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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not pay for fence?

70 replies

Takingafence · 05/05/2018 19:23

New NDN - not even in house yet- mentioned months ago in passing he wanted to make fence higher. He asked DH if he would contribute to which DH demurred and evaded answer.

Now after months - and still no fence- have received a quote from NDN itemizing bill. It's too much for us and tbh we already have a fence just not high enough for NDN. To put it in to context we installed new lower fence a few years ago and didn't ask our old neighbour for money as it was us who wanted the fence. Used to be a hedge there and too much maintenance. AIBU?

OP posts:
ScreamingValenta · 05/05/2018 19:27

Whose land is the fence on?

Takfujuimoto · 05/05/2018 19:27

Who's side of the fence is it?
If you look out of your back window the fence on the right is your responsibility, so if its yours and NDN wants it higher he can pay for it and put a higher fence against yours from his side.

Fruitcorner123 · 05/05/2018 19:27

No YANBU just write a reply saying you are not willing to pay and are happy with the current fence which you paid for. If he still wants to go ahead you won't object (if you won't) normally the responsibility for a border belongs to one owner, it should say whose fence it is on the deeds. Either way he's cheeky, if it's his he's cheeky for asking you to pay if its yours he's cheeky for trying to replace your fence

Justmuddlingalong · 05/05/2018 19:28

Put a note through the door. Saying 'no, thank you, we have a fence.'

bobstersmum · 05/05/2018 19:28

Is that true pp?

bobstersmum · 05/05/2018 19:29

Takfuji I meant!

jedediah · 05/05/2018 19:29

Who does the fence belong to?

If you, then he puts up a higher fence next to your fence on his land, and he pays for it.

If him, then he replaces the fence and pays for it.

Bambamber · 05/05/2018 19:29

If they want the fence higher they should pay for it surely?

JacquesHammer · 05/05/2018 19:31

@bobstermum no it isn’t true as a rule of thumb.

The only way to know precisely who is responsible for boundaries is by checking the title information document

GabriellaMontez · 05/05/2018 19:33

Yanbu. We're happy with the fence we have or similar in response.

Snowman123 · 05/05/2018 19:34

Its a boundary fence which as you know are both responsible for, should it be damaged in any way.

However, its not damaged. My neighbour also wanted a higher fence years ago and didn't ask us to contribute at all.

Be polite, but say that the existing fence is fine for you and that your budget cannot extend to non essential replacements. You are not being unreasonable at all.

Lazypuppy · 05/05/2018 19:35

@Takfujuimoto that's incorrect. My fences are on my left, and at my parents house all fences and jointly owned. Every housing development is different!

OP check your property deeds. They'l be a t shape symbol on every fence, if it is coming in to your boundary/property its your fence, if not it is your neighbours

Original poster
Takingafence · 05/05/2018 19:35

The fence we installed has facing on our side. He wants it facing his side. I think he is a CF and there are other issues.

Anyway he said he would like more privacy hence higher fence.

OP posts:
Riv · 05/05/2018 19:35

Or it could be a “Party Fence “ which means it is shared jointly between you and your neighbour. In which case legally any change is to be agreed and paid for jointly. If one party (your ndn) wants a change which you don’t then they can’t do it. If you don’t want it but have no real objection they can change it but not expect you to pay. The fence still remains joint property if this happens. (Recently had a very similar problem- we have a “party fence”. ) To find out what applies you need to check the house deeds.

woollyheart · 05/05/2018 19:35

You don’t have to pay for a higher fence. If it is your fence on your land, he will have to build a higher fence on his side. If it is his fence to maintain, he can replace it at his own cost.

Tobebythesea · 05/05/2018 19:35

Don’t pay!

RainySeptember · 05/05/2018 19:35

Well you can't blame him for asking, particularly as your dp gave him cause to be hopeful. I would just say you can't afford it and actually are quite happy with what's there, since you installed it fairly recently.

Takfujuimoto · 05/05/2018 19:36

Bob Ermm Confused actually no Grin

I've just had a look and it can be the left, right, party wall, depends on what kind of house and what it says on the title deeds apparently so ignore my previous post,, its BS.

Either way OP the NDN should pay for a fence he wants if you've already got one in place.

RainySeptember · 05/05/2018 19:37

And the owner of the fence usually has the messy bit on their side, nice side facing neighbour.

BMW6 · 05/05/2018 19:38

The fence on the left looking out of our back bedroom window is our responsibility as a matter of interest!

Tell NDN that you do not want a new fence so will not be contributing towards one.

Original poster
Takingafence · 05/05/2018 19:40

Just looked at deeds but since house so old, hard to tell boundaries.

I know DH should have just said it's fine we are happy with fence but he said he would ask me! Now I look lik the bad guy.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 05/05/2018 19:44

"Now we've considered a higher fence we're both happy with how it is but if you want to install a new fence on your side of the boundary that's fine with us"

Flexoset · 05/05/2018 19:46

It's a myth that you are always responsible for the boundary on your right as you look out of the back window.

You can sometimes tell which boundary or boundaries you own by looking at the title deeds. But the Land Registry computerised records recently, and failed to computerise a lot of the boundary info, and then destroyed the paper copies (lazy twats). So that info may simply no longer exist.

BUT... all this is pretty irrelevant to the OP's situation. Whether or not the OP 'owns' the boundary fence, there is no way they are bound to pay or part-pay for a replacement simply because their neighbour wants a higher fence.

I would just refuse. Pity the OP's partner wasn't clearer about this in the first place, but still the neighbour is taking the piss a bit by just assuming he agreed when he didn't.

Neighbour is quite welcome to put up a higher fence on his own side at his own expense.

Original poster
Takingafence · 05/05/2018 19:48

Perfect @RandomMess. Just get DH to reply as note is addressed to him. Shock

OP posts:
JollyDay · 05/05/2018 19:49

We had this with our nice NDN. The agreement was made for him to erect his own fence alongside ours, but in his own property. So there were two fences side by side. It worked ok as our fence was a small wall and his was a wooden fence staked above it. Might have looked a bit off on his side but he obviously though it was worth it.

I think that's what your new NDN is going to have to do. Bit cheeky to expect you to pay too!

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