Neighbour has built a fence splitting a shared driveway. legal advice?
i work in surrey at the moment and own a house in mansfield. the people who i rent the house to have gone on holiday. i came back to do an inspection on the place and to my horror a 6 foot high fence has been erected along the entire length of the boundary line between the two houses, thus, blocking off the access to the back yard for my car. the fact that the house has/had off street parking and a functional garage was a major selling point and i fear i may have lost value on the house.
so do i go to the council or go to my solicitor. should i confront my neighbour directly? any input would be much appreciated.
Answers:
It will be as well to speak directly to the neighbours first and find out why they have erected the fence.I dont understand how you cannot now get access to your rear yard.If the driveway is equally shared then the fence must not encroach your half if it does tell the neighbours you will tear it down after giving them written notice of encroahment.This matter will get worse if not attended to but Solicitors are expensive to use for the sake of a compromise which you can do yourself at zero cost.Finally should the Title deeds mention it being a shared drive then they are not aqllowed to erect a structure.Their could be a question of Public safety invoved.Glad its you and not me I have one who bumped my new car then when I asked for the Insurance detail I was told to f.k off,
I'd approach the neighbor nicely first. It can't hurt.
Better get your lawyer to go through your title deeds ASAP
Go to your local planning office, I had similar problem, and turns out that people are not allowed to work on boundaries without first notifying you in writing.
Also, try to find out which boundary is yours, as you may be within your rights to remove the fence as technically it could "belong" to you !!
I would ask the neighbour exactly what is goin on. If he has stayed on the boundary line I wouldnt imagine you have much say in the matter. Obviously he felt the need to erect this so this is what you need to establish. Why??
Before you go seeking exspensive legal advice do you Know your boundaries? Its a starting point, maybe your neighbour has every right to put the fence up where he has. Title deeds will normally show who has what and therefore the right. Although this could have changed since the deeds were first made. Land Registry may be able to help.
The most realistic way to resolving neighbour and boundary disputes (even if its not about land ownership) is to approach the neighbour and try to resolve it one way or another. Next option would be your local authority. The last option would be a solicitor (particulary the one who dealt with orignal house purchase)
You said you "rented" the house to them.
Does your rental agreement not say in it that they cannot make any changes or improvements to the house or property with out prior approval from you?
They cant block your access go to the council planning department and check out the boundaries etc. Also if its taller than 6 foot they may have to take it down as I was informed that the council have height regulations to do with access, light and all sorts of things. So get it checked out I would not approach the neighbour until you had all your facts straight.
Our neighbour once replaced their fence between us and them they were not allowed to put it straight on top of the boundary line they were told by the council that it would then encroach on our space so they put it about 4 inches their side of the boundary.
If I understand you correctly your neighbour has erected the fence at the mid point between their house and yours. You have an existing garage which has enjoyed access along the 'shared' driveway. As others have suggested, get a copy of your deeds, hopefully it will show who owns the land, and even if it should prove to be in the neighbours ownership it may show that you have a right of access over it.
Most likely you both have equal rights of access meaning that neither of you can block the other, either by leaving vehicles on the shared drive and most certainly not erecting a fence.
If that is not the case then you may need to consult a solicitor with the following in mind. Do your research first if you can, it'll perhaps cut down your eventual bill. At some stage, someone built the garage, you or a previous owner. There was obviously car access to the garage and presumably that access has been used, and it depended upon the shared access. There is a principle that in effect says you should not stand back and watch some one do something to their obvious detriment and then try to claim a right that prevents them using what they have done. IE it would be unjust for your neighbour, or their predecessor, to watch you build a garage, use it to put your car in and then say, ha ha, my drive, you've encroached on my land, I'll fence it off now to establish my ownership and you can't use your garage. If this scenario fits it may help you, depends upon where exactly your garage is and the small details that we don't know about from your question.
Communicate only in writing with your neighbour.
Check your deeds to you property.If he has built on your common areas he is not allowed to do this without your permission. He is restricting or preventing access to parts of your own property and as such is making the property the subject of dispute.You will not find it as easy to sell the property if you need to if it is under dispute.Resolve this as quickly as possible through a solicitor.Be friendly to your neighbour if you see them but refer any discussion to your solicitor. Keep a record of all events.
You say you came back 'to do an inspection on the place' I hope you mean just from the outside..to do an internal inspection during the absence of the tenant would be out of line.
Back to your question, your council will be unable to help you; this is a civil matter. First you could take advice from CAB. The point raised by other answerers I endorse.check out your deeds. If you have a mortgage, your lender may be able to help.
It really and simply comes down to what rights are conveyed by your deeds - either by land ownership, access rights and restrictive covenants relating to the erection on fences. This is not a Council matter as the fence does not require planning permission at 2 metres (except that the last metre where it comes up to the pavement must not be higher than 1 metre). If the deeds are in your favour then you will have to pursue it privately via your solicitor. Good luck
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
More Law Questions and Answers: