Can my neighbour do this?

[Sleep1975]

He has fenced off a communal garden that is shared with me and 3 others. The 3 others were asked and agreed, I wasn’t asked.

There is nothing in deeds that permit this to be done.

The neighbours Landlord has no issue with what he has done.

Is there anything I can do?

Do you still have access to it?

Has he fenced it off for his only use or for everyone to still use? Does he have pets or small children that he wants to be able to let out and not run off?

Stamp your mark on it with a tacky gnome. Sit out there whenever you can...

You need:

To see what your deeds say
Tell us if you're a freeholder or leaseholder.
Tell us if there are any covenants on the land.
Tell us if he has restricted your access to something.
Tell us why he didn't ask you.
Etc.

Fenced off but still available as a communal garden?

Can you still use it?

I’m in Scotland.

I still have access but I feel like the split has been done to exclude me from the area as the area now seems to be only used by the other neighbours.

I’m a homeowner who plans to sell in near future and potentially the garden is misleading.

My other worry is what he will just decide to change next.

Do you own a share of the garden?

Fenced it off how? Sectioned off part of it? Or just put a fence around the whole communal garden? How are you excluded? We need a diagram!

How has it been fenced off? Can you do a diagram?

@Sleep1975

I’m in Scotland.

I still have access but I feel like the split has been done to exclude me from the area as the area now seems to be only used by the other neighbours.

I’m a homeowner who plans to sell in near future and potentially the garden is misleading.

My other worry is what he will just decide to change next.

Do you mean only used by the neighbour who fenced it off? Or by all the neighbours except you? What's restricting you from using it? Does the fencing make it appear to be part of that neighbours rental property now?

diagram would probably help

Sorry OP I can’t picture it at all.

Who owns the land?! What does your property title register say about it? Etc.

If it’s potentially devaluing your property then you coukd hire a lawyer to write a demand that the fence be taken down - but do bear in mind that in England (I dunno Scottish law) any disputes with neighbours have to be disclosed to your buyer, including letters about it etc. So be carefuk what you put in writing if you are planning to sell.

I assuming I still had access, I’d be pleased if someone had spent their own money fencing a communal garden and giving its users privacy.

Do you mean they've sectioned off the full thing or sectioned off a bit to use themselves? How have you been excluded?

I'm in Scotland and we had a communal garden in the place we've not long sold. In the deeds though it explained which bits actually belonged to each flat if that makes sense. We had two neighbours who we shared it with and we did section off our bit of the garden so we could put a fence round for our dogs to go out without disturbing the neighbour in the garden when she was sitting out there in the Summer etc. We did speak to both our neighbours that we shared with and they were also happy with this so there was no problem but we did check with a solicitor at the time and they said because the deeds showed that the garden did actually have sections that belonged to each flat (even though it was communal) that we were within our rights to do it even if they didn't agree (we wouldn't have done that though). What do your deeds say about the garden?

We don’t have any specific parts that belong to anyone.

I probably could have access it just feels awkward as it seems they have gone out their way to exclude us.

It’s more a worry as to what other changes he will implement or if just when it’s all going good he decides to remove fence.

I have been told I can not paint or attach to the fence as it is his.

Need a diagram 😁

How has he excluded you though? (Other than not asking you). You've not really explained so it's quite hard to picture - if he's put a fence around the full garden then surely you're not any more excluded than you were without a fence? If he's sectioned off a bit that makes it a different situation if the full garden is communal

It's not up to the neighbours landlord though is it because they don't own all of it

He has sectioned quite a huge junk to himself that others seem to use as agreed. I know this as I’ve heard them speaking about plans that they want to do with it in the Summer.

Sorry didn’t say our garden isn’t sectioned off on parts at all, it’s all communal ground.

I really don’t want to be the awkward one but if he can do as he pleases in a shared area what will it be next? That’s my main concern as a homeowner.

Is the fenced off area being used for a specific purpose? Ie has he planted some vegetables, or built a pond or something? Or is it literally a section of grass thats now fenced off?

Tell him he can’t do that and you expect it to be taken down.

The whole area is communal so he doesn’t have a right to fence it.

Do you mean that he has sectioned off, say, half of the communal garden and he and a few of the other residents seem to be using it and treating it as though you have the unsectioned bit to be used and he and his co-conspirators have the sectioned off bit? Or is it just a small corner and they are all also using the rest of the garden? Or something else? Are you actually physically excluded from the fenced off bit or is there an unlocked gate or some other way in?

What do the neighbours say when you've talked to them - what's the rationale for having the fence? How do they anticipate you and everyone else using the communal gardens?

If the explanation seems to be to your detriment you probably need to speak with a lawyer because how you jointly own the land, how it has been used in the past, the existence of a management company or a freeholders committee, any covenants etc. around that may be relevant, as well as case law that applies to your situation. It's also important to get a realistic idea of risks and costs.

I think it's unlikely they can legally exclude you from the sectioned off area and you may best be able to regain your use by simply using it. But that's just the guess of some random on the Internet. You need professional advice.

Nobody is going to be able to tell you from this what he may do next, though I see why that might be a concern. You will need to wait and see. Developing the best relationship with him that you can and simultaneously following up on the fencing (which may well be a tricky balancing act) will most likely be the best hedge against future unreasonable action on his part, but won't be any sort of guarantee.

You need legal advice.