Legal Advice - Re Neighbour

Tysonator

Tysonator

Tysonator

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20 Sep 2005
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Wilderness of ESSEX
Hi,

This is a vauge’ish question regarding a legal issue which by it’s very nature requires a more precise question !

So if there are any legal experts on the forum I am appealing to you.

However, I have a question regarding a solicitor’s letter a friend has received which is over a neighbour fence / boundary dispute. The issue is that my friend has a fence which is leaning a neighbours fence for support, and the neighbour wants to replace their fence. So instead a nice polite chat between the interested parties, the neighbour has sort legal council and my friend has received a solicitors letter. Stating that their fence must be removed in 14 days from the date of the letter or the client may seek a legal notice and injunction, or may choose to act in person by instructing a contractor to remove the said fence to gain access to theirs ( as the neighbors fence is between their brick garage and my friends fence, making the neighbors access very narrow) and any costs incurred by the client in doing so will be recovered in the small claims court, along with any fees and associated cost.

My friend is well aware that their fence needs to be removed and re-erect the fence with sturdier supporting pillars.

So my question is, how valid is the 14 days notice period from the date of the solicitor’s letter for the rectification of the fence to be completed by. Given the fact the letter was date 2 days before my friend received the letter via the letter box. The letter was not a recorded or special delivery ! ?

Many thanks
 
Is it a real solicitor or have they sent a letter in the hope it'll get it all sorted with pretend paper?

I recall a similar style event where a letter was sent, turns out the person had a wife or daughter worked in a solicitors, they got some paper and typed someone legally sounding and delivered.
Call to the solicitors office soon cleared matter up.

In law things have to be reasonable.
I would be interested to see how 'reasonable' 2 weeks notice is, in the summer season when people could be away.
I'd ring the solicitor and ask directly in regards 'reason'.
 
I'm not a legal expert, so below is just my opinion.

Unless it's been issued by a court the 14 days notice is not enforceable.

If the neighbour does hire someone to remove your friend fence without your friend's permission, then they might be liable for criminal damage and trespass.
 
So you're saying your friend has a fence leaning on another fence for support? Does any part of his fence actually cross the other party's boundary? (You need the title deeds for this) If not, jog on.

The neighbour sounds like a total bell end, however such people do exist.

I would ask why your friend has a fence agianst the neighbour's. Is the other fence so bad that they felt the need to put up another? Is it to stop dogs getting through etc?

2 weeks notice may/may not be legally reasonable (unlikely), but I'd get legal advice on the whole matter straight away. It's obvious the neighbour doesn't want to be civil about it, so get some proper advice from a professional before doing anything. If your friend has home insurance with legal cover, they may well be covered for this.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
I would be interested to see how 'reasonable' 2 weeks notice is, in the summer season when people could be away.
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As above in this case the neighbour doesn't have any mandate to hand out deadlines without a court order (or in some cases the council) - in general "reasonable" for matters like this tend to be judged as around 28 days if it does come to court - but in this case they'd probably get laughed out of court.

Borealis said:
It's obvious the neighbour doesn't want to be civil about it, so get some proper advice from a professional before doing anything. If your friend has home insurance with legal cover, they may well be covered for this.
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Might be that the neighbour isn't good with people and/or had bad experiences with trying to deal with neighbours reasonably in the past - might be a good idea to post a letter to them explaining that they don't think the deadline reasonable but that they are planning to rectify the fence within a reasonable timeframe (or just get legally advice).
 
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I'd have a chat with them, it sounds like your fence is in bad condition.

Or you could always, you know, fix your fence or remove the broken section, that would be more appropriate.
 
Tysonator, have you got your house deeds? Your boundary will be highlighted on one of the several sheets of paper (like mine) along with which bay(s) you can park your car in.

Good advice in post #3... deffo give the number on the letter a call.
 
Tysonator said:
as the neighbors fence is between their brick garage and my friends fence, making the neighbors access very narrow
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I suspect that this is what the entire thing is really all about. The neighbour is trying to wangle some space.
 
Basically if your fence is within your boundary lines, tell them to jog on. If your fence is actually in such a **** condition that its leaning against theirs for support, then sort your bloody fence out.

I would also send back a letter saying that if they came and spoke to you, that it would have been fine, but since they decided to be a ******* about it, that you refuse to give access to any of your property and if the contractor causes any damage or trespasses that you'll have the police around.
 
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or may choose to act in person by instructing a contractor to remove the said fence to gain access to theirs
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i'd say this might be the important part. If I read it correctly they need the old fence removed in order to replace their own fence. if you friend want's to be equally as awkward they should replace their own fence immediately and this would obviously block access for the neighbours contractors to replace their fence - when they come asking for access from your friends side - just refuse
 
Maybe I'm being naive here, or misunderstanding, but it sounds like there are two parallel fences. Why not just break "your" fence down and let the neighbour pay to have a new one put up? No need to replace the broken fence then either.

Alternatively if the gap is so narrow the builder can't get in to remove the fence (what is it, 1 foot or less?) Why is there a fence there in the first place, let alone two!
 
Lol solicitors :rolleyes:

If your friends fence is on his property as per the deeds and they damage it... Kerching. If it is "leaning" it needs to be rectified.
 
If it's on his property, it's his whether or not the neighbour likes it. This is where the deeds come into play - to work out who owns what. If it is in bad shape, then yes it's needs to be dealt with but if it doesn't cross the boundary the neighbour can't do anything - it's on his property and if contractors come in, then trespass is a likely option.

It might be worth trying to be civil about it, we don't know if there is any history going on here with any previous neighbours. Given that the first inckling of any issue is a solicitor's letter though, I'd say the guy's gone nuclear straight away possibly without thinking it through.
 
The fact that the OP has used the word "dispute" I suspect there is some background to this.

Also sending a letter via a solicitor isn't supposed to be aggressive. They are probably just making sure they aren't saying anything they shouldn't.

From the sound of things, if the neighbour removed their fence, your friends fence will fall over or lean and cross the boundary. Although the OP has also made it sound like it is a matter of convenience as well.
 
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Borealis said:
If it's on his property, it's his whether or not the neighbour likes it. This is where the deeds come into play - to work out who owns what. If it is in bad shape, then yes it's needs to be dealt with but if it doesn't cross the boundary the neighbour can't do anything - it's on his property and if contractors come in, then trespass is a likely option.

It might be worth trying to be civil about it, we don't know if there is any history going on here with any previous neighbours. Given that the first inckling of any issue is a solicitor's letter though, I'd say the guy's gone nuclear straight away possibly without thinking it through.
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if the neighbour removes his fence on his proprety and the ops friends fence falls down and injures the workers removing the first fence is the ops friend then liable?
 
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