OP cannot even understand this basic legal right.

Most sensible people would be like of course that's their land its not ours. Ok we don't like the old fence it looks ugly blah blah, we will agree to mark the boundary and come to a sensible agreement with neighbour because maybe we can't afford the type of fencing they want to replace it with

What sensible don't do it bitch and moan about why do they want to protect their land that is theirs and decide I will just take it anyway because who will ever know. That is shady shitty behaviour and can land her with a lot of problems down the line. All anyone is doing is advising on the right thing to do to protect herself.

The existence of the fence doesn’t change the deeds. If the new owner has a problem with the missing strip of garden (currently left to moulder behind a ten foot wall) then they can discuss the situation. It would make more sense to remove the wall so the garden can be maintained.

Its not the missing strip they have a problem with. If a new fence comes down they simply want the boundary to be marked. They are obviously suggesting a new fence. OP doesn't want to pay part of the cost for it. She should of just gone back with an alterative solution, a cheaper one.

But it all comes down to who is responsible for it and OP won't say.

This. The new neighbour might think you are trying to steal their garden.

We had this. We put up cheap lattice panels to mark the boundary and grew climbers up that to cover it.