Boundary Issue

[jlf44]

I’ve been searching online but can’t seem to find any similar situations to mine, I’m hoping someone could advise on my next steps.

I have lived in my home for 10 years, neighbours have lived in theirs slightly longer (we both own our homes). Both of our gardens are split level, with the bottom of the garden being much higher than the ground level our houses sit on. The wall that marked the boundary between our gardens pre-dated both of us. This boundary is marked as mine to maintain on our deeds; all houses on our road maintain their left hand boundary.

Around 6 months ago our neighbours tore the boundary wall down without warning, leaving our garden unusable through the summer (our garden is higher than theirs and we have small children, so it wasn’t safe to let them play out with nothing to protect them from the 4 foot drop). They have built a concrete ‘summer house’ at the bottom of the garden right up to the boundary; the side wall of this building is now the boundary wall. They have also built a window into this wall which overlooks our garden. The wall and fence they have replaced the old wall with looks very unsightly on our side; 3 different types of bricks / breeze blocks used, metal runners nailed to the posts on our side, and neighbour says that he will be adding lights to the fence which will require wiring to be put on our side.

I know that I could now build a fence on my side to cover all of this, but this is not something we have budgeted for and so will not be something we can complete any time soon. It would also mean losing a significant amount of space in our garden. My concerns are namely that the new wall is unsightly and possibly even unsafe from our side (exposed metal, live wiring) with no indication that either of these things will be corrected by the neighbours, and that they now have a window overlooking our garden from their summer house which will be used as a sort of living space with tv and bar. I don’t want to fall out with my neighbours even though they have shown me no concern in terms of consulting me about their plans before commencing work, but I’m concerned that the work they have completed will negatively effect how I now use my garden and may even have implications if we decide to sell.

I appreciate any feedback, thank you.

[islandgirl]

Was any planning permission sought? May be worth a chat to the council's planning dept

[atticus]

It may be that you have grounds to bring a claim against your neighbours for demolishing what may have been your property, but deeds will need to be checked.

But do you want to start a neighbour dispute? These can get nasty and expensive. They can impact your ability to sell your house.

You may do better to put a fence as close to the boundary as you can manage.

[jlf44]

No planning (as far as I’m aware, we’ve previously had letters when other neighbours have been extending etc) but from what I’ve found online I don’t think they necessarily need planning for the building as it’s under a certain height and size. I’m unsure about them building to the boundary though, I don’t know whether that should’ve had planning / our permission beforehand.

In terms of bringing a legal dispute that would be a last resort due to the expense and the fact I’d need to declare that if we want to move. If I was to build a fence of maximum height on our land, and this fence completely covered the window they have built, I assume they could not do anything about this as the fence would be on my land? Thanks again.

[atticus]

Tell them to put a mirror in the 'window' frame.