London family ordered to give £600,000 home to neighbours

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Constantine family lost legal 8-year battle with neighbours over an extension
Now ordered to hand over their home to the Ali family to pay their legal fees
Constantine family have lived at seven-bedroom £600,000 home for 31 years
Legal papers show that £132,544 from the sale will pay the Ali family's legal fees - the remainder will be given back to the Constantines

By Keiligh Baker and Shekhar Bahtia For Mailonline

Published: 03:12 EST, 20 December 2017 | Updated: 08:22 EST, 20 December 2017

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A family must give their home for the past 31 years to their neighbours after losing a legal fight over an extension they claimed was built three inches into their garden.

A court ruling means the Constantines have three weeks to move out of their seven-bedroom home worth £600,000 in East Ham, London - and give their keys to their neighbours, the Ali family, after losing an eight-year legal battle.

A judge ordered Herman Constantine, 66, and his wife Yvette, 57, to leave the property where they have raised their three children.

The Constantines accused the Alis of trespass by knocking down their fence and building an extension three inches into their garden.

But the Constantines lost the tresspass case and were ordered to pay their neighbours' legal costs.

The Constantine family say they have been told to move out of their house (pictured left) in East Ham, London, and give their keys to their neighbours, the Alis, after losing a legal battle

Sardar Ali (pictured left) and Herman Constantine (right) have been embroiled in a row over a boundary for more than eight years. Mr Constantine has lost his latest appeal

The Constantines (right) accused the Alis (left) of trespass by knocking down their fence (pictured) and building an extension three inches into their garden while they were on holiday

Now, a court has decided that the Constantines must move out of their home by January 5 and sell their home for at least £500,000. It stated that £132,544 of the proceeds from the sale will go towards the Ali family's legal fees.

The Constantines are reportedly 'devastated' by the ruling, which could mean that they will be homeless after Christmas.

But speaking this morning, their neighbour Sardar Ali, 62, told MailOnline: '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. Talk to my son about it, he's not around at the moment.'

The two houses at the centre of the row have been turned into virtual fortresses. Mr Ali’s house has a swivelling cctv camera and two spotlights.

There is also a third camera perched from the guttering keeping an eye out.

The Constantines have two video cameras, a spotlight and an alarm system.

A clue to the bitter legal fight can be found, perhaps, in a sign on the front of the Constantines’ house which reads: ‘Please do not leave deliveries with any neighbours.’

A view of the back of Herman Constantine's home (right) and Sardar Ali's home (left)

The Constantine family have been ordered to hand over their house (pictured centre, with red roof) to their neighbours

The two houses have been turned into virtual fortresses with CCTV cameras spotlights protecting the properties

A clue to the bitter legal fight can be found, perhaps, in a sign on the front of the Constantines’ house which reads: ‘Please do not leave deliveries with any neighbours.’

The Alis have a sign in the porch of their door which tells visitors they have lived there for 26 years.

The Constantines remained behind closed doors and declined to accept visitors.’

The Constantines first complained the Alis' extension had been built while they were on holiday in 2009. The case ended up in the Civil Courts in 2012.

A judge sided with the Alis and said that the extension was not trespass.

The Constantines lost an appeal in May this year and a final charging order was placed on them demanding payment of the Alis' legal fees. A judge made the final ruling on December 1 due to non payment.

A source said: 'They will lose the house they had for 31 years and be homeless after Christmas. All because they objected about a neighbours' fence.'