Neighbour is using shared boundary fence as part of a kennel

[Xmasallyear]

Before I go absolutely mad trying to talk what I think is sense to the housing officer for the 100th time I wanted to check what others think and if there are any legal issues to this? I can't find anything that specifically applies as I don't imagine a lot of people are this cheeky.

My next door neighbour has built an open top pen / kennel for dogs at the bottom of their garden. It only has two walls that they have built as it is using the fences ( mine and another neighbours ) as the other walls to contain the dogs.

I've checked the deeds there's no mention on our end of who actually owns the fence so I would assume it's a shared responsibility to maintain and replace when needed. I could be wrong about this?

My issues are

It's quite unsightly - it's made of old pallets, and not only attached to the fence but using the fence as a wall of the kennel, and I think it would be off-putting to potential house buyers if we were to sell.

The dogs use the kennel to jump and reach the top of the fence to bark which is quite intimidating.

The potential damage of using the fence this way, surely containing dogs like this will speed up the fence deteriorating? Or even potentially we could have a dog loose in our garden through damage.

I don't want to spend money maintaining / replacing a fence for it to be used this way.

We were planning on putting a Wendy house at the bottom of our garden ( one with four walls obviously a normal distance away from the fence ) but now can't as the dog is jumping up and I don't want potential dog biting accidents through or over the fence!

There's probably more but that's the gist!

Not that it should matter but it is a housing association property and we are mortgaged owners.

Does anyone know if this should be allowed? I've been complaining to the HA but I'm not getting anywhere.

You really need to know who owns the fence, no mention does not mean shared ownership. Whoever owns the fence, its the responsibility of the dog owner to keep their dog(s) securely on their own property. You can also go to the council about noise nuisance if the dogs are barking a lot.

Thanks for response. Yes there are a lot of noise nuisance complaints also ongoing.

I'm really not sure in regards to who owns the fence, as I said the deeds don't say and the HA aren't claiming it's theirs ( just currently avoiding any of my contact around the issue ) so unsure where to go from there.

No practical help other than to say I have two separate fences where it seems nobody owns them according to Land Reg or deeds. The rule of T-marks has long been unpoliced, so it's down to the homeowners to duke it out in whatever way works.

is the fence at all unsteady?
It might be worth talking to dog warden or police if the dogs can get their heads over the fence stood on the kennel, or its jumpable from the kennel roof. That is not secure control.

It's quite sturdy in that area at present. Yes we've spoken to dog warden who redirects us back to the housing association / police.

Police seemed a bit extreme but may have to explode that option. I just naively assumed the housing association would step in, especially as the dog is causing a noise nuisance for quite a few houses.

you might want to go back to the HA and say to them that your next step will be the police

The Housig Association should either deal with the noise/dog complaint OR say why they will not take action.

Send a complaint and if they dont respond off to the Housing Ombudsman.

I suggest that the fence issue needs to be dealt with as part of the complaint

What I would add thinking about it............

If its the Housing Associations fence then he's damaging their property

If its yours then complain to the HA that he's damaging your property which they need to address

If the dogs get into your garden then thats a whole load of odure and its a Police matter