Fences & Neighbours
Discussion
Elysium said:
The deeds will not define the type of fence required, or the quality of the repair required, or what happens when the two parties disagree regarding the need for maintenance or the costs. They will certainly not help determine the point at which a fence is beyond economic repair and requires replacement.
You have decided that you want to do this in a certain way, there is no legal basis for that in the deeds and you are expecting the adjoining owners to accept your view without question and pay half of whatever cost you have decided to incur.
That is not a reasonable position.
And that's the crux of the matter, I don't know how you are supposed to resolve the issue if those things are not clearly defined. I appreciate it may not seem like a reasonable position, but I would think that this would normally be resolved with a bit of give and take. Sadly, we've now ended up with the cheapest possible solution to the problem - I was proposing something at the higher end of cost given I didn't want to mess with it again for a considerable time - and there's been no way to get a middle of the road solution as they've gone down the cheap route.You have decided that you want to do this in a certain way, there is no legal basis for that in the deeds and you are expecting the adjoining owners to accept your view without question and pay half of whatever cost you have decided to incur.
That is not a reasonable position.
Breadvan72 said:
I doubt that the OP would recognise a reasonable position even if it hit him on the head with a fence post.
I think that's a bit rude @Breadvan72, I'm a reasonable person and I can see both sides of the issue.
Cyberprog said:
I was proposing something at the higher end of cost given I didn't want to mess with it again for a considerable time - and there's been no way to get a middle of the road solution as they've gone down the cheap route.
So the reason you need a stronger fence is because your plants and dogs will damage a cheaper one? How is this the neighbours fault and why should they pay extra to compensate you?Like others have suggested, just build a stronger fence on your land blocking the access/view of the cheaper one if it bothers you that much, they have fulfilled their part of the deal already it seems (from opinion on here it seems they have done so to a higher standard than would be necessary also), its not their fault if you cant be bothered to sort out the plants or keep your dogs within your property.
You were also proposing to take them to court if they didn't agree with you, don't forget
Lazermilk said:
So the reason you need a stronger fence is because your plants and dogs will damage a cheaper one? How is this the neighbours fault and why should they pay extra to compensate you?
Like others have suggested, just build a stronger fence on your land blocking the access/view of the cheaper one if it bothers you that much, they have fulfilled their part of the deal already it seems (from opinion on here it seems they have done so to a higher standard than would be necessary also), its not their fault if you cant be bothered to sort out the plants or keep your dogs within your property.
You were also proposing to take them to court if they didn't agree with you, don't forget
I've not said I need to build a stronger fence because I intend to keep the plants - indeed I have razed the plants from the ground along about 70% of the boundary, and will remove the rest in the coming weekend. The dogs don't damage the fence if it's not rotten - if it's rotten then they will obviously be able to break through!Like others have suggested, just build a stronger fence on your land blocking the access/view of the cheaper one if it bothers you that much, they have fulfilled their part of the deal already it seems (from opinion on here it seems they have done so to a higher standard than would be necessary also), its not their fault if you cant be bothered to sort out the plants or keep your dogs within your property.
You were also proposing to take them to court if they didn't agree with you, don't forget
I don't know how they have repaired the fence to a higher standard? The minimum standard has been met, i.e. that the panels have been replaced with like for like. They have definitely not done so to a higher standard, given that the wrong panels were purchased and I still have to sort bits of it out.
BertBert said:
Did the OP make a typo? Does he mean "more" rather than "less" (or "all" rather than "none")? I presumed he was trying to say they had loads of money as they had 3 newish cars, but that's not what came out.
Yes, that was what I was getting at - can afford three fairly new cars, yet can't afford a decent fence repair? Cyberprog said:
BertBert said:
Did the OP make a typo? Does he mean "more" rather than "less" (or "all" rather than "none")? I presumed he was trying to say they had loads of money as they had 3 newish cars, but that's not what came out.
