When I asked my insurance for help it didn't make any difference to the next years premium. With what I have just said it wouldn't do any harm to speak to them they can only say one of two thing either your not covered or they will help. When you buy a house they don't ask you how much land you have unless you have a big house but not being in that situation and only having an average size house I can't speak regarding large properties with a massive garden. The house we had was a big 4 bedroom house but only had a small garden, the one we're in now is a 3 bedroom house and the garden is more than twice the size they never asked re the size of the garden. We are putting up and 6 x 10ft greenhouse so this afternoon are phoned and enquired as to whether or not it could be insured on my building insurance. I was told it will be cover and there's nothing extra as it comes under outbuildings. My green house is not completed yet and I only renewed my insurance today. I suppose what I'm trying to say is if you don't ask you won't know and if your paying for legal cover you might as well use it if you can.
Might your neighbour be willing to accept a decision from an independent arbiter? Or could you involve the person who gave you both the land? If (s)he agrees with your view of the matter, you could ask him/her to write to the neighbour on the lines: "This is where the boundary should be; if you don't like it, I'll have the land back."
I don't think she would have done it out of malice or spite which makes a difference. She just needed a divider and made something close to chicken wire by the sounds of things which takes a day to put up. A proper fence that lasts 20 years can take a week to build.
The insurance route sounds like a good idea.
I would not stand with such an eyesore at the bottom of my garden - also my dog escaping would create far more problems than neighbourly disputes..
If you do rip it down which I would be doing and would not even question doing it just like I would not question myself breathing then make sure you have a fence ready to replace it even if it takes a week to put up. Once the new fence is up and looks far better I doubt anyone in their right mind would complain. The worst she can do if you do this is call the police and all they will do if they do anything is to tell you to put a boundary fence back up for ripping it down which is what you will be doing anyway.
Forget her smashing some of your bricks... but use that in your defence if anyone questions what you are doing of course. To me another headache is all this "rubbish" that will need to be disposed of that she has used to make her fence out of.
This is a tricky situation and you should tread very very carefully to resolve it. But it does need resolved, because even if you avoid a boundary dispute now by accepting the wobbly fence, you are storing one up for the future in the event either of you try to sell. A purchaser or their solicitor will look at the boundary and see it does not match the officially recorded one, sending up a red flag. I would implement a two pronged strategy:
Charm Offensive: Swallow your righteous sense of injustice and act the concerned neighbour. It’s a health hazard and you don’t want your neighbour or her visiting grandchildren, your children etc., to injure themselves. You are concerned your dogs will get through and damage her garden. Gently recruit other neighbours, the person that gifted you the land, your neighbours children if applicable - play to their self interests if they are going to inherit the property at some point in the future, they won’t want a boundary dispute on record either.
New Fencing: Go ahead and replace your existing fence. Boundaries are shared but fences are owned. So, assuming the fence between your two gardens is yours to replace, go ahead as planned and replace the existing stretch up to the point of the new land/her awful fence. Erect the same fence along your new bottom boundary, plus, as a marker, erect a sturdy corner post in the carefully measured correct position, presumably this lines up with the run of your existing garden fence. The shoddy fenced gap will look so awful in comparison to your new smart fence, that might, in itself, be enough to persuade her to allow you to remove and replace it.
Although minor, she has committed an act of trespass and criminal damage, but do not, under any circumstances, replicate her crime by trespassing on her land or removing her fences without her permission. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Finally, what a wonderful gift, I’m sorry this problem has soured it for you, but try not to lose the joy of having an enlarged garden and console yourself with exciting new plans to develop it, be that a new flowerbed, shed, patio or just extra space for the kids to play in.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I knew a severely autistic young person who loved to trampoline ... he also loved the feeling of fresh air all over his body while trampolining ... fortunately his neighbours were very understanding ... but perhaps the OP could invite him to stay for a few days 😉
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you for your advice everyone. I must confess to a growing sense of frustration. Without escalating this beyond all proportion I will not get this put right. The lovely gentleman who gave this to us has no family and he would be gutted if he knew his generous gift had made enemies between myself and the neighbour so I don't feel I can go down that route without deeply upsetting him and that is not something I am prepared to countenance.
The other neighbours, who she dragged into it during my absence, are on my side and have tried to persuade her that she is being irrational but she is not budging, She has a family member who is a surveyor and in my opinion he has told her exactly what I can and cannot do without recourse to legal action and that would begin by getting a surveyors report at my expense and then accuse her of trespass. And then it rolls on.
