Boundary Hedge / Wall

psychhead

Hi All,

I am wondering if anyone can shed any light on the following:

Recently bought a house, theyre are properties either side but ours is the older property. As such there are hedges up on either side, one side is planted, the other seems to be a lot og trees / weeds / thorns etc. Obviously having a dog we wanted to build a wall and replace the thorny hedge. We asked the neighbours who owned them, they stated it was ours and even joked about all the trimming of it they had to do on their own side as a result over the last 40 years. We informed them we wished to get rid off hedge and build a wall, but for obvious reasons want it to be done so both parties are happy. They stated they would need to think about it. When I returned they again informed me that they were our hedges but they would not be happy re wall due to privacy. I reassured them we could go as high as they like, basically said we could do whatever was necessary to keep people happy once we built the wall. I explained everything we were doing in detail (I want to keep good relationships) He was due to return a phone call to chat more about the wall but failed to do so. I had informed him the builders had to get rid of hedge asap and even gave him an extra 2 days to return my call and held off the builders. He never called back so we went ahead and removed hedge. Now he is livid saying it was 50:50 and we didnt have their permission. I obviously dont want to have bad blood between neighbours but he did say they were ours, I have him notice, details, everything I could think of to appease them. Any idea where we stand? Legally has he any leg to stand on so to speak? It was my understanding that boundary walls have very little legal basis and once it was my property I can make changes once I try to appease neighbours? I could be wrong. Thanks!!

Frank Black

Very difficult issue to answer.
You probably should have established who 'owned' the hedge by getting a surveyor to set out the property boundary lines based on the land reg maps and see which side the hedge was on. You really should have established this before you removed the hedge - especially as you were aware there would be a potential issue with your neighbours in removing the hedge.

You might get more legal advice in the legal forum.

prewtna

Boundaries are always a problem.

as above - should have got a surveyor and agreed it all in writing on drawings etc prior to work.

I have always advised clients to get a surveyor out, 'stake out' the ground with all parties present, agree it, sort out the boundaries with Land Registry if needs be in agreement with everyone and then and only then start work.

So much so, that i have advised my brother to do this with our uncle. The brother has a site in a corner of the uncles land. boundary was a bit 'vague', i told him sort it now, legally, personally, professionally, land reg etc etc before a spade breaks the ground.

They did, they all know where they stand and more importantly, when a Will becomes a reality at some point in the future, there will be no doubt about who owns what.

This could get messy for you i'm afraid.

psychhead

Thanks all. maybe we were a bit naive taking their word for it. I guess we didnt foresee there being an issue if it was technically ours as they initially stated. Thanks!