Fence AIBU and WWYD?

[Blueemeraldagain]

I am need of some honest mumsnet advice. It's not the most thrilling subject but I hope you can help.

My mum lives in a semi-detached house with a garden. Our adjoining neighbour has let his/their fence get into an awful state of disrepair. Huge sections of it have fallen down/are falling down into her garden.

My mum has asked him several times over the last 2 years about getting it fixed/replaced. The man who lives there has explained that the house is owned by the council and he is trying to get them to fix it but they are being very slow. Knowing our local council this is very plausible. Last week we made an attempt to board up some of the fence on our side. The neighbour made a comment about the council having been out two or three times but always having an excuse not to start work.

Yesterday my mum rang the council to try and help chivvy them along.

Turns out the house isn't a council house at all. We don't know, of course, if they own it or are renting privately.

My mum would appreciate some advice on how to deal with this situation.
We have lived in this house for 17 years and she has no plans to move soon so would prefer to avoid a huge fall out but she is pissed off.

The deeds will show who owns it , you can download a copy from government's land registry site. It may also show who owns the boundary and even if his or shared there is nothing to stop your dm putting up a fence her "side" .

In your mums position I would put a fence up myself after having a friendly word with the neighbour.
Where I live the council transferred all its properties to a housing association and o know that they do not mend or put up fences.
In all fairness if this is the situation with her neighbour I'm not surprised he is reluctant to spend money on a fence.
Also if your mum puts the fence up she can have the ' nice side' facing her.

TBH I'd just put a fence up myself. Annoying, I know, but it would be very hard to force a reluctant landlord or owner to do it. My NDN had the same problem with the other side and ended up getting it done herself.

The issue is that you can't force someone to repair their fence if they don't want to. It's annoying but the only solution is probably for your mum to replace it herself.

As above- id install a nice fence on her sid of his. Not touching so all on her land.

Yeah. That's the only solution we can come up with.

She's just annoyed at the expense and the fact that there are about 6 adults living next door (including one son-in-law who is a builder) and she's going to have to get a builder or me, my brothers or my partner (none of whom live there) to help put the fence up.

I guess at least when she's done it she can paint it any colour she likes or grow whatever she wants on it.

Essentially as the law stands you can't force someone to replace a fence and as such he who wants pays.

You can find more information on the garden law website

Ownership of the boundary is meaningless (t marks) as the fence may or may not have been installed by either owner

A development.

The house is a HA house. (Thanks LIZS. Bloody council, didn't tell us that, just said it wasn't a council house).

We will contact the HA on Monday and see if they will help us. Rang just now and the woman was concerned but said they only deal with emergencies at the weekend.

Well that's promising !