Apologies for length - want to give all the facts to get advice about what the facts are.
We live in a detached house with another detached house next door. There is a small corridor of paved patio all the way round our house with gates out to the front on both sides. The house was bulit 10 years ago on the site of an old bungalow. On one side there is another detached house. The boundary between us is the paved area and then towards the back of our house, the wall of their detached garage. They then have a ramshackle carport thing out to the front of both houses where the boundary is an ancient chain link fence.
A hedge then forms the main boundary between the property down from the houses into the gardens. The hedge also has a small chain link fence mixed up in it with metal posts that have clearly been there a long time. It has always been our plan to replace the whole lot with a proper fence as it is very ramshackle (and as is the case on our other side) and this was agreed with the people who owned the house when we moved in 3 years ago. The garage is in a poor state of repair and the hedge is dying, with lots of gaps, and has not been maintained.
New people moved in a year ago. They have dogs which they let roam in the garden. So we have had to temporarily patch up the gaps in the hedge with old boards etc as we have young children. Since the day they moved in, the dogs have barked at the children constantly if they have ever been out while the children were playing, as normal. The owners said they should settle down once they got used to the new house, but they haven't. We have trimmed and maintained the hedge on our side, what's left of it, and used to do this as a joint project with the previous owners. The new owners haven't touched it at all and it is massively overgrown and protruding way above the line of our side into the air. As the gaps get bigger, we are increasingly worried about their dogs getting through.
We now have the money to do the fencing and are getting quotes so had a chat with the neighbours to let them know. They coincidentally have just submitted plans for a double story side and rear extension, using the existing garage, building on top and a new structure in front of the garage out to the front. Their plans show that they are planning to build right up to and sligthly over the boundary into our land. The land registry deeds confirm this.
They say we can't remove the hedge as it is theirs, we say we can as it forms the boundary and no one owns it, as per Practice guide 40: Land Registry plans, supplement 4, boundary agreements and determined boundaries. We are offering to pay full costs of the fence. We are also planning to comment on their initial plans because it seems to us that it will be way too close to the border of the 2 properties - actually will be on the border, and this seems bonkers to us. Assuming we put the fencing in before they build their extension it will be right up against the fence.
Where do we stand on the hedge removal - we were planning to give them say 4 weeks notice of works starting to allow them to "contact the council" etc as they have said they may want to do. Also, what does planning law state on building an extension right up against the boundary (assuming they cant actually get over the boundary as the current plans show) - is there a minimum distance you need to observe from the boundary?
Many thanks