Fences & Neighbours
Discussion
If you want to replace the fence just pay for it and get them to consent...or don’t replace the fence. We replaced the fence between our house and our new neighbours and when he asked if he could contribute I just said take me out for a beer. We did, got on great, now we cut each other’s hedges when one of us is working away. Try being a nice neighbour, it rocks!
I appreciate all your opinions on the matter - but nobody has actually provided anything to backup this - other than what they feel.
The fence is ~24 years old. Installed by Bryant Homes when the estate was built. The panels are rotten and have been pushed over by the plants the previous owner "trained" up the fence and onto trellis panels on the top. The dogs are just pushing through rotten boards when her daughter (who does not live at home) visits and brings her dog round - and dogs being dogs want to interact with one another. There is nothing I can do about this with the state of the fence currently.
If I've got to replace the fence, then I'd rather the job was a proper job - hence £2k, rather than spend a couple of hundred every couple of years and then have to sort that out.
I'm also mindful that while she claims not to have the money, the area we live in is fairly expensive - and that in the grand scheme of house ownership, is not a lot of money to shell out on what would be a proper job. I can also see her upset in that through no fault of her own, the fence is failing, but I should point out that she initially tried to dump the whole thing on me - asking me when *I* would be sorting it. And sorting it I am, sadly for her, that also means that there is an obligation on her to pay for it according to the deeds.
Ironically, in the last 5 years both she and the previous proprietor have independently replaced panels. I'm unsure why neither raised it as a shared fence at the time, but it's been missed.
In a conversation today her daughter got involved and reckons the fence is hers, and on the face of what I was shown I accepted that and she's now going to replace with cheap fence. Sadly, I've now read the document she was relying upon, and it refers to the marked shared fence with her rear neighbour (my side neighbour whose garden extends past me). So we'll have to have another discussion tomorrow.
The fence is ~24 years old. Installed by Bryant Homes when the estate was built. The panels are rotten and have been pushed over by the plants the previous owner "trained" up the fence and onto trellis panels on the top. The dogs are just pushing through rotten boards when her daughter (who does not live at home) visits and brings her dog round - and dogs being dogs want to interact with one another. There is nothing I can do about this with the state of the fence currently.
If I've got to replace the fence, then I'd rather the job was a proper job - hence £2k, rather than spend a couple of hundred every couple of years and then have to sort that out.
I'm also mindful that while she claims not to have the money, the area we live in is fairly expensive - and that in the grand scheme of house ownership, is not a lot of money to shell out on what would be a proper job. I can also see her upset in that through no fault of her own, the fence is failing, but I should point out that she initially tried to dump the whole thing on me - asking me when *I* would be sorting it. And sorting it I am, sadly for her, that also means that there is an obligation on her to pay for it according to the deeds.
Ironically, in the last 5 years both she and the previous proprietor have independently replaced panels. I'm unsure why neither raised it as a shared fence at the time, but it's been missed.
In a conversation today her daughter got involved and reckons the fence is hers, and on the face of what I was shown I accepted that and she's now going to replace with cheap fence. Sadly, I've now read the document she was relying upon, and it refers to the marked shared fence with her rear neighbour (my side neighbour whose garden extends past me). So we'll have to have another discussion tomorrow.
Edited by Cyberprog on Saturday 26th May 23:54
don'tbesilly said:
I can't offer any help, but I could ask you to do this:
Put yourself in your neighbours shoes and let us know how you would react when presented with the scenario as you've outlined above?
I'd be annoyed that the fence had failed, but I'd also acknowledge my obligations towards a shared fence. It's in black and white on the paperwork and was something that was accepted when the property was bought.Put yourself in your neighbours shoes and let us know how you would react when presented with the scenario as you've outlined above?
Thats What She Said said:
Where in the deeds does it say you get to decide solely on how much to spend on replacing the fence, and then hold your neighbour to ransom, with threats of court action?
Buy an expensive fence if you want one. Then price up the costs of budget fence panels and posts, and ask your neighbour nicely to split the cost of the cheaper stuff.
The deeds don't specify anything like that - hence my question here Buy an expensive fence if you want one. Then price up the costs of budget fence panels and posts, and ask your neighbour nicely to split the cost of the cheaper stuff.
It just says repair and replacement shall be jointly borne. I don't think there's any argument that the fence is in need of repair - but when more than 70% of the panels are in need to repair - I think you'd look towards replacement instead.
valiant said:
You want to put a charge on her property if she doesn't pay her share? 'Kin hell!
