These are
some of the other ways in which your neighbours might
cause annoyance,
with suggestions of what to do about them.
There are numerous variations and complications on the
themes below, and you may need to tackle any of them in
conjunction with each other or with a boundary or
easement problem.
Contents
YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S FENCE
YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S TREES
NOISY NEIGHBOURS
SMOKE AND AIRBORNE POLLUTION
RUBBISH
CONTRAVENING PLANNING PERMISSION
WHEN DEVELOPERS MOVE IN NEXT DOOR
OTHER NEIGHBOUR NUISANCE
YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S FENCE
The smooth side of your neighbour's
fence: I have been telephoned on
more than one occasion to be told that someone's
next-door neighbour is erecting a new fence such that the
smooth, tidy side of the fence is facing into the
neighbour's property, leaving the messy structural
supports facing into the caller's garden. I am then asked
whether the neighbour can be made to turn the fence
around, showing the smooth side to the caller.
Whilst
it is normal practice for a fence on a road frontage to
show its tidy face to the outside world, I know of no
rule that says that the tidy side of the fence must be
facing its owner's neighbour. After all, it is the
neighbour's fence, paid for with the neighbour's money,
erected on the neighbour's land (even if it is hard up
against the boundary) - so why shouldn't the fence's
owner enjoy a view of its smarter side?
If you don't like this state of affairs and want to do
something about it then you may either plant shrubs your
side of the fence to conceal it from your view, or you
may erect your own fence on your own land and as close as
you like to your neighbour's fence.
Painting
your neighbour's fence: TV gardening programmes
may inspire you to stain or paint the fences around your
garden in some colour other than creosote brown. The
chances are that some of these fences belong to your
neighbour and not to you. Strictly speaking, you must ask
your neighbour's permission to paint or stain your side
of his fence - it is after all his property and on his
land. What if he says "No"?
If he
says "No!" then you must leave his fence alone.
If you go ahead and stain it anyway then you are doing
criminal damage to his property. If you really must have
a blue fence, then erect your own fence alongside his,
and paint your own fence blue.
Your neighbour's new fence is
too low. Your neighbour may choose, for any number of reasons
(cost, maintaining a view of distant hills, or of trees and shrubs
in neighbouring gardens) to erect a fence low enough for you
to feel that your privacy is compromised. What can you do about
it?
Firstly, there is no law to protect your privacy that would
force your neighbour to erect a taller fence. Secondly, there is
no general law requiring an owner to fence his land: which is why
it is possible for estates to be built with open-plan front gardens.
However, farners keeping livestock on land beside the public
highway, and developers operating building sites adjacent to the
public highway are obliged by law to fence their land. Thirdly,
there are local planning laws that prevent the erection of fences
that are too high (the limit is usually 2 metres).
Don't
take matters into your own hands without first consulting your neighbour.
You may not attach trellis to the top of your neighbour's fence
without his permission. You may not extend your neighbour's fence
posts upwards, in order to support additional fencing material,
without your neighbour's position. If you really cannot live with
a fence that low, and if your neighbour refuses to increase the
height of his fence, then there are things you can do.
You can
erect your own fence to whatever (locally permitted) height you
choose, as long as you erect it on your own land, even if this means
that it is touching your neighbour's fence.
You can planty shrubs
or a hedge on your own land, immediately to your own side of your
neighbour's hedge, in order to create the privacy screen that you
want.
Your neighbour's
fence is too high. This complaint usually arises when your neighbour's
land stands above your own land. The offending fence may be less
than 2 metres high when viewed from your neighbour's land, but its
height is increased (by the height of the retaining wall or bank)
when viewed from your side.
There is nothing you can do about this
as the height of the fence is measured from the level of the ground
on which it stands.
Your neighbour refuses
to repair his fence. Unless he is constrained to do so
by a restrictive covenant then there is no obligation on your neighbour
to fence his garden or to maintain a fence that already exists. There
is also nothing to prevent you from erecting your own fence upon
your own land adjacent to the boundary, even if the deeds do give
ownership of and responsibility for the boundary to your neighbour.
In fact, if you have security needs (for example, connected to your
young children or your dogs) then you are under an obligation to
cater for such security needs and in effect you must erect
a fence.
There
are two ways of proceeding.
1. Volunteer to meet the cost of
replacing your neighbour's fence yourself. If your neighbour agrees,
then you should make it clear that the fence is a gift and that
the position of the boundary remains unchanged. It is best to record
this in writing and keep a copy with the title deeds, so that no
one in future thinks that the boundary has moved to your neighbour's
face of the fence in keeping with the fact that it is you who paid
for the fence.
2. Erect your own fence, on your own land, as
close as possible to the existing boundary features (so that you
don't later lose the land between your new fence and the true position
of the boundary). Be careful not to damage any of your neighbour's
property (fence, shrubs, etc) in the process. Also check that your
new fence is no higher than the local planning bye laws permit.
YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S TREES
Your neighbour's trees may grow
tall enough to block out your sunshine; they may alter
the environment of your garden causing difficulties to
your own plants; they may reduce the amount of light
coming through your windows. But it is only when their
branches overhang your land, or their roots encroach
beneath it, that you can really do much about it.
Legislation is being prepared
that will tackle the problem of high hedges, or nuisance
hedges, but it is still too early to give advice relating
to this.