Yes, that was what I was getting at - can afford three fairly new cars, yet can't afford a decent fence repair? anonymous said:
[redacted]
And I think I've admitted that several times here. I think that maybe insisting on a 2k fence would have been unreasonable, but I also think that ending up with a £300 fence is also unreasonable when I effectively didn't have any say in that decision, and as it is a shared fence I'm liable for half the cost. Neither of us has been happy here I think!Cyberprog said:
Lazermilk said:
So the reason you need a stronger fence is because your plants and dogs will damage a cheaper one? How is this the neighbours fault and why should they pay extra to compensate you?
Like others have suggested, just build a stronger fence on your land blocking the access/view of the cheaper one if it bothers you that much, they have fulfilled their part of the deal already it seems (from opinion on here it seems they have done so to a higher standard than would be necessary also), its not their fault if you cant be bothered to sort out the plants or keep your dogs within your property.
You were also proposing to take them to court if they didn't agree with you, don't forget
I've not said I need to build a stronger fence because I intend to keep the plants - indeed I have razed the plants from the ground along about 70% of the boundary, and will remove the rest in the coming weekend. The dogs don't damage the fence if it's not rotten - if it's rotten then they will obviously be able to break through!Like others have suggested, just build a stronger fence on your land blocking the access/view of the cheaper one if it bothers you that much, they have fulfilled their part of the deal already it seems (from opinion on here it seems they have done so to a higher standard than would be necessary also), its not their fault if you cant be bothered to sort out the plants or keep your dogs within your property.
You were also proposing to take them to court if they didn't agree with you, don't forget
I don't know how they have repaired the fence to a higher standard? The minimum standard has been met, i.e. that the panels have been replaced with like for like. They have definitely not done so to a higher standard, given that the wrong panels were purchased and I still have to sort bits of it out.
If that's not the case then please ignore that part.
Regarding the plants, you originally said this was part of the issue of how the dogs got out, rotten panels and overgrown bushes, so its fair to say that isn't the neighbours problem.
Regarding the dogs, perhaps train them not to damage fences, rotten or not.
If you care about the look or standard of the boundary, then always best to either get neighbour to agree that you can take ownership, or build up against it with your own.Cyberprog said:
And I think I've admitted that several times here. I think that maybe insisting on a 2k fence would have been unreasonable, but I also think that ending up with a £300 fence is also unreasonable when I effectively didn't have any say in that decision, and as it is a shared fence I'm liable for half the cost. Neither of us has been happy here I think!
Indeed. Which is rather the point. Going in with 'what are my rights' and 'what can i legally force them to do' was never going to end well, whereas taking the time to look at things from their point of view and, indeed, being prepared to acknowledge that what is important to you just isn't for them, would have been much more likely to elicit a more favourable response.Lazermilk said:
I thought someone had implied that just a simple wire/fence post type would be technically sufficient? If so, then you are lucky they didn't tear down the lot and replace with this if there is nothing that states what kind of fence it should be, this was what I meant - higher standard than technically needed, is it not just to mark the boundary?
If that's not the case then please ignore that part.
Regarding the plants, you originally said this was part of the issue of how the dogs got out, rotten panels and overgrown bushes, so its fair to say that isn't the neighbours problem.
Regarding the dogs, perhaps train them not to damage fences, rotten or not.
I think the minimum standard would be to replace what was there. If there were no boundary, then yes, wire would be minimum.If that's not the case then please ignore that part.
Regarding the plants, you originally said this was part of the issue of how the dogs got out, rotten panels and overgrown bushes, so its fair to say that isn't the neighbours problem.
Regarding the dogs, perhaps train them not to damage fences, rotten or not.
Yep, the plants were trained up the fence by the previous owners and over time grew to push the panels back as they became weaker. I've taken care of this problem (well, mostly, certainly for the affected panels) so this would not be an issue in the future.
If you have dogs on either side of the fence, then you'll struggle to stop them from wanting to meet one another! Ours are all rescues so while we train them as best we can, we're fighting against their previous training (or lack thereof). It's something that is a continuous process for us.
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