She's skint and recently had her relationship collapse. The last thing on her 'to do' list is to replace the fence that your dogs have no doubt helped exacerbate the damage.
Be the better bloke and just replace the fence and be done with it. Good fences make good neighbours. I know an extra grand is a lot of money but you'll have the fence you want and the knowledge you've helped someone out.
Plus, being now single she may be a bit more 'grateful'
ThisShe's skint and recently had her relationship collapse. The last thing on her 'to do' list is to replace the fence that your dogs have no doubt helped exacerbate the damage.
Be the better bloke and just replace the fence and be done with it. Good fences make good neighbours. I know an extra grand is a lot of money but you'll have the fence you want and the knowledge you've helped someone out.
Plus, being now single she may be a bit more 'grateful'
My neighbor owns the fence to my right. Its rotting and falling down but she is old and alone so I'm paying for a replacement as I'm the one that wants it done.
If it is her fence, there’s nothing to force her to replace it. She could decide to go open plan (unless she has livestock she needs to keep in). If she does replace it with one you don’t like, or none at all, you can always erect your own on your own land right next to it (I would keep receipts and a record of it if you do that, to ensure that there is no confusion on who owns it in and whose land it is on in 10 years time).
kingswood said:
2k is cheap to have good neighbours.
if shes poor and depressed then cheer her up. i'd be happy with a crate of carling and a quiet life.
you dont know the value of good neighbours till thyeve gone
Fully agree. You may get all the fresh bread and cakes you could ever dream of. Yum.if shes poor and depressed then cheer her up. i'd be happy with a crate of carling and a quiet life.
you dont know the value of good neighbours till thyeve gone
One of my boundary fences is made of the standard basic panels. The boundary is not shown on my deeds or my neighbour’s with the T mark. It is very visible from my neighbours house but cannot really be seen from my house.
Many years ago one of the panels came down in a storm. My neighbour and I chatted through the fence and he said he would get it fixed and I agreed to go halves.
A few days later he came round to my house to show me a quote for a complete new fence with concrete posts etc. It was in the thousands. I was not expecting that and suggested he get a few more quotes if that is what he wanted but meanwhile I would put in a replacement panel to make the boundary fence good again as my children were young. I replaced the panel.
Weeks later he came round with more quotes all very expensive, he also had a solicitor letter informing me I was liable for half the costs as it was a shared boundary. I politely showed him the door. I replied to the solicitor stating the boundary fence had been repaired and that my neighbour had not contributed to the cost.
I never heard back from the solicitor and even though I still greet that neighbour with a cheery hello whenever I see him he never replies.
Many years ago one of the panels came down in a storm. My neighbour and I chatted through the fence and he said he would get it fixed and I agreed to go halves.
A few days later he came round to my house to show me a quote for a complete new fence with concrete posts etc. It was in the thousands. I was not expecting that and suggested he get a few more quotes if that is what he wanted but meanwhile I would put in a replacement panel to make the boundary fence good again as my children were young. I replaced the panel.
Weeks later he came round with more quotes all very expensive, he also had a solicitor letter informing me I was liable for half the costs as it was a shared boundary. I politely showed him the door. I replied to the solicitor stating the boundary fence had been repaired and that my neighbour had not contributed to the cost.
I never heard back from the solicitor and even though I still greet that neighbour with a cheery hello whenever I see him he never replies.
Cyberprog said:
I appreciate all your opinions on the matter -
But I'm going to completely ignore them allCyberprog said:
If I've got to replace the fence, then I'd rather the job was a proper job - hence £2k,
Good - so go and build your fence.Cyberprog said:
In a conversation today her daughter got involved and reckons the fence is hers........ So we'll have to have another discussion tomorrow.
Oh dear, you really do seem to be making life unneccessarily complicated.As many others have pointed out, for the sake of having good neighbours this could be the best £1000 you'll ever spend.
You only have 2 choices, either (a) let her pay for and build her cheap fence or (b) you pay for and build your 'proper' fence (or both).
Anything in between is obviously never going to work and potentionally cause grief for years to come.
Many years ago my neighbour to the rear asked if he could put a new fence up. It's his boundary.
It was erected whilst we were at work. He'd 'steered, it around a large tree on our side. Whilst I was not overly happy my thoughts were that it was the only practical thing to do
The real blunder was that he put all the panels on way round and one somewhere in the middle the other way!
