AN APPRENTICE star is at war with his wealthy neighbours over a three foot trench between their £1million homes.
Estate agent Alex Britez, 39, appeared on the seventh series of Alan Sugar’s hit BBC show – but was fired after the second task.
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Britez is now being sued by his next-door neighbours David and Isabel O’Brien over a tiny passageway between their London homes.
The row began in 2018 when Mr O’Brien’s stepdad fell into the hole.
It was dug by Britez’s mum 15 years earlier.
Now, the neighbours are fighting it out in court with the O’Briens claiming the trench is dangerous.
They also say the passageway alongside the homes in well-off Dulwich, South London, belongs to them anyway.
But Britez hit back – claiming the true boundary between their homes runs down the middle of the passageway.
Britez – who now works as head of sales for a major property development company – has long lived in the property, which used to belong to his mum, the court heard.
Mr O’Brien, 52, a builder, and tax director Mrs O’Brien, 47, moved in after buying the four-bedroom semi-detached house next door in 2015.
The two homes are separated by a narrow gated passageway, which allows access to the O’Briens’ garage and back garden, their barrister Howard Smith told Central London County Court.
Before the couple moved in, a few-inch-deep trench was dug in the alleyway along Britez’s wall due to damp issues.
Neighbours were initially on good terms, but a row erupted in 2018 when Mr O’Brien’s stepfather fell into the trench.
The O’Briens barrister Howard Smith dubbed the trench “very narrow and dangerous” and claim it effectively narrows the useable width of the passageway.
Mr O’Brien suggested that a metal grate could be installed over the trench, making the passage safer while still preventing damp, but Britez rejected the proposal, the court heard.
A full-blown court row over who owns the width of the passageway then ensued.
Mr Smith claims the boundary is the wall of Britez’s house.
But they claim both Britez and the O’Brien’s have right of way along whole width of the passageway regardless, meaning Britez has a duty to keep it safe.
Britez claims the boundary between the properties is in the middle of the passageway.
An old wall was buried below the surface of the passageway and that was the most likely line of the true boundary, his lawyer claimed.
This would mean the part of the passageway with the trench belongs to Britez.
The previous owner had agreed to that when allowing the trench to be dug.
“The whole purpose of the excavation was to create a gap…It was intended to be permanent,” barrister Simon Brilliant said.
“There was no suggestion that anyone at the time envisaged that it would be filled within a short or any time frame.”
He added: “It is regrettable and disappointing that despite having been told in the clearest terms before they purchased that they did not own the disputed land, they have years later now chosen to assert otherwise.
“They were quite content to live under a regime whereby the excavated land could not be used by them.
“It was not until summer 2018 that they questioned the ownership of the disputed land.”
He said Britez had offered to erect a railing down the middle of the passageway to prevent anyone else falling into the trench, but denied that it was dangerous as it is.
“Given that there was no accident between 2007 and 2018, it is submitted that the disputed land is not unsafe,” he said.
“It is perfectly safe, providing all reasonable care is taken when walking down the passageway.”
The trial continues.
If you feel your boundary is being encroached upon, you must first speak with your neighbour.
Some boundary agreements are in writing – these would be on your property title documents, which are held by the Land Registry.
That means you can check these documents, as well as any information you were provided with at the time you bought your property, for any mention of a boundary agreement.
You can also request your neighbour’s title documents from the Land Registry to see if there’s any more information on there (it costs about £3 to do this).
But be warned – the official boundaries are quite general and lots of titles don’t have specific information on them, such as who owns a fence.
If you think you have a case, the onus will be on you to prove that your neighbour is wrong.
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