What you
can do
If the branches or roots of your neighbour's trees
encroach upon your land, you may trim them back to your
boundary. You do not need to give notice that you will do
so, provided that you do not trespass on your neighbour's
land to do the work. You can even (with the permission of
your local authority) trim trees that are the subjects of
preservation orders. But you cannot keep any fruit that
was growing on the branches that you removed.
If your neighbour's trees are shown to be doing actual
damage to your property, for example,
- banging against your roof when the wind blows,
- roots taking enoughwater to deprive and damage your own plants,
- root growth causing ground heave resulting in broken garden walls,
- roots extracting water from under your buildings
causing subsidence and damage to buildings
then you may be able to take legal action, either to have the
roots restrained from encroaching on your land, or
possibly to have the tree removed, as well as to recover
damages. For the best advice on trees, consult an
arboriculturalist, but if you want someone to measure the
positions and heights of trees and the lengths of their
shadows then you should consult a chartered land
surveyor.
For further information relating to trees, please see the gardenlaw.co.uk site.
NOISY NEIGHBOURS
We all like
to party sometimes, and we should be tolerant of a
neighbour who does the same. But if the noise is
frequently repeated then we do have a problem. Noise
created by a temporary circumstance, such as building
work next door, is again something we may have to put up
with.
What you
should do
If you have a repeated or frequent problem with noise
coming from a neighbour, contact the Environmental Health
department of your local (borough, district or city)
council.
SMOKE AND AIRBORNE
POLLUTION
Smoke from a neighbour's bonfire
and smells from an adjoining factory are things we may
occasionally experience that we have to put up with. But
they can sometimes become unacceptable, for example when
the smoke from a neighbour's bonfire dirties the washing
drying in your garden or even gets into your house.
What you should do
If it is a question of inconsiderate siting of the
bonfire, or of burning it on a day when the wind blows
the smoke towards you, tackle the neighbour peaceably and
suggest alternative means of achieving his ends (disposal
of garden waste) without inconveniencing you.
If you experience actual damage from an isolated
pollution incident, such as smoke or fumes spoiling your
washing or other possessions, necessitating clean-up or
replacement, consider approaching the manager of the
factory or farm responsible with a claim for
compensation.
If the above suggestions don't work, or if the complaint
is about frequent industrial or agricultural pollution,
contact the Environmental Health department of your local
(borough, district or city) council.
For further information relating to smoke, please see the gardenlaw.co.uk site.
RUBBISH
If your neighbour chooses not to
keep his garden as tidy as you might like him too, there
is little you can do about it - unless the untidiness is
extreme. Mounds of decaying rubbish can prove a health
hazard, and may encourage rats and other vermin.
This is unacceptable.
What you should do
If you are concerned about health or vermin, contact the
Environmental Health department of your local (borough,
district or city) council.
If the mounds of rubbish are causing damage to you
property, by bearing against your fence and damaging it
or because liquids discharging from the rubbish are
decaying your fence, your plants or your soil, then
either talk to your neighbour about the problem or
discuss with your solicitor the possibilitry of a claim
for damages as a result of nuisance.
CONTRAVENING PLANNING
PERMISSION
Cases sometimes arise where land
is being used for purposes for which it does not have
planning consent, and such a change of use may
create a nuisance for neighbours. For example, you may
live next to a farm that is no longer operated as a farm,
whose land is now being used for noisy motor sports.
What you should do
If there has been a change in use of your neighbour's
land and you are troubled by the use to which it is now
being put, check with the planning officer of your local
(borough, district or city) council. If your neighbour
does not have the appropriate planning consent, the
council should be able to do something about it.
WHEN DEVELOPERS MOVE
IN NEXT DOOR
You may live next door to a large property
(house, hospital, school playing field) that has become disused and
is now the subject of redevelopment. Developers are shrewd businessmen,
and a few of them have a tendency to build first and ask questions later.
You may receive an offer you can't refuse - to have your rickety old fence
replaced with a smart new one at the developer's expense. You should be
wary of the possibility that the new fence may not go up in the same position
as the old one it replaces!
What you should do
Instruct a chartered land surveyor to check your title deeds and confirm that
your fence is in the correct position and to do a land survey to accurately record
its present position. Then invite the developer to replace the fence in the same
position as the existing one, showing him your surveyor's plan and warning him that
your surveyor will be back to check that the new fence is in the correct position
OTHER NEIGHBOUR
NUISANCE
Every landowner has a general
duty of care towards his neighbours. This should
prevent him from taking any actions that will damage his
neighbour's interests; it is also intended tp protect
neighbours against a negligent lack of activity that
would otherwise prevent foreseeable damaging events.
Examples include:
- continuing encroachment from overhanging buildings
(eaves) or tree branches or roots;
- acts or omissions causing damage to buildings,
such as damp (perhaps caused by failure to
properly maintain drainage ditches) or subsidence;
- undue interference with your enjoyment of your own
land, such as smells, smoke, unreasonable noise, or
interference with easements.
However, your neighbour may lawfully cause you temporary
inconvenience as a result of reasonable use of his
own land, for example, during building works, unless the
damage or inconvenience caused to your property is very
considerable.
What you should do
Most of these nuisances are covered elsewhere on this
page or on other pages of this web site, with indications
of the appropriate experts to turn to. In the case of
acts or omissions causing damp or subsidence affecting
the buildings on your land, you should consult a
chartered building surveyor.
This page was updated on 18 May 2005