Parking Space Issue

[ParkingSpaceProblem]

Regular user, name changed as picture may be identifiable

Neighbour is chopping down trees in picture to make room for a fence. They told us they are planning on attaching it to the wooden posts of our parking space. This would leave us unable to open car doors once in there. They said they think we would have enough room, I disagree.

We are planning on moving the metal shed in the picture so the green car would be further back and the silver car door would need to open between he first and second posts.

Also the land on the right is not theirs but communal land so I'm not sure they even are able to erect a fence there - I think they are planning on edging it with fencing and making it into their garden as nobody else uses it.

Legally, are the posts ours and can we say no? Our deeds say the whole space is ours and the posts are on our concrete section. I'm so worried about it. I have issues associated with hyper mobility which means I cannot twist out in a small gap and also have car seats to contend with.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Any advice would be hugely appreciated

I think your best response is that it’s communal land and if they block it off you will remove the fence. Don’t get into loads of side issues, you don’t need to.

Also the land on the right is not theirs but communal land so I'm not sure they even are able to erect a fence there
Well I'm no expert on this sort of thing, but surely if the deeds say it is communal land, then your neighbours cannot fence it off?
I also think they would need your permission to attach anything to your property.
But as I said, I'm no expert.

Look on the Land Registry map search and find out who that piece of land is registered too.
They can’t just fence land that doesn’t belong to them, and I’m fairly certain they can’t attach a fence to your car port without your permission.
I’m not sure if your council’s planning department would be able to help but it might be worth a call.

To not too!

The drive and posts are yours, so you could put up a fence but they can't. If they want to erect a fence then they would need to install fence posts on their own land.

If that land belongs to them, then they can do that and it would prevent your door opening but you can't stop them if it is completely on their land. However, since the land does not belong to them then you have nothing to worry about. They can't fence it off.

Give your council a call and in the meantime, tell your neighbours that they cannot attach anything to your car port. If you feel brave also tell them that they cannot fence off the communal land and you will take it further if they try.

If it’s comunal land then I’m not sure neighbour can just chop down the trees!! Not if they aren’t theirs!

Thanks so much everyone! Really appreciate the replies. I am going to speak to the parish council in the first instance, they organise maintenance of communal areas so may be able to help.

@SisterNotCisTerf - this is he interesting bit - they have had surveyors in over the last couple of years and have proven that the trees are causing subsidence if their garage, and have been granted permission to remove them.

Ahh ok, well that’s fair enough, but that doesn’t mean he can replaced with a fence on land that isn’t his!

It is definitely communal land.

I cannot see anywhere that it belongs to them, it wasn't sold with the house in 2014, and I'm sure they don't own it or they wouldn't have needed approval for the tree removal.

I'm very worried about them doing it anyway and not listening. When my partner said to them yesterday that they weren't to attach anything to the pergola as we couldn't open our doors, they said 'you'll have enough room.'

It doesn't matter what they say to you in response. You just reply with "you cannot attach anything to our property. We will remove it immediatly if you do".
Rinse and repeat.

Parish Council sounds a sensible bet, and a nicely worded letter to neighbour saying that you don't give permission to attach any kind of fencing to your posts. And if you're brave enough, say as far as you are aware, this land is communal and are investigating it further.

No expert at all, but it might be worth looking at The Party Wall Act. Although if it is communal land I can't see them being allowed to do anything at all. Absolute worse case scenario, could you take your pergola down?

It doesn't matter what they say to you in response. You just reply with "you cannot attach anything to our property. We will remove it immediatly if you do".
This
And they can't put up a fence on land they don't own

Just looked on land registry and there is a new purchase of land associated with the property. Maybe they do own it! I'm ordering the plan now.

They still can't attach anything to the pergola though can they?

Can't take the pergola down as it is around 20m long and houses cars for 6 houses

@ParkingSpaceProblem

Even if they own it, tour pergola is not a fence or fence posts. If they attach a fence to it, then it will prevent you from maintaining it, removing it or altering it. And you need to be able to do all those things. One day you might decide to take it down but you can't do that if they use it as fence posts.

Explain that to them, tell them to install their own fence posts and not to attach anything to your structure.

Double checked the title and plans and they don't own it. I now have the copies if they argue that they do. Belts and braces.

And big girl pants!!

Argh I'm scared!

Totally off topic, but is that your Golf? It’s awesome!

If they don’t own it they can’t fence it. Simples.

Do you know who does own the land? You said it was communal but has recently been purchased. Who bought it? They may not be too happy with a fence on their land either!

“You don’t own this land, you can’t fence it in or build any structure on it. If you do build a fence we will have it removed and will bill you for the costs involved, including any costs to repair damage to our property caused by your fence.” If you don’t feel that you can say it then write it down and, if necessary you can hand it to them.

@19lottie82 Yes! It's awesome, MK1, dp has done wonders with it, all original (apart from Stereo)