A MAN was left in shock after his neighbour demolished his fence without warning.
The baffled resident said his mum’s neighbour now wants him to pay for a new one.
The man said the neighbour told his mum to pay for a fence replacement
The user took to Reddit to share the nightmare row to fellow homeowners.
On the post, he said his 80-year-old mum’s bungalow has a small rear garden and a fence separating his land from the neighbour’s.
But the man was left in shock when they suddenly demolished the fence – despite being in “good condition”.
He said: “The fence in question was between my mum’s garden and her neighbours and was sound and upright.
“It did have ivy growing on it but that was growing up from their side of the fence.
“My mum walks out in her garden one morning to feed the birds and there’s a man demolishing the fence.”
He said how the worker was “very nice” and told his mum he had been hired by the neighbours to replace the fence.
“He finished up that day. Fence gone,” he slammed.
A couple of months later, the resident spotted his mum’s neighbour in their cottage’s garden.
But things escalated further when she told his mum to pay for the replacement.
He fumed: “She told my mum that actually the fence was on my mum’s property and belonged to her and so my mum is responsible for replacing it.
“My mum didn’t really know what to say so said she would have to speak to me.”
The son said he tried to have a chat with the neighbours to resolve the dispute without success.
“I have tried to speak to them a couple of times when I visit but there’s never anyone in as they don’t live there and my mum has no contact details for them,” he said.
The desperate Redditor then asked other users for advise over the next legal step of action.
Hundreds of Reddit users rushed to the comments section to share their recommendations.
One said: “Who is responsible for the fence will usually be recorded as a covenant on the title deeds to the property.
“You can get them only from the Land Registry for about £3.”
Another added: “If they demolished her fence without permission, it sounds like criminal damage to me. Get the police involved.”
What are your rights?
Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance says: “It is not in your or your neighbours interest to escalate the dispute quickly as going to court can be expensive, time-consuming and stressful.
“It’s best to avoid starting a war with the neighbour. If you are not in agreement as to where the boundary is, or indeed if the fence is on your land, you could consider mediation.
“If the fence is on your land, it’s technically trespass. If you are thinking of removing it you should give your neighbour as much written warning as possible.”
When quizzed on what you should do regarding the boundary being passed by a metre, Paula insisted that a lawyer should be contacted.
And legal firm Brown Turner Ross advise on their website: “Like with most issues surrounding boundary disputes, we recommend that you approach your neighbour first to bring it up with them.
“If your neighbours refuse to repair their fence and it is causing a safety hazard on your property then you can either report it to the council or take legal action.
“If your neighbour does build over what you believe to be your boundary line then you will need to prove that they have crossed it.
“To do this, you can contact a solicitor who can determine where your property boundary is and then you can move forward from there depending on the findings.”
It comes as homeowners complained about a neighbour’s “alien” cabin they say was put up without permission and has turned their area into a “shopping mall”.
There have been angry protests after the property sales cabin was put up at a Kent beauty spot.
Elsewhere, a couple face having to sell their home to pay $163,000 worth of legal fees after neighbours took them to court over a fence.
Jay Hall and his wife Kirsty, built their home in Sydney‘s northwest in 2018 and believed they were “on good terms” with their neighbours – before the fence fallout
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