Neighbour has just lowered the fence!

[draxdomax]

We are end of terrace and are responsible for the fence to the left of us.
Having trouble with the neighbor to the right.

Bit of history: We started off alright but then we caught them spying on us (we are a F+F couple and I guess they find us interesting or disagreeable).
The police got involved and caught them with cameras illegally set up.
There was also evidence they were following us around the street and taking pictures and posting to channels (those pictures eventually reached us).

We didn't talk for 3 years.
Then, a common friend has died and we simply started talking again after meeting at the funeral.
Even started greeting each other and being somewhat pleasant.

Few days ago, neighbor approached and said he's having the fence between us changed.
It is indeed an old fence that would probably crumble this winter.
We asked him how high the new fence is going to be - he answered "as high as the old one".

Today, their fencing worker came with the fence panels and, not only that they are much shorter but they also have a "see-through" top section...
We've gone from 2m cover to 1m cover and feel naked, especially these are unpleasant and conflictive people with VERY keen interest in us.

My partner went to talk to them and the wife just laughed in her face "haha we don't care, it doesn't matter what we said"...

So, we are enemies again :/

1. Can we do something about the fact they promised a certain fence (verbally) and then installed a different one?
2. Can I attach something from my side on their fence? Thinking to get some sort of sheet material that will cover up to 6"... Or at least cover the see-through part of the fence

Any ideas, discussion, suggestions welcome.

Wickes sell this excellent willow screening. It's two metres and should attach using cable ties to the new fence. It's not actually a fence so they don't really have much they can complain about formally.

I'd plant Leylandii conifers. Buy bare root ones now because they will be cheap this time of year and root balled. Buy as big as you can and plant 2 per meter. The green grow faster than the golden. They need some care the first year and often don't grow the first year, but then after that pretty much zero maintence and grow FAST. They can look smart of trimmed and will provide yer round cover as evergreen, and, even better, you can grow them super tall just to piss them off 😂

Haven't they anything else to spend their time doing, rather than spying on you? As others have said, either put up your own fence as well, or maybe a nice row of leylandii (so long as they don't block your light).

A bit of an expense but bamboo screens; don’t satchel it to their fence though or buy some conifers the grow quite quickly & will provide a good screen for you failing that ivy but you’d need a lot of plants to build up a strong coverage

Put your own fence up and if you really want to annoy them, paint the side facing them a different colour to theirs.

You can put a fence on your side . Problem solved

Simple solution is to erect your own fence inside there’s on your own ground ..sorted

Yep

and fact op doesn’t want to do this as “playing in to their hands” indicates to me she likes the drama

Temporarily put up a barrier on your side. Then grow some tall shrubs. Don't go for Leyland or similar as they get out of hand and will cause even more aggravation in the long run. You can grow a mix of shrubs like hawthorn, beech, cornus etc which will also encourage wildlife.

It's not the OP's FAULT that these creepy bastards reduced the height of the fence! I'd have thought that a minimum of civil 'hello' at a funeral and then afterwards was what most normal people would do to keep things rolling along civilly - even in the face of that appalling intrusion and creepy behaviour.

But just saying hello or nodding once in a while wasn't going to result in them doing this nonsense with the fence. None of this is OP's fault.

I like the OP's suggestion about a half-fence with a raised panel, leaving her room underneath to plant things. But for heavens' sake OP, as a sensible poster or two already suggested, please document exactly where you place it. Take photos, look at your deeds and be sure you're placing it right at the edge of your property line. You'll only lose a few inches (the width of your own fence) but of course if the bastards next door remove their fence they will have 'gained' the footprint width of their own fence. It sounds petty but isn't, not with people like this - if you, for instance, placed your own fenceline a foot within your own property, they would almost certainly grab that extra land. It might even set some sort of precedent.

As for painting their side offensively, if it were me I wouldn't. Tempting though it is. They are clearly really unpleasant and unpredictable people and I would try to be the bigger person here. Just give them a boring blank fence above theirs. And don't forget to really treat it with wood preservative or whatever, then you don't have to negotiate access to paint it again for a few years and it'll last longer. If you can spare the cash, get someone in to sink really sturdy fence posts for this fence, it makes a lot of difference in high wind if they're well placed in concrete. Better still, concrete fence posts! (though they are £££s) Our horrible NDNs have a 6' fence with concrete posts and it's bombproof through several seasons of high winds. (Horrible NDNs have never tried filming us though...)

Like others on this thread, I'm gobsmacked that they set up cameras and were actually trailing you around town! Do they really think that you're going to stage naughty naked romps in your back garden? Massive sympathies. Maybe they'll move away one day...

I had an issue with my neighbours whose fence was never going to last another winter, rotted posts and swaying dangerously in the wind. I was doing my garden up and offered to go half with them on replacing their fence but they refused to pay said they weren't looking to change their fence for a couple more years. I didn't want to look at their ugly fence anymore plus it was only 4-5foot and didn't have any privacy.

