Fencing and Neighbours

[scrapster]

We have recently had new neighbours purchase a house the over looks the field we own and our horses are kept in. The neighbours haven't spoken to us directly, but a neighbour has said they are planning on removing the fencing we had installed when the house was built and replacing it with low level, picket fencing!!! Is there anything we can do? They have a dog, they encourage the horses to come up to their fence and they do have children, albeit they are around 14. Is there anything we can do to prevent them replacing the fence? Could I put up a 6ft fence in the field on my side? Just really worried, either the horses will end up on their lawn, or the dog will end up in the field and spook the horses. Bloody neighbours. thanks in advance

 

[Dave's Mam]

You own the land, you fence it as to your requirements. Also, you own the fencing, so erm, I think they have no choice.

 

[Goldenstar]

If they own the boundary they can do as they please however stupid .
You can however can fence on your land to enclose your own stock , I think it's up to two metres without Planning permission .

 

[Red-1]

I think you need to go and talk to them. When we had new neighbours they were thinking about removing their fence, but in reality it was not their fence, it was ours! With ours it was an easy mistake to make, as we double fenced with a 5 ft gap between them to keep the horses away from the hedge, so we have 2 fences.

Once it was explained that both fences were ours they were OK.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I agree with Red. A chat face to face might just dispell any issues. In fact what you have heard on the Grapevine might not even be true!

 

[ROMANY 1959]

A polite chat to them may be best, it could be they think it is their fence, my mate had similar problem last year, she bought 8 acres with poor stock fencing, so re fenced with 6 ft post and rails, with top rail with elec tape as she moved the new fence 2 foot inside her boundary (with elec fence warning signe) as a few of the houses at bottom of her field( only one side of field) had new hedges that she did not want horses nibbling. This all cost thousands to do. Then one house sold and the new owner wanted her fence down to plant a nice beech hedge!! They also thought the fence had been done by the developer of the 5 houses, a nice word to the wise and all was ok.. One house even took down a hedge that was poisonous to horses and planted a nice hedge instead..she had a word with all the new houses along her fence.. No one was nasty.

 

[paddy555]

if they end up owning the fence and can therefore do what they like I would simply put a 3 strand electric fence on permanent wooden stakes on your side. Provided it is live it should stop the dog, (certainly stops ours) and will keep your horses well away from their picket fence. If you had electric to the field I would connect the fence up with a mains fencer.

 

[Dry Rot]

Your first step should be to look at your title deeds to see if there is any mention of who is responsible for fencing. They may say nothing. Or they may answer your question. You won't know if you don't look and it is always best to be prepared.

 

[Tnavas]

Have a read of this - http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/fences.html

 

[neddy man]

if you have your deeds, or a copy, the bounderies that are your responsibility are shown as yours by having a squiggle like a letter S sideways through it , if its your boundry they can not take the fence down, if its their boundry you can put a fence up a metre in to secure your livestock.

 

[hypopit]

Are the dogs vicious? If anyones dog got in the field with a few of mine the dog would be dead. Two of my horses like dogs, the other three would dispose of them very quickly. I would of course warn the neighbours of this in a nice way so they could protect their animals. A low fence would not bother me, they probably want to open up their view, who wouldn't. I'm sure the 14 year olds won't be remotely interested in your horses, they have far more interesting things to fill their time with.
I would not worry too much about the dogs, I'm sure they will get used to each other if your horses are kind to them that is, but if they do get in and worry the horses then to be honest most horses make mince meat of dogs, and then that is the neighbours problem, but do have a chat about it with them first....nicely, and gauge their response to see what you are dealing with.

 

[old hand]

Our local planning authority will not let you erect a fence higher than 4 ft without planning permission, we are not in an AONB. Worth checking as enforcement can be expensive to defend.

 

[SusieT]

who does the fence/land the fence is on belong to?

 

[lamlyn2012]

I'm not sure from what you've said if the boundary belongs to you or the neighbour. If there is just the one house in isolation I suspect it belongs to you, but you may need to check your deeds. If it is your boundary, and the neighbour takes your fence down (destroys it) he is commiting criminal damage.
A good boundary for these situations is a boundary fence with quickthorn hedging planted on your side. Quick thorn is 'quick' to grow and thicken, cheap to buy, stock proof, and as it is deciduous you can let it grow as high as you like. Best planted in autumn with temporary electric fence to stop horses nibbling young plants.

 

[zaminda]

Check the deeds, and then have a chat. One of mine ended up in the garden at the bottom of the field after they had done some work to what they thought was their fence which actually belonged to the farmer we rented from. They had been encouraging the horses over with treats, then one day when something spooked one of them, she ended up through the fence and in the garden. We fenced the end off in the end, kept it strimmed back and electrified.

 

[oldie48]

As others have said, check your boundary situation and ensure your fence is on your land and talk to your new neighbours. We've got a 7 acre field that borders a house and garden. One owner started to put up a new fence to contain his oil tank, sadly he didn't discuss it and he put it on our boundary, which in itself was not a problem but unfortunately he incorporated a drain that was our responsibility so we had to ask him to move it. he was not happy but did as he was asked as we provided evidence of where our boundary was. The next owner asked us if they could "tidy up" the hedge as there was lots of ivy, brambles etc in the hedge and although it's our hedge we were happy for them to do this as I appreciate they look at it from their garden and we don't. The hedge is no longer stock proof but probably will be in a couple of years, so we've just put up a tape and post fencing. I really think it's worth building good relations with neighbours because it can be a real pain if you don't and actually I like ours!