Good Fences Make Good Neighbours

How to resolve Boundary Disputes

In the poem “Mending Wall” by the American poet Robert Frost, the author raises some important questions as the purpose of borders between people and the value of human work is considered. The poem is very well known of course and, having been first published in 1914, still has resonance over a century later with modern society and how we treat our fellow man (“our neighbours”).

A wall or a fence is usually a boundary which delineates ownership between neighbours, but often this can become blurred. Let’s have a look at the plan filed at HM Land Registry, we suggest, but sometimes that doesn’t solve the problem either. Let’s try instructing a surveyor instead, surely that will resolve it? Not necessarily…

And for Mark Coates, a complaint as to lack of access to justice, an order to pay a legal bill of £475,000 and 7 weeks in prison for a contempt of court was not what he bargained for when in 2016 a row over a fence between his home and his neighbour’s property deteriorated into a full-blown legal dispute. It was claimed in proceedings that both neighbours had set up surveillance cameras to monitor the other and there were further accusations of swearing and stone throwing.

In October 2020 at a previous hearing, the parties were warned by Mr. Justice Morgan that persisting in the row may result in financial ruin. The dispute followed a storm which blew down the fence between the neighbours and arose because of an allegation that the new structure was allegedly 4.79 feet inside the adjoining property and thus encroaching.

Boundary fences can cause friction between neighbours at the best of times and often, parties are mistaken as to the responsibility for replacement and repair. It can cause heated exchanges and ultimately lead to legal disputes. Many people are unaware that in fact their garden fence does not belong to them but to their neighbour. Here permission is required before any alterations can be made including painting, repairing any storm damage and even something as potentially mundane as hanging items upon it, but of course, a boundary can be marked by a wall, hedge, ditch, wire or just an edging stone on a driveway. There are legal assumptions which may help (for example the existence of ‘T’ marks on HM Land Registry plans, or hedges or ditches…

The opinion of Lord Hoffmann in Alan Wibberley Building Ltd v Insley [1999] UKHL 15 is regarded as the leading modern authority on the construction of parcels clauses. Lord Hoffmann’s judgment set out the following principles:

The first resort in a boundary dispute is the deeds.
The parcels clause of a conveyance or transfer may refer to an attached plan, but usually this is said to be “for the purposes of identification only”. The use of such words indicates that the plan cannot be relied upon as delineating the precise boundaries.
In any case, the scale of the plan in a conveyance or transfer is often so small, and the lines shown on it so thick, that the plan is useless for any purpose other than general identification of the land.
It follows that, if someone has to establish an exact boundary, a conveyance or transfer will almost invariably have to be supplemented by inferences drawn from topographical features that existed (or may be supposed to have existed) at the time that the deed was executed, or from other evidence.
There are certain presumptions that assist the inferences that may be drawn from such topographical features. One example is the presumption relating to hedges and ditches.

If a dispute continues, it is a last resort to litigate, but Keelys can help you with that process or assist with the instruction of an expert from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Mediation is also recommended as an approach which may resolve the dispute and again, we have expert knowledge and contacts to facilitate this.

Good fences do indeed make good neighbours.

For more information or help with this or any other litigation problems contact a member of our team:

Patrick Farrington | pfarrington@keelys.co.uk
Ellysse Bassan | ebassan@keelys.co.uk
Kerri Pearce | kpearce@keelys.co.uk