Grow Your Own Magazine

hello

i have joined this forum because I love my garden
however I do have a problem
last year my neighbour removed our concrete post and wire fencing between our gardens (old council stuff) and replaced it within the same holes more concrete posts and wooden fencing.
They have now complained to us because we put up trellis on this fence however my argument is how are we to put up trellis is they removed the old boundary fence.

Any advice

MC

You need to check the deeds to see who's fence it is.

If it's council or HA stock you need to get the permision of the Rent Office.

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thanks for you reply
My house is HA they have brought their's
think it's a case of 'we own ourhouse and can do what we want'
I should have complained when they took away the orginal fence
Not sure if the HA would real be interested in a neighbour despute

There's been a couple of threads about boundary problems - someone recommended a site called (I think) Garden Law? Anyway I think they said that 'normally' the fence to your right as you look down the garden is yours and that you have no right to put anything on your neighbours fence (unlike say a party wall in a house).

So some people made suggestions about putting your own fence just inside the boundary so that you could grow whatever you wanted up it.

__________________
Manda.

Yet Nature is made better by no mean
But Nature makes that mean; so over that art
Which you say adds to Nature, is an art
That Nature makes.

Hmmm we had a similar problem a few years ago, as it was a council fence, then they really should have contacted you about it and the HA first. Nevertheless, its too late for that now, what I would suggest is to ask the HA for them to put up a fence as a neighbourhood dispute will ensue.
There is another alternative, if you and your neighbour cannot resolve this amicably, then maybe self referring yourself to a mediation service will help resolve issues.
Something so small like a trellis CAN turn into something big, so nip it in the bud now.

I am sorry to hear that your neighbours are being very silly about this but dont worry yourself about it.

Find out what colour they have painted their side then spray your side with a darker colour and really bung it on so it drips down their side...

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Naughty naughty giving peeps ideas lol.......

thanks for all your replies
unfortunately I have already recieved a letter threatening legal action.
My husband went to talk with them and they just shouted him down!
They don't seem to understand we were upset when they removed the old fence and could have taken legal action against them ourselves - but didn't in the interest of neighbourly friendlyness
thats what you get for being nice
why should we have to put up a fence they took down just to put up 3 pieces of trellis!

If it's "their" fence, then "you" don't have a side. The whole fence belongs to the neighbour, and you cannot do anything to it.
Really, if you want trellis, then you will have to erect your own separate fence on your land. Seems daft, and it is, but that's the law.

Garden Law - Boundaries - walls and fences

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

gardenlaw is an excellent site for advice

also, if your house is HA then they should resolve the problem and will know whose fence it is. this might be the best route as it will be between HA and neighbour

some people are ridiculous arent they?

ann

Make sure there's a few knot holes too so that spray goes over things in their garden - like our neighbours did to our bbq and patio bench!!

I don't think you can legally paint their fence without their permission. Doing this could make matters a lot worse.

Oh dear.
By law as many have said already you cannot paint, grow or put anything at all on 'their' fence. However the fence they removed may not have been their property. They are also NOT allowed to place their fence one tidge over the boundary line so they may have infringed upon your garden. In which case you can demand they remove it as they have in fact attempted to steal part of your land.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about which boundary belongs to one side or another. In fact it's all nonsense. The boundary is an invisible line. either party can erect a fence, wall or whatever or not, as they wish either side of it. As long as the structure sits only on their side.

Neighbour disputes are horrible but it looks like you have to tackle this.
Go in strong with a Solicitors letter outlining these points and that you believe the fence they removed belonged to your property and must be reinstated by them at their expense.

Finish it with a softener suggesting that in the interests of a peaceful life for all you simply request they present legal proof that they have not transgressed the boundary and clear ownership of the original fence they removed.

State that you are happy to accept that and will not pursue reinstatement of your original fence if they can show the fence removed belonged to them and the new one is wholly on their side. If they are totally in the right you must erect your trellis independently. However it can ( legally) be right up against their fence anyway as long as it isn't actually attached. Tell them that is what you will do and express the wish that this can be resolved amicably.
Better to come across tough with your rights and knowledge of them right now
Also put them in a position of having to prove they have not done anything wrong and then show yourself to be reasonable and pleasant. Otherwise they'll not bother to check it out and continue to be arrogant and aggressive about it.
I speak from bitter experience here sadly. Slightly different scenario but initial attempts at neighbourly reasoning met much what you did. Better to make them march off to prove their rights then discover they are in the wrong. It worked for me.

We are going through this at the moment as we are a middle house in a group of 3 and when we moved in the boundery fencing was concrete posts and chain link but it was in a bad state.

The two neighbours have bought there houses and we are housing assocaiation and when it came to the point about who owned the fence a answer could not be found so i offered to replace the fence at my cost .

This has worked well because all the stages of the build was talked through with my neighbours and a compromise was always sorted to the satisfaction of both parties.

The biggest problem you have ( and your not going to like this ) is you rent your home and garden so it don't belong to you but the HA and so it's up to them to fight the case if any land has been grabbed , and as i know myself if you want to do work in the garden then you need written permission from your landlord but they don't need it for there back garden.

If the posts are in the same holes then that must have been the boundary long ago so they just replaced old with new , they don't need your permission or even your landlords to put up a fence or a brick wall if it's under 6' and this is not even covered under planning permission.

If you want trellis fencing then put another set of posts on your side and attach it to that and leave the fence alone as going to solisitors or court will just cost you , and just be thankful you have a new fence for nothing.

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---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

A quick and cheap remedy to put up your trellis would be to buy a couple of Metposts, put them in just your side of the fence. Drop in a couple of posts to fix to.

About £20 the lot.

Then forget about the dozy neighbours and enjoy life.

If you really wany to tick them off of course, you could always grow something like huneysuckle on a trellis and it will take over the damned fence in short order.

Not allowed to let your honeysuckle grow on or over their fence. Against the law.
The point here is the neighbours are the ones getting arsy not the op.
This is probably only the start so might as well get things straight from the off.

Regarding the replacement of the fence:
Nope. Anyones fence must be put purely on their side albeit right up to the boundary. If the fence the neighbours removed was originally erected on your side they have no right to touch it and have to prove it's theirs before doing so.
As the op was there first they have a stronger case that the fence was theirs whether erected by them or someone previously.
There is no such thing as a 'boundary fence'. Each side puts up their own IF they want to. It's not compulsory and there doesn't have to be one. You've still got the rights to any fence erected on your side by previous occupants however.

Isnt this stupid though, get a bottle of wine, invite them round and talk about the fence.... see if you can come to an agreement or ask them if they have spare paint so you can do 'your' side.