Fence Boundary Cut Short By My Builder

[Pheobedog]

How do I reclaim this. My builder erected fencing o the right side of my garde .He zstrugg!ed with roots from mature shrubs to plant the wooden poles and cut short the widtb of mg garden by about 2 feet.
I didnt have money to replace it but j now want to do that , correcting original boundary but its been around 7 years
Can I do this and how please?
Best Wishes

[Buenchico]

The legal boundary of your garden is in exactly the same place that it's always been. (You've simply got a fence inside your garden, rather than on the edge of it). So you don't actually need to do anything.

However if you want the boundary to be marked by a fence (which isn't a legal requirement), I can't see how you could achieve that without erecting a new fence in the correct position.

[Pheobedog]

Thank you. That is helpful. I should have mentioned that my neighbours have made use of the extra space created and have built a low wall right up to where my fence lays...within my garden...is there a statute of limitation as to how long the extra space can be left before they can build on it and claim it as theirs?

[Buenchico]

The law on 'adverse possession' is complicated but it basically requires someone wanting to 'grab' your land to have used it exclusively as their own for 10 years and then to claim it under the adverse possession rules. However if such a claim was made you would be notified and have 65 business days to object.

Simply ticking the box to say that you objected would then normally be enough to block the application.

However that automatic rejection of the application for adverse possession doesn't apply when "the squatter has been in adverse possession of land adjacent to their own under the mistaken but reasonable belief that they are the owner of it, the exact line of the boundary with this adjacent land has not been determined and the estate to which the application relates was registered more than a year prior to the date of the application".

So, in order to ensure that your neighbour can't say that he had a "mistaken but reasonable belief" that he was the owner of the land (and that the boundary has never been properly determined) you need to make sure that you've informed him (preferably in writing, using a 'signed for' service or, better still, through a solicitor) that you own the land and that you want it back.

(See here for more details of the legal position: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land )

How you go on from there depends upon his response. If he simply agrees, you can work together to find the best solution. If he doesn't you'd be entitled to remove his wall (but I'd still advise speaking to a solicitor first). If you did so you'd need to ensure that you returned all the bricks to him in order to avoid possible prosecution for theft.

[Pheobedog]

Thank you and the best advice.
I appreciate the time it took to respond to this.

Many thanks