A GRANDMA has been locked in a furious battle with her neighbour over an “outrageous” fence for almost three years.
Kathryn Hewitt, 51, bought a newbuild from Persimmon Homes for just under £180,000 in December 2021.
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But the nurse claims she quickly realised her neighbour had put up a fence along a shared boundary line before she moved in without her permission.
The wooden structure, which is initially 4ft high and then goes up to 6ft, prevents Kathryn from opening her car door or wheeling her refuse bin into the back garden.
The mum-of-two, who lives alone in her Newcastle Upon Tyne property, says the boundary along the front drive was supposed to be open-planned.
She also alleges Persimmon Homes erected a rear garden fence between the two properties in an incorrect position.
Kathryn, who was married more than 20 years ago, told The Sun: “I moved into my Persimmon Homes property in December 2021.
“Unknown to me at the time, my neighbour had erected a fence on my land in order to extend their garden with the full knowledge of Persimmon Homes.
“This was clearly in breach of the contract signed prior to the purchase of my house.
“After endless communications with Persimmon Homes and solicitor’s letters to my neighbour, I am still no further forward with having the fence removed.
“On further inspection from Persimmon Homes, it has also come to light that the fence they erected was in the incorrect position.
“As a result of this, I have limited access to the back of my property – a legal requirement.”
She claims the developer has offered her £1000 in compensation and to cover the cost of having the Land Registry documents amended.
She continued: “It’s absolutely outrageous. They offered me that to make the situation go away. It’s my land. I’m not going to give up.”
Kathryn says the whole dispute is costing her “an arm and a leg” and she doesn’t have the money to keep funding the legal fees.
She added: “This whole situation is incurring costs running into thousands of pounds.
What are your rights in this situation?
BOUNDARY disputes are legally private issues and so have to be resolved between the parties involved.
In most cases, local councils are not involved unless there are special circumstances or a planning element to the dispute.
Early resolutions can often be agreed through offers of settlement or professional mediation.
However, if a settlement can’t be agreed by the parties, then disputes can be taken to court to be ruled on.
This is often an expensive and time-consuming process as the court has to determine the legal boundary lines between properties.
If you are involved in a boundary dispute which you cannot resolve, your best option is to consult a solicitor for advice on your particular case.
“Apart from the cost implications, the stress of the whole situation is adversely affecting my mental health.”
But the neighbour in dispute, Angela, said she was never approached directly from Kathryn about the front fence in Dinnington.
The bank worker, who’s in her 60s, said: “It’s ridiculous really.
“She didn’t move in until December 2021 and we put the fence up in April 2021 so it was there when she bought it.
It’s my land. I’m not going to give up.
Kathryn Hewitt
“I can’t really comment on whether the fence will come down. It is a thing that has gone on for quite a while and it has caused a lot of bother.
“Mrs Hewitt has never spoken to us about the front fence. We found out about it when she went to seek legal advice.
“We don’t really know what is happening now because we haven’t heard from her solicitor.
“I have recently had cancer from November last year and I’ve had treatment and throughout that she has got the legal side involved.
I can’t really comment on whether the fence will come down.
Angela
“I don’t know if she knew about that as we never had the conversation.
“She has not spoken about this fence to me. I didn’t know until the legal issue got sent.
“The other issue with the fence to the back is to do with Persimmon Homes and how they built it and left it how it is.
“We are waiting to hear from her solicitors.”
A Persimmon North East spokesperson said “We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to Ms Hewitt by the original installation of the small boundary fence.
“We had received permission from the owner of the neighbouring property to grant us access to move the fence onto the correct alignment.
“However, the two homeowners in question are unfortunately now in a legal dispute regarding additional fences that have been erected by the neighbouring property which has stopped us being able to gain access.
“We still hope that agreement can be found with both parties so that we can move the original fence.”
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