YOU might be happy to give your neighbour a cup of sugar, but what about giving them a chunk of your garden?
One homeowner has been left fuming after their neighbour put up a new fence – but encroached two feet into their garden in the process.
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We look at whether you can claim back the land.
An Evening Standard reader revealed their neighbour had pinched a considerable chunk of their land by popping up a fence in the wrong place, crossing the boundary line.
They explained that the two neighbours’ walls meet but the fence goes two metres beyond that and into their garden.
“I would like to put a French door into the rear wall of my garage but as things stand, one of its doors would open on to their garden,” they had said at the time.
Neighbour disputes are not uncommon, whether it’s invading bushes, or a fence that’s made it’s way onto your property without permission.
One homeowner returned from holiday to find their neighbour had erected a fence right on top of their land.
While another couple had to live with the aftermath of their neighbour popping a fence straight down the middle of their shared driveway.
Plenty of Brits struggle to know what do when their neighbour’s hedge starts taking over their space.
So what can you do if you’ve found your garden space is slowly being taken away from you – can you claim back your land?
We take a look at what you need to do.
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Check the boundary
The first thing you’ll need to do is check where the boundary actually lies.
This can be done by checking the deeds to a property.
If you haven’t already got these, you can purchase them from the Land Registry on the government’s website.
It costs £3 to do, but can provide you with the concrete evidence you might need to decide who’s in the wrong here.
The documents will show the layout and boundaries of the land you own – and you might find that two foot wasn’t even yours to begin with.
It could be the other way round too, and with the deeds you’ll be able to prove that your neighbour has snuck onto your property with their new fence.
You can also purchase your neighbour’s title deeds for another £3 to see whether any extra property boundaries are outlined in theirs that aren’t in yours.
Sometimes, a T will be marked on a property line that declares responsibility for the boundary too, which can also clarify who owns what.
If the deeds say the property is yours then it’s best to bring it up with your neighbour.
You should try to do this as calmly as respectfully as possible and you might find that they’ll happily oblige to moving the fence back.
Maria Eames, a solicitor in the dispute resolution team at Crombie Wilkinson Solicitors, explained how you can approach the situation with a hostile neighbour.
She said: “A polite clarification might be all that is needed to persuade them to return the land to you.
“Alternatively, to preserve the status quo, it may be possible to negotiate to sell them the land with relative ease and little expense.”
But if you can’t see eye to eye on the matter, mediation services could be a good place to go from there.
You will have to pay for this service but they’re often cheaper than taking it all the way to court.
Can I claim back my land?
You’ll only be able to take any action once you know that the land is definitely yours.
“If the fence has definitely been built on your land, then this is a likely to be a trespass,” Chun Wong, head of the dispute resolution team at Hodge Jones and Allen solicitors, previously told The Sun.
The expert also explained that you could claim back your land if you asked your neighbour or warned them you were thinking of taking action.
Be careful that it’s definitely yours before you make any drastic moves like taking down the fence yourself though, as you could land in more trouble.
If you take it down, or damage the fence and it turns out you don’t own that stretch, then you could face forking out for repairs and penalties for the destruction caused.
We’ve found before that some neighbours won’t even acknowledge a broken fence though, and who has to pay for it has lead to more disputes.
One resident found their neighbour was ignoring the shared fence that had been damaged during a storm – and their dog was left roaming the garden.
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