Couple ordered to hand neighbours their £600k home in row over 3inches
A COUPLE have been ordered to hand the keys of their £600,000 home over to their neighbours after losing a bitter legal fight against them.
Herman Constantine, 66, and his wife Yvette, 57, fought a five-year court battle after claiming their neighbours had built just three inches into their garden.
But after losing the case, a court order ruled they must give Sardar Ali, 62, and his wife Haliman their seven- bedroom house so they can sell it to recoup their vast legal costs.
Last night, the Constantines, who have three grown-up children, told of their heartbreak at losing their East London home of 31 years.
They fear they might be homeless after Christmas having been told they have until January 5 to move out.
With dozens of boxes already packed in the lounge, Mr Constantine said: ‘We are just so shocked. We raised our children here and now we have to leave just after Christmas.
‘The big question is where will we go now? We have no choice but we have nowhere to go.’
The retired couple said they had returned from a three-week cruise to find Mr Ali and his wife had built an extension three inches into their garden in 2009.
In 2012, when they could afford a solicitor, they took their neighbours to court.
They sought £750 compensation in a civil case after independent experts claimed the Alis had been trespassing.
However, Mr Ali and his wife refused and demanded the Constantines pay their legal fees.
With the neighbours unable to agree, the minor feud escalated into a complex legal battle.
At one point, both sides discussed compensation and a settlement in principle was reached – but it was never formalised.
In 2016, the case went to Mayor’s and City of London County Court where a judge inspected both properties and ruled the extension was not trespass.
As a result, the Constantines were ordered to pay their neighbours’ £130,000 costs.
The couple appealed against the fees, but a court ruling earlier this month gave the Alis the right to sell the Constantines’ property in East Ham, London, for at least £500,000.
Once the sale goes through, the Constantines will receive the rest of the money after the legal costs are deducted.
Mr Constantine said: ‘I don’t have from any the is kind in last my of house. money few years The now, stress everything has affected my health already.’
Former council worker Mrs Constantine refused to say whether they regretted their decision to take legal action, saying that they were ‘within our rights’.
She added: ‘But I can’t believe the judge has forced our house to be sold. It is not right at all.’
Before the spat began, she said the neighbours were not close but had been ‘polite and civilised’. But after years of feuding, hostilities between the neighbours had reached such a degree that they have both surrounded their houses with CCTV cameras. Mrs Constantine claimed their neighbours family and she were had ‘ observing’ resorted her to putting black bin liners over the kitchen window for privacy. Perhaps highlighting the disagreement, a sign in front of their house reads: ‘Please do not leave deliveries with any neighbours.’ Yesterday, their neighbour Mr Ali said: ‘It’s been a very hard time. I don’t want to talk about it. The time to talk about it was eight years ago but not now.’