Almost eight months ago my neighbour got tradesmen in to replace his fence.
After the old one had been taken down he halted the works, claiming that it had been in the wrong place and that we had effectively stolen some of his land.
We have lived in our house for 50 years and the neighbour purchased his in 2020. The old fence was installed many years ago by the previous owners of my neighbour's house and we'd never had any problems before.
We instructed a solicitor and chartered surveyors who produced a report which confirms that we do not have any of his land.
A photo from Google earth has shown that a wall with his other neighbour was removed years before he bought the house. We suspect that therefore he has not taken his measurement from the correct position.
The neighbour later got his own surveyor report, which like ours suggested we didn't have his land. However, he doesn't accept this and says he will not progress discussions until his surveyor issues a satisfactory report.
What can be done to get him to install a new fence in the same position as the old one and give us back our privacy?
Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: In your situation, the next step would be to get a joint site visit arranged for both your surveyors. This would start the process of getting the problem resolved once and for all.
But since you first contacted me, you have informed me that your neighbour is now not responding to his surveyor and won't organise the visit.
The fact two surveyors have both stated that you have not got any of your neighbour's land on your property, and say the fence should be put back where it was, is telling.
The Land Registry title plans will be able to give some indication about the property boundaries and you should check them if you have not already done so.
You have already endured eight months of no fence and no privacy. I know you are exasperated, but you should do what you can to avoid a drawn-out and costly full-blown legal dispute, which a case like this could easily turn into.
Mediation and the drawing up of a mutually-agreed boundary agreement could be a good option.
However, I'm not convinced your neighbour would agree.
For an overview of the legal options you could consider, I asked two solicitors for their suggestions.
Olivia Egdell-Page, a partner and head of property at Joseph A. Jones & Co, says: I am sorry to hear of the difficulties you are experiencing with your neighbour. Living alongside one another, engaged in a dispute and with no physical boundary in place must be tricky to navigate.
Boundary disputes do occur in these circumstances, where a fence has perhaps been erected in the wrong position, giving one property owner a little extra land, to the detriment of the other.
The Land Registry title plans, whilst useful to see the extent of a property, show only 'general' boundaries.
Upon an application being made for registration, the Land Registry will reflect what it considers to be a reasonable interpretation of the land in the pre-registration deeds, overlaid on the Ordnance Survey mapping at that time, and any existing registrations.
As registration was rolled out across England and Wales over a number of years, registrations have been completed based on mapping at various points in time, which results in plans of varying detail and sometimes accuracy.
That being said, while your properties may have been registered at different points in time, the fact your respective surveyors are in agreement is encouraging.
Without seeing the legal title, I am not able to offer specific advice. However, in cases where there is a query regarding the position of the physical boundary, it is possible to enter into a boundary agreement with a neighbour to determine the position.
It seems in this instance that you are not likely to reach sufficient agreement to formalise this.
You have handled this exactly as I would recommend to this point, namely to appoint a surveyor to assess and confirm the precise position of the boundary in question.
In terms of the next steps, you may wish to consult your solicitor to see if there is any information within the title deeds to state who is responsible for the boundary in question. If this is your responsibility, you may wish to erect a new boundary in its place.
I don’t expect you would recover any contribution to the cost of these works, however, to reinstate your privacy, you may consider this money well spent.
With a boundary dispute, a court injunction is a potential legal remedy used to compel a neighbour to reinstate a fence that was removed or wrongly placed on your property.
Obtaining an injunction is typically a last resort after attempting other resolution methods, and it requires legal action and therefore additional costs will be incurred.
As with any legal action, there is scope for this to escalate and for the costs to do likewise, so this would very much be an option to consider only when all other routes have been exhausted.
However, if your neighbour is refusing to engage with you, it may be worth taking further advice to understand how to proceed.
Manjinder Kaur Atwal, director of housing law at Duncan Lewis, says: This is a classic boundary row, and sadly, they have a habit of dragging on long after common sense has left the building.
On the facts as you have presented them, your neighbour’s position is entirely without merit.
The evidence points to a settled boundary backed by expert opinion on both sides.
Once even his own surveyor agrees that the fence should be reinstated in its original position, continued refusal becomes unreasonable rather than arguable.
In legal terms, there does not appear to be any real boundary dispute left to resolve.
Importantly, the recent update sheds light on why matters are going nowhere. If your neighbour is failing to respond to his own surveyor or to instruct them to engage in discussions or a joint site visit because he will not confirm payment of their fees, that is not caution: it is obstruction by inaction.
Courts expect parties to engage constructively with expert evidence. Preventing your own expert from progressing the matter is something judges take a very dim view of.
That said, boundary disputes are rarely just about lines on a plan. When it is someone you have to live next door to, escalation can deepen rifts and make daily life uncomfortable long after the legal issue is resolved.
For that reason, before heading straight to court, it is often sensible to propose mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution as a final olive branch.
A short, structured mediation can allow your neighbour a face-saving way to accept the expert evidence and move on, without the cost, stress and lasting resentment that litigation can bring. Judges actively encourage this and expect parties to try to resolve matters amicably where possible.
If mediation is refused or simply ignored, your position hardens further.
Your solicitor should then send a formal letter before action, making it clear that the boundary has been professionally determined, there is no encroachment, and that the ongoing failure to reinstate the fence is interfering with your right to privacy and quiet enjoyment. The letter should set a short, fixed deadline for the fence to be reinstated.
If that still doesn’t prompt action, you can apply to the court for an injunction compelling your neighbour to put the fence back.
Courts are particularly sympathetic where one party has been left without privacy for months due to another’s unreasonable behaviour.
You may also be entitled to damages, including loss of amenity and the professional costs you have incurred.
One final point for your neighbour, claiming to have legal advice when you haven’t is rarely wise. Judges value transparency and have little patience for manufactured disputes.
In short, you’ve acted sensibly and proportionately throughout. Try mediation as a last attempt to resolve matters amicably, but if your neighbour continues to dig in, the law gives you clear and effective tools to bring this to an end and get your privacy back.