She will of course wait until I put my fence up and then take hers down so she gets the benefit of my fence and the extra land - that is who she is. I will write periodically to say its my land and it will be stalemate until one of us wants to sell and then whoever it is will have to sort it. My household insurance will not cover it but I do have another way of funding this which I am loathe to do and other ways of getting my pound of flesh but why should I lower myself to her abysmal depths. There will be no relationship between us other than general cordiality for the sake of others .
Others take note, no matter how well you THINK you get on with someone, put everything in writing, even in the early days to protect everyone involved.
I personally think that if I were in the same situation, the new fence may fall down at some point... Probably late at night. I would of course blame the shoddy workmanship of the lot that put it up, and offer to replace it with nice new fencing to match the rest of the new fence being erected.
Well, let’s hope they are not a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors then. I’ve spent the last 20 years examining RICS candidates and in addition to technical material, ethical standards are a key part which you must pass. The RICS has 5 key ethics, amongst which are act with integrity, provide a high standard of service and treat others with respect. This includes not taking advantage or allowing bias/undue influence of others to override your professional judgement.
At no point have I ever thought it also included condoning others in their shady practices. Ho-hum, rotten apples and all that!
Posts
The insurance route sounds like a good idea.
I would not stand with such an eyesore at the bottom of my garden - also my dog escaping would create far more problems than neighbourly disputes..
If you do rip it down which I would be doing and would not even question doing it just like I would not question myself breathing then make sure you have a fence ready to replace it even if it takes a week to put up. Once the new fence is up and looks far better I doubt anyone in their right mind would complain. The worst she can do if you do this is call the police and all they will do if they do anything is to tell you to put a boundary fence back up for ripping it down which is what you will be doing anyway.
Forget her smashing some of your bricks... but use that in your defence if anyone questions what you are doing of course. To me another headache is all this "rubbish" that will need to be disposed of that she has used to make her fence out of.
Charm Offensive:
Swallow your righteous sense of injustice and act the concerned neighbour. It’s a health hazard and you don’t want your neighbour or her visiting grandchildren, your children etc., to injure themselves. You are concerned your dogs will get through and damage her garden. Gently recruit other neighbours, the person that gifted you the land, your neighbours children if applicable - play to their self interests if they are going to inherit the property at some point in the future, they won’t want a boundary dispute on record either.
New Fencing:
Go ahead and replace your existing fence. Boundaries are shared but fences are owned. So, assuming the fence between your two gardens is yours to replace, go ahead as planned and replace the existing stretch up to the point of the new land/her awful fence. Erect the same fence along your new bottom boundary, plus, as a marker, erect a sturdy corner post in the carefully measured correct position, presumably this lines up with the run of your existing garden fence. The shoddy fenced gap will look so awful in comparison to your new smart fence, that might, in itself, be enough to persuade her to allow you to remove and replace it.
Although minor, she has committed an act of trespass and criminal damage, but do not, under any circumstances, replicate her crime by trespassing on her land or removing her fences without her permission. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Finally, what a wonderful gift, I’m sorry this problem has soured it for you, but try not to lose the joy of having an enlarged garden and console yourself with exciting new plans to develop it, be that a new flowerbed, shed, patio or just extra space for the kids to play in.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The other neighbours, who she dragged into it during my absence, are on my side and have tried to persuade her that she is being irrational but she is not budging, She has a family member who is a surveyor and in my opinion he has told her exactly what I can and cannot do without recourse to legal action and that would begin by getting a surveyors report at my expense and then accuse her of trespass. And then it rolls on.
She will of course wait until I put my fence up and then take hers down so she gets the benefit of my fence and the extra land - that is who she is. I will write periodically to say its my land and it will be stalemate until one of us wants to sell and then whoever it is will have to sort it. My household insurance will not cover it but I do have another way of funding this which I am loathe to do and other ways of getting my pound of flesh but why should I lower myself to her abysmal depths. There will be no relationship between us other than general cordiality for the sake of others .
Others take note, no matter how well you THINK you get on with someone, put everything in writing, even in the early days to protect everyone involved.
I would of course blame the shoddy workmanship of the lot that put it up, and offer to replace it with nice new fencing to match the rest of the new fence being erected.
At no point have I ever thought it also included condoning others in their shady practices. Ho-hum, rotten apples and all that!