Fence issues - annoying neighbour

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I guess someone on here may now about this...……...

There is a fence on the left side of our property that is in need of repair / replacing (in part). The neighbour replaced the fence about ten years ago (before we moved in) apart from a short 10foot section which now needs replacing.

We discussed this  with him and he seemed happy initially but now has told us he does not want the fence touching. He accused my wife of trespassing and killing one of his chickens !!

When we bought the property about five years ago the part of the fence which we now wish to replace was repaired by the previous owner as a condition of our purchasing the property. The work he did was not as good as the fence our neighbour made and it is now in need of repair / replacing.

The fence in question is on the left side of our property but to the rear of his property - if that makes sense.

We are now getting someone in to replace the fence that is broken and the work will be to a higher standard than previously.

Are we entitled to effect the repairs / replacement or do we need his permission ?

We don't want any money from him but he's refusing to discuss and completely blanks me and my wife.

We will tell the contractor under no uncertain terms is he to trespass (set a single toe) on our neighbours land whilst he replaces the fence. The work involves the citing of three concrete posts, gavel boards and fence panel(s).

Apologies to all for the non climbing content but I do see lots of posts on different things on here.

Hoping someone can advise

Thanks

Allan

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Apologies for terrible spelling am on lunch and somewhat hurried

 wintertree 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Your neighbour is crazy and any attempt to reach a shared understanding over the boundary issues will just involve dealing with crazy, which escalates the problem.

Errect a new and stout fence just inside the shared boundary and install a CCTV camera pointing at it.

Post edited at 15:53
 TMM 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Normally these issues are resolved through decent neighbourliness and pragmatism, sadly you appear to stumbled upon one which will require checking your title deeds.

Boundaries will often be the shared responsibility of neighbouring parties or they might be the sole resonsibility on a single party. What do your deeds state?

If the responsibility is yours or shared shared you should inform him in writing that it is your intention to repair the fence as per the responsiblities stated in your deeds.

The problem will come if his deeds conflict with yours.

Very difficult to try and rationally engage with someone who is not open to reason.

Be very careful not to quickly escalte the issue or bring in a solictor if you plan on selling your house soon. It is your legal requirement to state any issues or disputes with neighbours, failure to do so can lead to breach of contract and considerable financial pain. Tread carefully and good luck!

 Timmd 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

I guess it depends on how crazy he is, regarding wintertree's advice. 

I guess setting up a CCTV camera while the person you're paying to do the fencing could be a plan, but it's always helpful to try and maintain good relationships too.

I might be tempted to knock on the fellow's door and try again one more time? 

Edit: I can be slightly childlike sometimes in my approach to people, it could appear, but 'Sorry to hear about your chicken, would you like some chocolate?' might catch him off guard enough to soften him?

Post edited at 16:02
 Cheese Monkey 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Unless you have a tiny garden just lose a few inches of land and do it all on your side of the line. No real loss, and no lost sleep

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Our house was built a decade before his !

When our house was built there were no other houses in the vicinity so imagine our deeds will be light on the matter...…………..

 profitofdoom 13 Sep 2019
In reply to wintertree:

> Your neighbour is crazy and any attempt to reach a shared understanding over the boundary issues will just involve dealing with crazy, which escalates the problem....

I agree the neighbour is acting crazy, but I suggest a different tack - as your next step, make every, every possible effort to negotiate with them and reach an amicable agreement with them. What have you got to lose? ---Good luck---

 Stichtplate 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Unfortunately many deeds don’t clearly indicate who has responsibility for a boundary (normally denoted by a series of’Ts’). Off the top of my head, if you can prove the section of fence has been maintained by owners of your property for something like 14 or 15 years, then ownership of the fence is yours.

Edit: whatever you do, don’t get into a legal dispute. The only winners will be the lawyers and it’ll make your property difficult to sell.

Post edited at 16:08
 wintertree 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Timmd:

> I guess it depends on how crazy he is,

Crazy enough to accuse someone of killing his chicken.  

In reply to Allanfairfechan:

The broken bit of fence in question was broken as there was an old tree there (which is why neighbour did not complete his fence fully to boundary). The tree rotted and so we asked the seller to repair the fence before we purchased property. The broken fence was hidden  by an old garage which we have now dismantled so the small section is a bit of an eyesore.

 Timmd 13 Sep 2019
In reply to wintertree:

> > I guess it depends on how crazy he is,

> Crazy enough to accuse someone of killing his chicken.  

I mean the 'nature of his craziness', I suppose, in that craziness isn't linear, but random. If craziness was linear, we might know where we were with nutty people.  He might just be weird about his chickens. 

Post edited at 16:52
 Fruitbat 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Your neighbour does seem odd: if you are organising and paying to replace/complete a section of (his?) fence then he should be pleased. Will the new fence be the same style as the existing fence?

Re the suggestions of moving the line of new fence completely on to your property, will this not look out-of-line with the existing fence? I realise that this may avoid the contractor having to step onto the neighbour's land but I'm sure that there is something along the lines of 'allowing reasonable access' to enable maintenance and jobs such as this to get done on adjoining properties.

As for the threat of trespass, he would have to take you to court as it's a civil matter and I believe there also has to have been damage to his land or he is disadvantaged or something similiar - I don't think there are actually many successful trespass cases (take before, during and after photos, I cant imagine a few footprints and a bit of squashed grass caused by replacing an existing fence will be seen as damage). Do a search on here, I'm sure there have been a few threads about it regarding access and footpaths etc. I vaguely recall that a token offer to cover any (alleged) damage can pretty much mean there is no chance of it going further. As you can probably tell from my supposition and rambling, I am not a lawyer but maybe one will be along to give some proper advice (and show that I was spouting rubbish). 

Post edited at 17:45
 aln 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Give them a cooked chicken and a bunch of flowers.

In reply to Fruitbat:

Will look the same as his but as the ground is gradually rising (our house sits above his) we won't be over-engineering it to the extent he has lower down as the bank is only a few inches high where we are replacing the fence

Removed User 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

How exactly does your neighbour believe your wife murdered the chicken?

 greg_may_ 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Removed User:

Some sort of henous crime I suspect. 

 Timmd 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Removed User:

That's what I was wondering, whether he thinks she left it bloody with feathers scattered around.

 Tom Valentine 13 Sep 2019
In reply to Timmd:

As long as it was washed before cooking......

 EdS 14 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Feed him to the chickens, problem solved.

They do a good job of stripping meet from carcasses

 daWalt 14 Sep 2019
In reply to greg_may_:

> Some sort of henous crime...

A fowl deed

 neilh 14 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

How old is your neighbour.?might he be suffering from dementia?

1
 trouserburp 15 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

Surely if he is serious about protecting his chickens he should welcome a fence. Buy a pet badger and let him play in the garden

Post edited at 10:47
1
 Jim Fraser 15 Sep 2019
In reply to Allanfairfechan:

It is not clear to me what legal jurisdiction you are living in.

In my experience and from a Scottish perspective, a fence or wall is usually regarded as belonging to one party or the other. Greater clarity is seen with asymmetric constructions such as a wire fence where the wire is the actual boundary and the fence belongs to the person on whose land the posts rest. 

Sometimes the mystery of where the boundary lies and who owns the fence can be solved by examining the oldest detectable remnants of posts and the junctions of wall and fences.

Erecting a fence entirely on you own property as a solution is all very well but may store up trouble for the future if you establish a boundary that conflicts with the deeds. 

Take care.


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