May we stop a neighbour building an undesirable dividing fence? Need a stick to go with quiet friendly voice.

Question

I live in a block of units in Queensland. A neighbour intends to replace a mesh fence, at the back of our units, with a wooden one. Unit owners are worried that the new fence would reduce afternoon light entering the back of our units. There is concern that drying our laundry in winter would become difficult as our clothes lines are positioned against the fenceline. One owner has expressed fear that a solid fence would offer protection from discovery to people entering our property unlawfully.

As I understand the dividing fences act, the neighbour could aproach us, before building the fence, in order to share the cost of building. That would afford us opportunity to refuse the fence and the neighbour would then require a court order to proceed. The neighbour has not aproached us officialy yet and if willing to bear the full cost of the fence is then not subject to the Dividing fence Act. I might be wrong. I am happy to talk with him but would prefer to have a contingency plan first

Answer 1

It may fall under the "spite" fence issue, there are legal limits on how high you can build a fence, most places is up to 8 ft, above that, your doing it for no good, legitimate reason except to show contempt and 'spite". for your Neighbors. check it out with your city ordnances, there is usually some type of city code about size and types of fences in every place people live.

Answer 2

Quite frankly it depends. I suggest you do a title search on your own property to see if there are covenants in the neighborhood. (Usually such covenants aren't recorded well or available to be seen in any other place.) If there's a homeowner's association for your neighborhood, then hey that makes your job a lot easier. If your neighbor is violating a covenant, then yes you can make them take it down. Also, there may be city or county regulations that they are violating. Do your research.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Get over it,they own the property,they should be able to build whatever they want.