rant/AIBU.. neighbourhood fence problem

[HerHonesty]

ok. so our boundary to next door house is fairly close - 1 metre. our house runs along it with 1 tiny bathroom window, otherwise neighbour looks onto brickwall. previous boundary consisted of abour 2 fts worth of brickwalls, very metre or so a brick pillar and horizontal fencing between. fencing high enough to not see over unless you jumped. fencing in absolutely fine condition.

so i come home (bear with me, i am ranting) to find neighbour has:

come onto our land,
removed top tier of fencing
tacked extra fencing on top of existing fencing
painted the new fencing a hideous orange stain which lookes ridiculous on top of the existing fence which is brown.
the whole thing looks like a botch job.

i'm furious about it all - not bothered about a higher fence, but about the colour, the botchness, her coming on to our land. can she do this?

well depends on who owns that boundary and has the responsibility to maintain it. If you're in a terrace the usual rule is that you each own one side iyswim. It should be stated in the forms that are completed when you bought your house and is sometimes possible to tell from the plans. So you need to check that first.

If it is "her" boundary then she pretty much can do what she likes provided it is not above 2m (I think) and unless you could show it was dangerous would have difficulty doing anything about it. As for her coming on to your land well often there are rights reserved within your title deeds for neighbours to be able to access your land for maintenance etc - again you would need to check.

If it is "your" boundary then no she shouldn't have altered it and you could explain to her that it is yours and you would like it returned to how it was (or at least painted the same colour or whatever) but tbh if she won't do anything about it then without going to court (v costly and difficult) not a lot you could do - though you could paint your side the same brown colour?

sorry that's a bit long! hth

we're detached, she is end of terrace. nothing in deeds whatsove. wee hae good side of the fence, if you know what i mean. even if it is her fence, can she just walk on to our land without asking us or at least giving us notice?

sorry, should have written "we have" late!

Had a look at deeds again last night. Slightly confusing picture. 1950, we have responsibility for fence. 1982, on building of some garages on adjoining land part of fence (but not all) appears to transfer in responsibility to her property.

So long and short is we are going to write to expressing dismay she entered property without permission given it was not an emergency (she admitted last night she had done this, and was unable to seek permission because she had just got up and decided to do it that day, and I was out). That we are unhappy with paint colour, quality of workmanship, materials used so will seek to replace in the future respecting her height requirements and giving her reasonable notice. And that in future permission must be sought to enter our property, which is both neighbourly/customary thing to do, and the legal thing to do.

On reflection, she?s a bit of a loon. We found her in our garden once last summer doing some gardening ?to help us out? and I think we just need to be clear of the boundaries (both physical and metaphorical!).

You might want to check out www.gardenlaw.co.uk forum for all info on fences/boundaries/rights of way etc

Having seen neighbours become neighbours from hell I would advise treading carefully, plus if you ever come to sell you will have to declare anything you put in writing re disputes etc

I know that the boundary is tight with the 1 metre bit, if you can put your own fence smack bang up to hers I would advise you do.

The law is that if the fence is hers she can paint it whatever colour she likes and that includes the side you look at. Madness I know but sadly that is the case.

If you touch her fence without her permission technically she can have you done for criminal damage. Have a look at the garden law website.

thanks guys, you are right about the letter etc. just have to learn to live with the loon.