To him it probably wasn't that obvious but to us it sits on top of a 12 feet rise.....so very obvious!
It quickly became rickety and I paid for a nice new fence....he was happy. I was happy.
It was erected whilst we were at work. He'd 'steered, it around a large tree on our side. Whilst I was not overly happy my thoughts were that it was the only practical thing to do
The real blunder was that he put all the panels on way round and one somewhere in the middle the other way!
To him it probably wasn't that obvious but to us it sits on top of a 12 feet rise.....so very obvious!
It quickly became rickety and I paid for a nice new fence....he was happy. I was happy.
Get a copy of her deeds from Land Registry (£3 or thereabouts) and see what they say. They're probably similar to yours.
If it is truly shared (i.e. shared responsibility) it might be the case that she is happy with the fence the way it is and possibly unhappy with a bill being thrust in her face just because you want a new fence.
My property is the last house up an unadopted track - the maintenance of the track is shared. However, one family (only 6 properties in total) don't contribute to the maintenance and yet they're happy to have the benefit of thousands of pounds of annual maintenance. Nothing I can do about it as there's no legal agreement for them to contribute. It's irritating, but there's nothing we can do.
If it is truly shared (i.e. shared responsibility) it might be the case that she is happy with the fence the way it is and possibly unhappy with a bill being thrust in her face just because you want a new fence.
My property is the last house up an unadopted track - the maintenance of the track is shared. However, one family (only 6 properties in total) don't contribute to the maintenance and yet they're happy to have the benefit of thousands of pounds of annual maintenance. Nothing I can do about it as there's no legal agreement for them to contribute. It's irritating, but there's nothing we can do.
jkh112 said:
One of my boundary fences is made of the standard basic panels. The boundary is not shown on my deeds or my neighbour’s with the T mark. It is very visible from my neighbours house but cannot really be seen from my house.
Many years ago one of the panels came down in a storm. My neighbour and I chatted through the fence and he said he would get it fixed and I agreed to go halves.
A few days later he came round to my house to show me a quote for a complete new fence with concrete posts etc. It was in the thousands. I was not expecting that and suggested he get a few more quotes if that is what he wanted but meanwhile I would put in a replacement panel to make the boundary fence good again as my children were young. I replaced the panel.
Weeks later he came round with more quotes all very expensive, he also had a solicitor letter informing me I was liable for half the costs as it was a shared boundary. I politely showed him the door. I replied to the solicitor stating the boundary fence had been repaired and that my neighbour had not contributed to the cost.
I never heard back from the solicitor and even though I still greet that neighbour with a cheery hello whenever I see him he never replies.
This is the danger and shows the damage that can be done with some basic misunderstandings.Many years ago one of the panels came down in a storm. My neighbour and I chatted through the fence and he said he would get it fixed and I agreed to go halves.
A few days later he came round to my house to show me a quote for a complete new fence with concrete posts etc. It was in the thousands. I was not expecting that and suggested he get a few more quotes if that is what he wanted but meanwhile I would put in a replacement panel to make the boundary fence good again as my children were young. I replaced the panel.
Weeks later he came round with more quotes all very expensive, he also had a solicitor letter informing me I was liable for half the costs as it was a shared boundary. I politely showed him the door. I replied to the solicitor stating the boundary fence had been repaired and that my neighbour had not contributed to the cost.
I never heard back from the solicitor and even though I still greet that neighbour with a cheery hello whenever I see him he never replies.
syl said:
If it is her fence, there’s nothing to force her to replace it. She could decide to go open plan (unless she has livestock she needs to keep in). If she does replace it with one you don’t like, or none at all, you can always erect your own on your own land right next to it (I would keep receipts and a record of it if you do that, to ensure that there is no confusion on who owns it in and whose land it is on in 10 years time).
This.There's nothing in law to force your neighbour to maintain, repair or replace a boundary fence.
Your deeds may say if the fence is replaced it should be at a shared cost but if she is happy with the way it is you can't force her to pay.
And you are thinking of putting a charge on her house for half the cost ? Really ? Good luck with that.
How many panels is the fence BTW for it to cost 2k ?
Edited by Red 4 on Sunday 27th May 10:53
Is it a legal requirement to have a fence at all? If it blew down or otherwise disappeared one day, would the law dictate that a fence was put up if both parties were happy to not have one? I know where I live the deeds specially say we can't have fence round some of our gardens. Though, to be fair, most people ignore it and nobody minds.
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