Neighbour/ fence issue-any thoughts on this?

[Haylstones]

We moved into this house a few years ago and have had loads of indoor stuff to do so haven't got round to the garden yet.

The fence on the boundary with next door neighbour is missing a panel at the top and a couple of panels are not in brilliant condition. Finances are a bit tight so we had planned just to fix the panels that needed attention and replace the whole lot when we can afford it and have more spare time.

Our next door neighbours have asked if we will fix the fence but want concrete posts with new panels the whole way up (its a pretty big garden and the fence goes past the back of the house and down the side. This is the second time they've asked (I admit we've left it too long in its current state - no excuses but we have apologised for this). They have offered to pay half of the cost even thought it is entirely our responsibility.

We are definitely going to make it secure one way or another this summer but the question is whether or not to go with repairing the broken panels, accepting his offer of paying half or forking out the whole amount (which we just cannot afford)

Dh doesn't think we should accept his offer as it isn't fair on him but I'm not sure... even if we did replace the whole length it'd be a straight replacement, not concrete posts which would cost much less.

FWIW, the total cost is at least £1000. Even paying half of this would be a real push atm- literally ALL of our money is tied up in something else atm

[HumpingAnteater]

It's a shred boundary so why not take up the offer - you both benifit from the privacy and security.

I would be upfront with your neighbour. Tell them you will replace the most in need at the mo but you have other priorties with cash.
When you have the funds available you will take up the offer and install a new fence.

[Haylstones]

Thanks, I forgot about this thread and went to bed last night.
We could afford to pay half of it just now so it seems better to replace all of it rather than patch it up but we could only do this with their contribution.
Although it's a shared boundary, everybody in our street has responsibility for one side only so it really isn't down to him to pay for it, hence my dilemma!

By autumn our money should be untied-up (is that a word?) again so we could pay for all of it then but that doesn't solve the problem during the summer when we spend most time in the garden. Even then, we wouldn't be paying to have concrete posts put in, just straight replacement of panels...

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

The thing is that they are probably offering to pay half because they want something that isn't already there, i.e a high fence and the extra privacy that goes with it and recognise that if they didn't make the offer they probably wouldn't get that IYSWIM.

I would jump at the offer TBH. Your neighbour benefits as much as you do so if you can afford it go for it.

[Weegle]

why not accept their offer and then in the autumn pay them the bit that they paid for - gets the job done now, their happy, and you don't financially commit to something now which you can't afford. I can understand their point - half the fence is down on our neighbours side and I desperately want her to replace it although I know she can't afford it. Fortunately it doesn't mean our main section of garden isn't secure, so we're just living with it for the moment.

[Weegle]

argh - they're

[Haylstones]

Thanks. I wouldn't want to borrow money from them. If we wanted to do that we'd borrow from family but that isn't an option. Besides, the cost they are offering to contribute to is higher than we'd have to pay if we did it our way, i.e. not concrete posts so I wouldn't want to pay half of that anyway (I'm confusing myself here).