How To Get an Injunction Against a Neighbour
An injunction is a court order that forces someone to do something or prevents them from doing something. If you want an injunction against your neighbour, you will therefore need to go to court to request one. An injunction is a court order issued against a particular person (or group) to either prohibit or require them to perform a particular action.
Injunctions are often applied for against nuisance neighbours to compel them to take reasonable action they refuse to take—like pruning a tree on their property blocking out your light, or preventing them from accessing your land (trespassing).
An injunction can also prohibit neighbours from playing excessively loud music or indulging in other forms of anti-social behaviour.
A property injunction is commonly used for matters that constitute a nuisance between neighbours, such as impeding or abusing a right of way, inconsiderate parking or anti-social behaviour.
There’s an old legal adage that you need the “truth and proof, plus legal representation” before you apply to the court seeking an injunction. Proof may require gathering evidence of the nuisance or act of omission over days, weeks and months in order to have enough material facts to put before the court. The burden is on the applicant to prove your application and claim on the balance of probability. There are further specific factors the court will consider before granting an injunction and the court will apply the American Cyanamid guidelines when considering these types of applications- named after the pivotal case in this area.
The American Cyanamid guidelines are, in brief;
- Whether there is a serious question to be tried;
- Where the balance of convenience lies; and
- Whether there are any special factors.
Injunctions are expensive and urgent types of court orders. By their nature they almost exclusively require urgency to be obtainable. It would be usual to exhaust diplomacy before resorting to applying for an injunction. Setting out the detail of your complaint and issue in writing to the neighbour, outlining what may happen next if the dispute escalates or remains unresolved are all important, and the court will expect to see evidence of attempts to avoid litigation. There is also the option of offering to use forms of mediation.
At a hearing in either the county court or the high court, a judge will decide whether or not to grant the injunction.
Applying for an injunction shouldn’t be taken lightly and given the importance of protecting land and rights, as well as positioning you to later recover your legal costs, it is proportionate to obtain legal advice in this area.