Anyone about to help? Feeling very worried! Neighbour fence dispute.

[MissCookie64]

I really hope someone can help and reassure me.

Moved into my house 6 years ago, shortly after the neighbour moved into theirs. We have a 5ft fence between us.

Last week he asked me while I was out in the garden if I could move the fence a meter onto my garden. He was holding some map/deeds/land registery or similar from 1962 and said that I was encroaching on his land by a meter. This was extremely unexpected and I felt very overwhelmed and said that when I bought the house the boundary and deeds (deeds 2000) match very closely. I thought that was the end of it.

Today I have received a letter stating for me to go over for a meeting regarding moving the fence and if I don't reply or move the fence within 28 days it will show I have no intention of doing so!

Do I have to meet him? Should I reply or just ignore the letter?

I'm worried that he will take me to court, will he have a chance of winning if he's going back all these years? I am a single mother, living on my own with DC and no family nearby.

Good tip IThinkItsWeird. You should not be charged more than £3 for your title pls and £3 for your Title Register from https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/www/wps/portal/!ut/p/b1/04Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKNjSxMDA1NjDwsjM3MDTxN3dyNDUNMjQ1MjPWDUUP0C7IdFQG9k5Tz/?ga=2.201073197.2001642147.1521326094-1365147731.1521326094

The fence is mine, and I took photos earlier. My first thought was that he could/would move it when I'm in work.

Thank you for the link, just downloaded the deeds. Thank you.

How would he have bought old deeds of my property? Are you able to do that online through Land registry? Maybe I missed that bit.

Yes anyone can buy a copy of the deeds we have stored. They are stored to stop the title register being overburdened. So you will see reference to the deed in your register and what entry affects the land then "copy filed"
That means the full deed is electronically stored.

They are there so that people (usually prospective buyers) know what affects the land for example, a covenant to not keep chickens and there is often a plan attached. The plan will show what was bought in 1962 according to what features were on the ground then. It has no value today though.

Op please take advantage of Peppermints kind offer. Expert advice from Pep will make this a lot easier and less stressful for you. You don't want to live in fear and stress in your own house and this needs squashing asap.

I believe anyone can get deeds of any property - you don't have to own the property.

If it's your fence it would be criminal damage if your neighbour were to touch it.

If the fence has been there undisputed for forty years, he won't have a leg to stand on.
Do boundaries really move all the time, dwinnol?! Don't both parties involved have to agree?

So he’s basically just come across an old set of deeds with a slightly different boundary and thought great, that must be right, that land must be mine, I’ll just tell the neighbour to move the fence and I’ll have an extra bit of land on my say so. Cheeky sod.

Yes, basically he said can you change the border to how it looked 60 years ago.

I have taken Peppermint up on her kind offer and been in contact. She has been a This thread has given me so much hope and reminded me there is so many good people in this world.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar
I work in first registration and I should have said firm features like walls and fences (which form the boundaries) move all the time. Its really common for me to get a plan from1962 for example but for that not to fit with the features on the ground today. Also our mapping system is much better these days so plans made 40 years ago are much less accurate than a plan produced today.

MissCookie
He will not be able to put the boundary back to where it was 50 years ago. A hedge is a fantastic boundary because it's obvious how old it is unlike a fence which can be moved.

Try not to worry, he has no chance.

I'll preface this with I know nothing! but.. if he bought the house with the fence where it is, and hasn't 'fought ' to change it in the years he has been there, surely that implies that he doesn't own it? because if he did own it, he would have done it earlier

how long has he lived there?

6 years (sorry just checked the op)

Please just save yourself a lot of aggravation and speculation and get a surveyor to come round and verify who's is who's.

No don't start spending loads of money you haven't got to verify somthing that land registery worker and conveyancing solicitor has said are rubbish,

And while all he's done is spoken to you and sent you a letter himself.

Aree - ignore him and keep in touch with Peppermint (what a )

OP so sorry you are having this man be such a shit - I had similar recently over an allocated parking space, a really agressive little old bloke who just felt entitled to take what wasn't legally his. I thought I bet he'd have a different reaction to my DH if he'd been the one to spot him and try to have a chat but no it was me. He's trying to bully you. He doesn't have a leg to stand on. Fence has been there 40 years, again no expert but with this sort of thing I thought if something is there for a certain number of years then it becomes the thing.

I don't think it's ever been moved though I think it's the tolerances.

What a nasty piece of work.

Do call your insurance to see if you have legal cover anyway that would be useful to know.

Take loads of photos to prove the current location of the fence, should he take it down when you're out.

My SIL's next door but one neighbour had the same problem not long after moving in she renewed her side fence in exactly the same place as the previous one. All was well till new neighbours moved in about 4 years later they had only been there a couple of weeks and they told her the fence was in the wrong place and would have to move it 2ft into her garden. She explained that the fence was put in same place as the old one, they would not have it kept on about it and eventually she received a letter from a solicitor telling her according to deeds it was in wrong place and asked her to sort it out within 28 days or else further action would be taken. The new neighbour's father who was a policeman lived in a house opposite and he started telling everyone who would listen about the problems his son was having with the woman next door he even came and knocked on her door and had a go at her so it got quite nasty.

She came around very upset to SIL's who had moved into the houses when they were built in 1955 so knew where original fences were. SIL was still in contact with the original owner so phoned her and she said she had quite a few photos of when they first moved into their houses especially of their back gardens. So she got her son to copy out some which shows exactly where the original wire fences were could tell by which side of the various drain pipes they were on. The next day he turned up with them and offered to photo the garden as it is now and he printed them off for her and it showed it was in exactly the same place.

The son very kindly offered to help her compose a letter to the solicitor and send the photos she didn't even get an acknowledgment of her letter or apology saying there had been a mistake from the solicitor or neighbour's. She found out later that the solicitor was a 'friend' of the family and was repaying them a favour. Within 12 months they had put the house on the market and moved the new neighbour's are lovely.

Peppermint has been an absolute We were very lucky and her help has been amazing. Thank you.

We are still in battle so to speak but feel very confident now and have the correct evidence needed etc.

Thank you Mow I love reading positive stories.