judybos Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Can any body advise us , we bought our property last september, and came over for a week in April to meet our builder, for renovation work to be discussed,looking forward to our retirement here ,on the second day of our visit a local french resident who had bought the property at the side of our house, came round with a hand written letter ,asking if he could have access from our land to put in a new fosse in his back garden, which was surrounded by a stone wall,and gave us our privacy ( as there was no other way in for him apart from a garden gate ) which being a bit naive - and being neighbourly ,also wanting to be helpful to our new neighbour we agreed and signed his letter. He knocked down the stone wall and all his deliveries of materials i.e Tractors ,lorries etc were delivered across our land and stored on our land till ready for use, which we accommodated with good grace. The wall is his property and he has not replaced it , which has left us with no privacy, we have spoken to our local mayor, who has said with effect it is not his problem, and we signed the letter, and to put in for planning for us to build a new wall at our expense ! he has also led his fosse pipe outlet through the other part of the wall in to a gulley at the side of our house which is communal for the village for surface water, I do feel there are two standards here, because we have the land we had to pay a lot more for our fosse and had to have an extra extended gravel bed down on to our land, and he has got away with a 5 mtr pipe ! This does not make for good relationships between English and French , as we have been taken in , when trying to do the right thing !! Is it worth going to the Notaire and taking it further ? very despondent & dissapointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 [quote]Can any body advise us , we bought our property last september, and came over for a week in April to meet our builder, for renovation work to be discussed,looking forward to our retirement here ,on th...[/quote]What did the letter say? Did you keep a copy? I would guess that it said "you can have access across my land for whatever reason..." In which case, he is only doing what you said he could. If the wall is his, he is quite at liberty to demolish it (give or take a few planning laws). If you want it replaced, then you will need to replace it yourself, I'm afraid.As regards the fosse, I'm suprised that he was allowed to use the land drain, but, if his installation is legal, then there is not much you can do, even if you wanted to complain.I wouldn't turn it into a French v English thing. I guess your neighbour would do it to any mug who agreed to it!Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okalani<P>Sarha<P><P>Okalani chambres et tables dhotes< Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Speaking from experience in having "problems" with my neighbours - in fact soon a court case - all caused by them might I add, not us, I would definately go and see your notaire and make sure that he has done everything legally. Check with as many people as possible that he is not breaking the law in any way as far as the drain.Unfortunately, as said earlier if you signed a letter and you don't know exactly what it says that is unfortunate, but again talk to the Notaire and check your deeds.If you don't do it know, he will either take advantage of you again in the future or you might have other problems with your property etc.Just cover yourself -I have learnt the hard way and am still learning!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judybos Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 [quote]What did the letter say? Did you keep a copy? I would guess that it said "you can have access across my land for whatever reason..." In which case, he is only doing what you said he could. If the wall...[/quote]Yes Nick , I totally agree we were Mugs !! just thought we were being obliging to our new neighbour, (which I have an effergie of, with pins in the appropriate places !) he has been very clever sly and underhand, just thinking of planting some conifers to grow 60ft, will not be so gullible again. also have apt with the Notaire to check on the situation ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 You've only done what a lot of us have done here,be neighbourly but unfortunately you have also signed a piece of paper too which maybe you didn't understand. In the words of Fox Mulder "trust no one" and definately not in a bit of paper written by a local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now