I agree with Pilman that when faced with an encroachment onto your land you need to stand back and take a businesslike approach. Over on Garden Law, where encroachment comes up regularly, I have said the you need to ask not what your neighbour has gained but what you have lost. If the encroachment is minimal, for example where the fencer has not sited the new fence exactly where the old one was, you let it go.
Once the neighbour starts to take liberties and the encroachment is signifcant* it is a different matter. The landowner whose land has been encroached on has a dilemma. If he does nothing he runs the risk the neighbour will take a further liberty and in any event why should he give up some land? What action can he take without involving disproportionate expense? If he cannot resolve the matter quickly with the neighbour a letter from a solicitor who does not overcharge may do the trick. The snag with that is if it does not do the trick and no more letters are received the neighbour will take it a sign that the encroached owner has decided not to risk any further expense. That leaves self-help. That will bring matters to a head in no uncertain terms but is always risky - see observations above.
*In the case the land is a strip three feet wide. That may not sound significant but that is a good flower border. What homeowner would not object if he went away on holiday and came back to find the flower border at the bottom of his garden gome?
Once the neighbour starts to take liberties and the encroachment is signifcant* it is a different matter. The landowner whose land has been encroached on has a dilemma. If he does nothing he runs the risk the neighbour will take a further liberty and in any event why should he give up some land? What action can he take without involving disproportionate expense? If he cannot resolve the matter quickly with the neighbour a letter from a solicitor who does not overcharge may do the trick. The snag with that is if it does not do the trick and no more letters are received the neighbour will take it a sign that the encroached owner has decided not to risk any further expense. That leaves self-help. That will bring matters to a head in no uncertain terms but is always risky - see observations above.
*In the case the land is a strip three feet wide. That may not sound significant but that is a good flower border. What homeowner would not object if he went away on holiday and came back to find the flower border at the bottom of his garden gome?
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