r/AusLegal Fencing Dispute

Hi everyone,
Looking for advice on a fencing dispute in NSW.

About five years ago, my neighbour built his house and installed a fence without consulting us. My house was built in 2023. A licensed surveyor’s report now confirms the fence sits about 0.5 m inside our boundary.

The neighbour has acknowledged in writing that the fence is on our land but says his builder/developer was responsible, so he won’t pay to fix it.

We served a formal fencing notice with a quote and offered to pay half of the new fence cost, but not the removal of the existing one. He declined, saying it’s not his problem.

We’d like to avoid court, but we also don’t want to lose land we legally own.

Questions:

• What are our realistic options if he refuses to cooperate?
• Can NSW Fair Trading handle this, or do we need to go to court?
• Does his written admission help us?
• what's the go with limitation periods?

Thanks in advance for any guidance or experiences. This has been so stressful, such a petty little problem with a huge impact on my mental health!!!