Neighbour attaching things to our fence?

[Anonymous23458d]

Can a neighbour attach the below to our fence?
I have previous issues with this neighbour with the previous owners before us he built his conservatory on our boundary. You can kind of see it in the pic. I noticed him doing something today before I went out so asked him if this is attached to our fence as he needs my permission really. It had all rusty nails sticking out of it and it isnt safe for me having children. His girlfriend called me pathetic and said I needed to get a life after I said he shouldve asked my permission before hes attached that to our fence. Am I out of order for this ? I have had so many issues with him in the past doing things that effect me and my property without him saying that I dont want it to happen again..
FYI he has also put rat poisoning down the side of our fence which leads into my garden when I two children under 2 and one crawling.

I don't think you can do anything about the conservatory being over the boundary line now, it's something the previous owner should have done something about. However, if it's within a certain number of years of being constructed, I believe 7, you may be able to do something if you wanted.
That said, I'm sure you need pp for a conservatory to be within 2m of a neighbouring property.

Just read your post about it being 8 years. I doubt he applied for it, but maybe look at the planning portal in your area to see if & when permission was applied for.

It is frustrating when neighbours feel at liberty to do things like attaching items to fences that don't belong to them. I am hoping when too much washing has been hung on his line that the post will be pulled off your fence. The only worry is what further attempts will happen to fix it more firmly.
Our neighbour has attached their washing line to our fence. They did the same on our previous one, did so before we moved here, but we have now replaced the fence & posts and had heard they were going to put in a new pole. They may well will still be doing so, but so far have tied it to the top of our concrete fence post. It annoyed me so much, which is ridiculous, but also not. We paid a lot to put it in and we want it to last as long as possible.
It is really hard when you have neighbours like that. They use bluff and bluster and insults to prevent you from saying anything, and then you fear they will do more.

I would un-attach it. My neighbour does this with lights and all kids of crap so I just remove them.

So why wasn’t this sorted out when you bought ?

@Rosscameasdoody I was heavily pregnant when we bought it and it just got forgotten about. But since then hes done so many things with no consideration to us such as the rat poison, certain work hes had done thats effected us and not told us about and now hanging things and attaching things to the fence.

It really shouldn’t have been forgotten about - that’s what you pay your solicitor for. If it wasn’t sorted before you moved I doubt there’s much you can do about it now, but I do think it may be worth you contacting the LA to see if planning permission was applied for because they have a side window looking straight into your garden. Whether or not it’s frosted glass is irrelevant, I think they still would have needed planning permission.

From what I can see the fence doesn't look very secure at all.

I wouldn't have bought the house to start with with your fence where it is and his conservatory over the boundary, but you did. The previous owner should have got planners from council to sort it out. If I were you I'd be putting a new fence up, preferably concrete posts and gravel boards so anything on your fence would have to be removed.

My neighbour has a problem with the neighbour on the other side of her doing things like this. She frequently takes down her fence panels to paint them.

If fence comes down because of his action which you did not refuse/stop, insurance company unlikely to pay out.

Get onto the council about the conservatory, he is provoking you and doing what he likes, he needs to be stopped x

I might be tempted to snip those zip ties he used to attach the tacky fake foliage stuff as well.

I doubt council will enforce on conservatory 8+ years on. Boundary issues are separate to planning and a civil matter.

And you didn't think to intervene at that point you let them built the whole conservatory?! 😵‍💫

If I understood correctly , op only bought the property a few years ago, so their solicitor should have picked it up during conveyancing.

I could be completely wrong, but I’d always thought it wasn’t “your” fence. Yes, one house is responsible for maintaining it (as specified on the deeds) but either neighbour can attach things to it (provided they don’t damage it, ofc).

I mean I’ve put a trellis on both sides of my garden and one of those fences is not mine to maintain.

That conservatory is an absolute shocker! I can't believe the previous owners just sat back and let it happen. I'd have some bamboo in pots across the length of that completely blocking the window. It will look so much better on your side.
I don't think it would be a waste of time to at least find out about the potential of claiming that land back. I would.

I’m sorry because I know this is unhelpful, but I cannot believe you bought a house when the sellers told you that they came home one day to discover the neighbour building on their land! Did they dismantle an existing fence to do that?!

Did you get a massive discount?

I know -I'm amazed the OP went through with the sale and the solicitor didn't make a big deal about it!

I'm shocked by how much the conservatory overhangs your boundary! It should've been picked up when you had a survey of the property done before you bought it – even a basic home buyer's one would've flagged it. If you plan to sell one day, you might find potential buyers are more bothered about it than you were.

But, no, they cannot attach anything without permission and the weight of wet washing will put a strain on your fence, which already looks a bit fragile! Is it resting against a supporting post? If it's not, you could ask him to move it so there's a bit more support behind it, for the sake of compromise.

I wouldn’t have bought it without a boundary survey and that conservatory subsequently removed
Unfortunately any neighbour that steals land on a boundary is ‘that sort of neighbour’ and I wouldn’t want to live next to them

If you ever want to upgrade your fence I wouldn’t give them notice

In the grand scale of things attaching stuff to a fence is part of just having a neighbour and whilst you’re supposed to ask people don’t . I pick your battles with this lot and ultimately make plans to move ( but that’s because I couldn’t stand that conservatory )

If she makes the suggestion to move it they she becomes compliant when the fence is damaged by the post and washing.

Dont Don’t do that OP

We are planning to move next year but im scared now we wont be able to sell the property from what everyone has said. Its a small mid terrace with 3 small bedrooms. Way too small for us now. I just hope we can get out and no we didnt get a discount. We bought it just after covid when there were bidding wars on every house..

Agree for starters you could
Check and see if they had a party wall awards OP

Buy some pregrown hedging and plant along the border. Some come as high as 2 metres. If you put them in a raised bed you might be able to hide/ block out the conservator. At least from the ground

Strike that if you plan to move do nothing to cause an argument