To ask neighbour not to paint fence?

[LittleCarrot12]

our house was new build when we bought it and largely open plan. We chipped in with neighbour and upgraded back boundary fence, .

At front we decided to add a small border fence to keep dog in . It’s wholly in our land, paid for by us and leaves a small slither in neighbouring side which allows us to paint it both sides.
Neighbours were fine with it but they’ve moved and a couple moved in. Came home and they’ve painted side that faces their house black. It’s awful - patchy and uneven. Even if they do another coat it’s really messy with edges coming into my side.
I can see why they might assume it’s a boundary fence but it’s not. Should I say something? I don’t want issues with neighbours but feel my property has been damaged

Say that you just want to let them know it's your fence, not a shared fence.

Say you are disappointed they have painted it as it's spoiled your side and you have every intention of maintaining it properly yourself.

They didn't know. It's done now, not sure what telling them will achieve.

I would just politely let them know that it is your fence and that you'll be changing it back from the black paint. They obviously didn't know and it's not worth starting neighbour wars over.

I think you should tell them it's not a boundary fence if it's totally on your land and could they not paint it. I think you'd need their permission to go onto their land though to repaint it though, but you should be able to cover their mess from your own side.

What's your issue with them painting the side that faces into their garden (other than the fact that they were messy and got "your" side too?!)

Obviously it's your fence so there's the principle of the matter, but IMO it's a bit unreasonable to force a colour of your choice onto them.

I suppose if they wanted to they could erect their own fence actually on the boundary and paint it whatever colour they liked.

Well that's the point. If they didn't like it they could erect their own. It's like saying the neighbour shouldn't have to look at the colour of your house that faces them so they should be able to paint it 🫤. The fence is completely on the OPs land. Of course they had no right to paint it

@durundundun absolutely they didn't have the right to paint it, but they weren't to know that I suppose. Fences are commonly used to demonstrate a boundary. Presumably OP can't even see the colour of their side when she's in her garden 🤷🏻‍♀️ If OP doesn't like a black fence that she can't even see, I'm not sure she'll like an additional fence only a slither away from hers painted black.

You are going to have to tell them it's your fence because they might do something else to it like put some trellis at the top of it.

I think that most people don't know you can't paint a fence that is on the boundary in case it isn't yours.

Was it unpainted before?

The issue I see with the slither of land is surely you need to go on their property to access or maintain the back of your fence? It has complicated matters and was quite likely to cause confusion. You might want to make it clear but I would get ready for them to put their own fence up on the boundary

Absolutely let them know and change the fence back. What do you have marking the boundary and is it clear on the deeds? Would the new neighbours be able to easily claim that slither if they thought they were paying for it too?

Thanks all. I will say to them and say when I’m painting my side again I’ll paint it back although it’s going to be a pain as it’s so dark and was pale grey before.

I see the point they need to look at it but it’s still my fence and responsibility to maintain it - I can see it too from my windows /back garden.

i don’t need access to their land to paint.

Definitely tell them! They need to know where the boundary is anyway.

Just explain and ask them to please return the fence to its original colour as soon as they can.

@LittleCarrot12 how do you get access if it is a narrow piece of land? Even if you lean over and don't put your feet on their land it sounds like you need their side open to access. Would you still be able to plant/ paint if they put their own fence up on the boundary? What if there was a plant in front of theirs? Ploting deeds on the ground is notoriously tricky, even with specialist software and I do think it's necessary to make clear where the boundary is, maybe with a line of bricks or wood? It isn't a front garden but I have a line of blocks outside my hedge as a permanent mark. I think the position of the fence initially caused this issue really and if I was the neighbour 100% a new boundary marker would be going in on my side leaving the gap between. Cannot see how the system of being able to have both sides of the fence on your land leaving only a small piece on the boundary isn't dependant in reality on using their side or expecting it to be unplanted. Which is why I think the fence position itself and the expectation that it would be left alone is a bit unreasonable.

@CountryCob there is a shared path with service access between my land and their land that I can stand on to paint.

they know this is a path for access but choose to park their van on it . I don’t really care about that but they seem to be extending their land incorrectly and taking ownership over the path

This was driving me mad. Even when I knew what OP meant.

@LittleCarrot12 oh I see thanks for explaining, it does sounds like you need to tell them everything from the shared service path edge is yours, is the shared service path a common part in the estate? It does sound like the boundaries need to be confirmed and that might be a bit of a task going forward. I would find a way to let them know. Are there regulations about parking on the shared access?

People shoukd just have conversations with their neighbours before doing anything and check. Too late now for OP.

Op just tell them snd explain the fence is on your land and you're sorry they aren't aware but the next time you paint the fence will be restored back to the original colour

You need to have a friendly conversation now before you have a boundary dispute on your hands.

A lot of people don't understand that they are not supposed to paint a fence if they don't own it.

But the bigger problem I think you have is the fact that the ownership of the land is unclear and it looks like they are using it and eventually it will become theirs by "belief" even if not legal right.

This could cause future issues.

Probably you should mark the boundary, even if it is just concrete posts and wire.

Thanks all. I’ll have a chat. It’s getting its annual paint next month so will have it painted back.

The path belongs to the estate although I’m not sure if there are restrictions on parking - never thought of that. If he doesn’t park there he parks on the road which is really dangerous with kids playing as it restricts visibility.

If it was just painting "their" side of the fence it might not be worth making a big fuss about, but your update about the shared path and it being blocked by their van changes things.
You absolutely need to point out that your fence isn't the boundary and that you have the right to use the path (take a wheel barrow down it to help with the weeding or paintingeven if you don't really need to) Send a copy of the site plan on your deeds to back this up.
If you don't you will likely find they lay claim to the path, and your fence!