Someone is renting out my garden!!!!

[NorthSouthDivider]

So long story short. We have recently found out that a neighbour is renting out their property with backs onto ours. Our garden ends in woodland. Unbeknownst to us they have fenced off part of our tree lined area and included it in the parcel of land they are renting out as their property. So they are renting out their house and their garden but including a chunk of our garden as part of the deal!! What should I do?! I’m fuming.

I’d remove the fence and put a new fence in on the same day and fill the gap or woodland with lights and cctv and have a nice sign trespassers will be charged etc

Id then photocopy the deeds and will a solicitors letter inform them the land is and always has been mine and maintained by me and don’t step foot on it again

What?

Please don’t remove the fence yourself, that could be seen as criminal damage. CF, definitely go the legal route with an initial letter to the neighbour although sounds like they will ignore you. Definitely harass their estate agent if you know who it is. Send both the gov.Uk legalese from a pp. CFs!! This infuriates me.

🤣🤣🤣

Firstly trespass isn’t a criminal offence so notices to that effect are pointless. The OP has updated that the land is being contested by adverse possession, so referring to the deeds as proof of boundary is pointless if it’s the boundary that the neighbour is disputing. And taking down the fences is unwise in the circumstances. Best to put the whole thing into experienced legal hands.

@Rocksonabeach trespassers will be charged with what?

As @Lovemycat2023 said, you need to act now and act harshly! It's your land, no polite letters etc, get solicitors etc involved and find out what you can and can't do re the fencing. Personally I'd take it down and return it to them. Is also be speaking directly to the estate agents and tell them you are taking legal action against the owners of the house re the land.

People like this are relying on you to be polite and not rock the boat. They will drag it out in the vein hope that you'll give up and that they can possess the land X amount of years and then they legally own it. .

I'm sure there was a similar thread like this one a few years ago, I can't remember what the outcome was

Yes I remember that thread!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3490972-Neighbour-stole-our-woodland

I do wonder what happened to that woodland in the end. I am aware OP had a family loss and other, more pressing issues at the time.
💕 if you are still around

Is no-one reading the OP’s updates. The land is being disputed by ‘adverse possession’ by the neighbour, so the OP needs to go down the correct legal route to contest it. So taking down the fencing and contacting the estate agent are a no-no until OP has successfully contested it and ownership is established.

You need to take the fence down off your land and then fence it in ASAP.

Read the OP’s updates. The land is disputed and if she does this it could be treated as criminal damage. She needs proper legal advice before doing anything.

It's really close to impossible for your neighbour to gain the land through adverse possession. They don't just get awarded it. Even if they have been in PROVEABLE possession for the required time, they have to apply and if the owner refuses then adverse possession is standardly then refused.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

The neighbours are just saying they are claiming it

they have not actually legally claimed it via the land registry

so just claim it back.

its very easy for them to rent out a house with an extra bit of garden (like another therad here where someone was renting out a parking space that didn't belong to them) but that's not a legal claim.

So go down and speak to them, say you have the deeds and will be putting up your own fence on your land on Monday. if they want to start a possession claim, they are free to do so. (you can leave their fence for now - important is to get your fence up on correct boundary)

with the new Land laws, you can not win a registered land AP claim unless we are speaking about say a strip of land 30cm wide.

or the other side fails to respond to the claimee at all when the land registry rights

(or if you promised the land to someone in return for them acting at their detreminent and failed to complete the legals - thats the equity part of the act)

I’m not sure OP has said there is actually a dispute, just that it’s contested. Would be good to know what that actually means.

It would also be good to know how big an area we are talking about here.

Go take their fence down and put your own up.

That's a reference to a Mumsnet Classic. You can see it at There is a tiny elderly Korean lady in my garden and I want to go out. | Mumsnet

Op how long have the neighbours owned their property, can you check on land registry? If less than 10 years they have no case at all. You must use the land and make sure you have access to it. Removing a fence panel and using the land is good advice.

Please keep us updated. Best wishes with this.

We had a boundary dispute with our NDN's and tried for too many years to solve it decently and without conflict. It didn't work. One very heavily worded solicitor's letter put a stop to 10 years of aggravation in one full swoop.

Go in all guns blazing here, and get legal advice.

It doesn’t need to be an expensive fence. Posts with chicken wire would make your position clear.

Yeah, sledgehammer time!

If they have been using it for 12 years without permission and you haven’t challenged them they can claim ‘adverse possession’ of the land.