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Original poster

Neighbour stealing my garden!

153 replies

fencedispute2024 · 01/12/2024 21:31

See obligatory diagram.

i can home today to find that my neighbour has put a new fence up and taken part of my garden. The blue area is my garden, grey is neighbours and the red part has now been fenced off.

the area is definitely mine. I’ve even shown a copy of the plans from when the house was built to the neighbour and his response was “anyone could have drawn that”. It’s a document that is signed and stamped FGS.

neighbour moved in 8 years ago so doesn’t have an adverse possession claim. There was previously a hedge there which was removed before neighbour moved in. 2/3 of the garden is a fence. Neighbour has extended that fence in a straight line rather than the boundary. We both own in case relevant.

where do I go from here?

Neighbour stealing my garden!
OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 01/12/2024 21:34

@fencedispute2024 looks like it should be theirs but if you go onto the land registry you can get the title for both houses. it does not cost much.

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 01/12/2024 21:34

Solicitors. You could Bellshill him and tell him that you've spoken to a solicitor and they confirmed the plans are genuine and that you can start legal proceedings but you value him as a neighbour and you'd rather just be sensible and put things back to where they were before instead of landing him with legal fees. But otherwise i think a solicitor is the only way to go

Original poster
fencedispute2024 · 01/12/2024 21:35

I’ve got the title deeds for my house. That’s what I showed to neighbour and he said anyone could have drawn them!

OP posts:
Lollypop25 · 01/12/2024 21:35

fencedispute2024 · 01/12/2024 21:35

I’ve got the title deeds for my house. That’s what I showed to neighbour and he said anyone could have drawn them!

You can download his too from the land registry for about £3 or so. That should clear it up.

Notsuchafattynow · 01/12/2024 21:36

The original garden does look off. Have you got the land registry boundary in your conveyancing solicitors pack? Ours gave us a copy.

SoupDragon · 01/12/2024 21:37

I agree - you need to see what his title plan looks like too.

Vaxtable · 01/12/2024 21:49

Get a copy of his title deeds as well and if it shows as your diagram tell him. Then I would send a letter advising he as a week to remove the fence

OrwellianTimes · 01/12/2024 22:13

Show them your and their deeds. Try to resolve it.

Tell them if they don’t give it back that they will hear from your solicitors

Ohnobackagain · 01/12/2024 22:15

@fencedispute2024 you can get any title plans here www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

TheDowagerCountessofPembroke · 01/12/2024 22:19

Not the point but why do you have that extra bit? It’s a fair assumption on the neighbours part that it belongs to them, deeds aside.

endofthelinefinally · 01/12/2024 22:21

Do you have legal cover on your house insurance?

Rosscameasdoody · 01/12/2024 22:24

TheDowagerCountessofPembroke · 01/12/2024 22:19

Not the point but why do you have that extra bit? It’s a fair assumption on the neighbours part that it belongs to them, deeds aside.

It’s not though is it ? Neighbour has lived there 8 years. Why now ?why not discuss it instead of fencing it off while OP is out ? And why the ridiculous response to being shown the title to OP’s home, proving the land is theirs ? It’s begging for legal action.

Notthisapple · 01/12/2024 22:31

Has he been using the land?

Franjipanl8r · 01/12/2024 22:36

Look up his deeds map online and go from there.

Original poster
fencedispute2024 · 01/12/2024 22:41

I’ve got the original plans from when the house was build 40 years ago. I’ve downloaded the plans from land registry for both his and my house and they all show the land as being part of my plot. He likes to keep his bins there which I’ve been moving back. But that’s been for less than 10 years so no adverse possession claim, and I’ve been periodically moving them back.

OP posts:
FoxtonFoxton · 01/12/2024 22:45

He's obviously going to completely ignore any paperwork you present to him, so I'd go directly to a solicitor with your deeds etc and go from there. Don't bother getting into lengthy arguments on the doorstep.

Lindy2 · 01/12/2024 22:46

What type of boundary was there before his fence?

If he's been putting his bins there was that area left accessible to him?

Has he changed the position of what was there or was there no fence before?

I'm struggling to see how he was able to put his bins in your garden if each garden had a correctly placed fence, hedge or something similar.

MyrtleStrumpet · 01/12/2024 22:46

So have the conversation that is your land and he's encroaching.

If you want to keep the land and he doesn't remove the fence then get a solicitor's letter.

If you want to sell the land to your neighbour then work out its value and ask him to make an offer.

Original poster
fencedispute2024 · 01/12/2024 22:53

It’s at the front of the house, so the bottom part of the diagram is the driveway and the part where the red area is is a garden area. The driveway doesn’t line up with the house so that 2 cars can fit on his driveway. The driveway part is separated by a fence.

the red area is directly in front of my house and previously had a small hedge.

(I was trying not to over complicate it by giving too much detail)

OP posts:
Snozzlemaid · 01/12/2024 22:55

I would print off copies of both of your deeds and write an official dated letter stating the land is yours as on the deeds.
Post both letter and deeds through their letter box.
Give them a set time frame to remove the fence and return the land to you, 28 days maybe. Advise if they don't do this within this time you will be instructing a solicitor to start legal proceedings against them.

If you have legal cover with your house insurance, you can call them for advice. This is the procedure they advised I do with an issue we had with a neighbour.

Notthisapple · 01/12/2024 23:00

Obtain legal advice, asap!

MadnessIsMyMiddleName · 01/12/2024 23:00

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 01/12/2024 21:34

Solicitors. You could Bellshill him and tell him that you've spoken to a solicitor and they confirmed the plans are genuine and that you can start legal proceedings but you value him as a neighbour and you'd rather just be sensible and put things back to where they were before instead of landing him with legal fees. But otherwise i think a solicitor is the only way to go

I'm not sure what the 'Bellshill' bit means, but otherwise totally agree with this.

WatchOutForBabyHaggis · 01/12/2024 23:04

Am I the only one who'd just wait until they were out and then remove the bit of fence that was on my land? 🤔😂

Original poster
fencedispute2024 · 02/12/2024 00:04

WatchOutForBabyHaggis · 01/12/2024 23:04

Am I the only one who'd just wait until they were out and then remove the bit of fence that was on my land? 🤔😂

That’s very tempting but I’d like to try and maintain some kind of relationship!

OP posts:
TheHouseElf · 02/12/2024 00:38

fencedispute2024 · 02/12/2024 00:04

That’s very tempting but I’d like to try and maintain some kind of relationship!

Show quote history

Bit late for that, as the guys trying to steal your property! He clearly has no issue with maintaining a good relationship with you. See a solicitor asap, get them to sort it out, threaten as necessary and have the fence removed. You must ensure this happens or you are going to have all kinds of problems in the future trying to sell your property.

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