Hi all
Hoping for a steer on a boundary issue with our neighbour.
We bought our house in 2016; our neighbours moved into theirs 2006.
At the time we bought the house, the dividing fence between us and next door was in the process of being replaced by them and the previous owners - it was actually partially down at the time of our property viewing, and was fully installed for when we moved in, along the exact same line as the original fence.
Fast forward 7 years later, and our neighbour (after a survey) is now claiming that the fence is not on the right boundary and he is owed 40-50cm from us towards the back - which conveniently, is where the pool is. Now, with council approval, the pool has been in place at our house for the last 30 years. It was there when we moved in, and when he moved in. It has not moved, and neither has the fence for which the pool location was approved re. setbacks.
My Qs/thoughts are:
- He put the fence in along the exact same line in agreement with the previous owners in 2016 - can he force us to move it now?
- Fence & pool have been in place for 30+ years, council-approved pool location?
- He's saying that because he's owed 40-50cm, that means our pool isn't in the right place re. 900mm setback
- He admits he didn't get a survey when he replaced the fence in 2016 because he 'was in a rush'
- Topography of the fence line is tricky - his property is higher than ours, steep slope at the front, and there's sloping rock along the fence as it stands on our side (see attached pic of the fence in question) - which might be why they put the fence where they did. It's not level land.
A bit of extra background:
- All this started because our property was severely damaged by our neighbours overland storm run off (from their neighbours higher up) that they channelled straight onto the back of our house via a trench - causing $100k+ damage & subsidence to the top section where the pool is in last year's NSW storms
- This meant the pool fencing & decking needed to be replaced and therefore brought up to current compliance
- He had issues with this despite us telling him the pool fencing/decking was no closer to him and it's all still 900mm+ from the fence - he went so far as him doing drawings telling us what we could & couldn't do according to him; and we've adhered to all his requests - including making the fence higher along the pool for his 'privacy'
- He told us verbally he doesn't want us to have a pool (or a deck) at the top of our property at all as their bedroom is at the back and we're building a 'party deck'
- He's even gone so far as to report us to council for illegal building for trying to fix all the damage his stormwater run off has caused
Can anyone give advice? We will of course seek our own survey- however what happens if that shows the fence is out? It affects not just the pool but the actual property? (see image of how the house sits on the land - we're the red marker)
Thanks everyone.
Hoping for a steer on a boundary issue with our neighbour.
We bought our house in 2016; our neighbours moved into theirs 2006.
At the time we bought the house, the dividing fence between us and next door was in the process of being replaced by them and the previous owners - it was actually partially down at the time of our property viewing, and was fully installed for when we moved in, along the exact same line as the original fence.
Fast forward 7 years later, and our neighbour (after a survey) is now claiming that the fence is not on the right boundary and he is owed 40-50cm from us towards the back - which conveniently, is where the pool is. Now, with council approval, the pool has been in place at our house for the last 30 years. It was there when we moved in, and when he moved in. It has not moved, and neither has the fence for which the pool location was approved re. setbacks.
My Qs/thoughts are:
- He put the fence in along the exact same line in agreement with the previous owners in 2016 - can he force us to move it now?
- Fence & pool have been in place for 30+ years, council-approved pool location?
- He's saying that because he's owed 40-50cm, that means our pool isn't in the right place re. 900mm setback
- He admits he didn't get a survey when he replaced the fence in 2016 because he 'was in a rush'
- Topography of the fence line is tricky - his property is higher than ours, steep slope at the front, and there's sloping rock along the fence as it stands on our side (see attached pic of the fence in question) - which might be why they put the fence where they did. It's not level land.
A bit of extra background:
- All this started because our property was severely damaged by our neighbours overland storm run off (from their neighbours higher up) that they channelled straight onto the back of our house via a trench - causing $100k+ damage & subsidence to the top section where the pool is in last year's NSW storms
- This meant the pool fencing & decking needed to be replaced and therefore brought up to current compliance
- He had issues with this despite us telling him the pool fencing/decking was no closer to him and it's all still 900mm+ from the fence - he went so far as him doing drawings telling us what we could & couldn't do according to him; and we've adhered to all his requests - including making the fence higher along the pool for his 'privacy'
- He told us verbally he doesn't want us to have a pool (or a deck) at the top of our property at all as their bedroom is at the back and we're building a 'party deck'
- He's even gone so far as to report us to council for illegal building for trying to fix all the damage his stormwater run off has caused
Can anyone give advice? We will of course seek our own survey- however what happens if that shows the fence is out? It affects not just the pool but the actual property? (see image of how the house sits on the land - we're the red marker)
Thanks everyone.