I took plenty of pictures before I put my fence up next to theirs. I look pictures up throughout the install, e.g. when the posts and rails where up to document the gap between my fence and the boundary.

I informed my neighbours of what I was doing and told them clearly that any gap between my fence and the boundary is still my land and they cannot claim that land as theirs.

Well no surprises they took down their fence 6 months later, they basically wanted a fence for free! They then tried to steal my land but I sent a letter informing them they have no legal right to claim it. This will stop them claiming possession of the land after 10yrs - some law that lets people do that.

So long as you do all of that you will be fine.

I only lost the width of the post which really isn't much space.

Personally because of the size of your garden I would just make your own concrete post holders in pots and put up the trellis screening, then grow jasmine or whatever you want. It's temporary structure and because its not a fence you can go higher than 2m.

Just to let you know I gave my neighbours time to get their own legal advice and inform me if they didn't agree that the land they tried to steal was mine. They didn't because I had documented everything with photos proving where the boundary is.

Judging by how your neighbours are I would probably want to avoid that hassle. Lots of other options you can do.

I only went for my own fence because I wanted to grow roses and paint the fence so having complete control over what I could do to the fence was the reason for my decision.

I don’t think this pp is saying it’s the OP’s fault

but rather baffled why they would start talking to people who stalked and recorded them and were profoundly unpleasant to them

and I’m also baffled

They then tried to steal my land but I sent a letter informing them they have no legal right to claim it. This will stop them claiming possession of the land after 10yrs - some law that lets people do that

@Dreamstate your neighbours just randomly said your land was theirs?

@Ohambassador yeh they took their fence down even though they said they weren't going to after I put mine up - so basically they wanted a new fence for free. They knew there was a gap between boundary and my fence as I explained it them before I put mine up. Also my landscapers left some concrete in the gap to shore up the drain pipes so I had proof with pictures.

They then started filling in the gap with soil and lawn, they were in their garden loudly talking (because they always think they are so important) not realising I was in mine and saying how their garden is now much more bigger with that extra bit. How they wanted to paint it but I am a bad neighbour and probably wouldn't let them.

I went round to ask them to stop and remove what they had done they tried to tell me my fence was now the boundary fence. They had bricks on which their fence sat on which marked the boundary so it was clear where the boundary was until they then removed those bricks. to expand their lawn to take over the gap. They even had the cheek to bitch about my fence to me and why I put the nice side facing me and why did I put in a 2m fence.

I get free legal advice through work and got everything in order and sent a letter with everything the solicitor told me to include to protect what was mine.

Cheeky fuckers.

So on their side of the fence you built, they started to fill the gap with concrete?

Because presumably she could see them doing it?

@Ohambassador no they started to fill in the gap with soil and lay grass over it above the concrete gravel boards which would of caused my fence to start rotting. Its why their fence was rotting too.

But it was on their side of the fence? That’s what I’m confused about

But still on @Dreamstate’s land. If I for some bizarre reason put up a fence 6 foot from my boundary, I’m not automatically giving that 6 foot to my neighbour!

In this case, the neighbours were altering land they didn’t own in a way that would cause damage to her fence.

I’m not sure what is confusing about that?

@Ohambassador so they had a fence that sat on the boundary line. That marked the boundary. It was in poor state, thy didn't want to go halves on a new fence to replace it. So I put my own fence up inside my boundary leaving say a 5-10cm gap between my fence and the boundary. That gap is still my land. They took down their fence and decided thy would just take the extra land (the gap) as theirs. Therefore they tried to change where the boundary was, by saying my fence is now the boundary fence which it isn't.

I just wanted to share what I've been through with the OP because if they have CF neighbours like mine it might be better that they just other things that have been suggested to avoid all the hassle I've had

This is a really good suggestion about being able to make it taller than 2m if you want!

I would take some photos of your side of the fence before you put any fence up. Make sure you you get the fence position documented relative to any unmoveable features (wall drainpipes, manhole covers, the wall of the house). That way if they try to remove their fence and claim the land, you have documentary evidence of where the original fence was if it comes up in the future.

TBH in a terrace the position of the fence is normally slightly inside the midpoint of the houses (where the party wall is). It should actually be slightly toward the property that owns the fence (on the property that owns the fences land) rather than exactly on the dividing line, unless the fence is shared ownership, but in older properties sometimes they move about a bit as fences get taken down and re-installed.

I wouldn't put a fence on stalks. It would look weird and might not hold together very well in the wind because it would be very top heavy. I would put in a high fence with a trellis on top to make it even higher, or trellis all the way up if you want to grow things on it/have a display. I would be careful putting the fence in, as you need to make sure you don't damage the neighbours fence in any way when you sink the posts in, and obviously it would be a good idea to paint it, maybe several coats on the inaccessible side before it is installed. I would also make the panels easy to remove - wooden posts I would use clips, concrete posts are easy to slot panels in and out as and when you need to.

Your neighbours sound weird. But some people genuinely don't have enough to do with their time/or are just plain batshit.