am i being a cheeky fucker?

[detectivebird]

we've just had our back garden fence done last week. we informed neighbours on both sides (garden is three-sided, so the left and right sides are facing into their gardens iyswim). we didn't expect them to offer any money to split the cost and indeed they didn't.

turns out when the fencers were here, both neighbours arranged for their back gardens to also be fenced on the remaining sides. it's being done this week. so we've paid for a side each for them!

dp and my mum reckons we should ask them for a contribution but this feels really cheeky to me. am i just being a scaredy-cat?

i'm not going to be asking for money.

it wouldn't sit right with me if i were in their shoes, though.

for the sake of argument, let's say each side cost £300 so i've paid £900 and was perfectly happy to do so. three days later both neighbours have theirs done and, because of me, only have to pay £600 each. they couldn't have mentioned they were getting it done, so we split the cost? i dunno. maybe i'm a mug but i'd feel a dick doing that to them.

🤷🏻‍♀️

the fences on all sides have always been mismatched (some were higher than others etc) so not really buying that i forced their hand.

daisypond

It’s possible but unlikely she owned, or owns, all three fences. I just checked this with my legal chum over for coffee. Her answer is quite an eye opener.

Cheeserton is right. The conveyancing deed will show who owns and is responsible for each fence. That is usually, but not always, the right hand side. But it essentially boils down to whose property the fence stands upon. In a property ownership sense, a fence never stands on a boundary: it is always either yours or mine.

The OP had the right to replace her fence (and hers only) and a duty to keep it maintained. She had the right to expect reasonable cooperation from the neighbour in terms of access for the fencers to replace her fence.

In order to replace the other fences (which were not hers) she needed consent from the other owners. Whatever agreements were made about who paid needed to be done in advance of the work. The fences should have gone up in the exact same spot, (ie. on the respective neighbours' properties) and, being on the neighbours' land, immediately became part of the neighbours' properties. Just to make that clear: those fences now belong to the neighbours, irrespective of who paid for them.

If by any chance the fences shifted the position of any fence, then ownership of that fence now rests with whosoever's land it is now on. And the original owner will be in dispute with the fencing company.

In short, it looks rather like the OP bought herself one fence and gifted one to each of her two neighbours. The neighbours then bought themselves (or possibly their neighbours) some more fences. Everyone got what they originally ordered and they can’t go back and change what was previously agreed, unless there’s some issue with the work not being done to specifications.

It's really simple OP. The property deeds will state who is responsible for each boundary fence (E.g. for my garden, I am responsible for the left fence, my right hand neighbour is responsible for the right hand fence, the housing association who own the flats running along the rear are responsible for the rear fence in all 3 gardens).

Despite this however, YABU. You chose to replace your fences. They have decided to add to the work you were doing anyway. They are not doing anything "to you" to be a dick about. Just live with the fact that as the initiator of the work, you footed a bit more cost and they were lucky.

But you CHOSE to do this. That's the part you're not recognising. Presuming that you are not responsible for all of the boundaries on your deeds, then you voluntarily took on the extra cost. This was always a potential outcome - by not asking them to contribute, you tacitly agreed to foot the bill for the sake of having a matched fence.

Honestly, I would just forget about it and get on with your life, and enjoy your lovely-looking, matching-on-all-sides garden.

YABU, they probably just want a new fence to match the one you put up.

who owns which fences, OP? Because the owners of each fence should pay for their own fences, and if you didn't own all 3 fences then you shouldn't have got them replaced in the first place! IME, you wouldn't own both side fences of your garden.

thanks @verticality you're right. i've just got home from picking up a garden hammock so time for a spot of reading and admiring my new trend setter fence.

@CassianAndor not sure about the ownership of each fence admittedly. i was (and still am!) happy to have paid so that all my three sides matched. neighbours on both sides gave express permission for the fencing to be done, so chalking this one up to experience.

dp has relented now too so neighbourly relations will remain harmonious

@detectivebird that's the spirit! Honestly, it's a few hundred quid and not worth the aggro or falling out. A hammock sounds lovely... I'm stuck in an airless office, so very jealous!

thanks @verticality hope you make it out into the fresh air soon

well, you need to find out. Because should you or either of your neighbours sell, this will be an issue. Look at your title deeds.

Given that you don't know whether you just replaced a fence that isn't legally yours, I don't think you have a leg to stand on complaining that your NDNs are being CFs.

i'm no longer complaining @CassianAndor

and i'll look into it. ultimately, if i've paid for either one or both side to have their fences replaced as a gift, i'll live with it. my garden looks a thousand percent better than it did before which is worth it.

It sounds as though the neighbours welcomed this with open arms though Cassian. To be honest, many of us would be delighted if our neighbours announced the same. It's not necessarily a bone of contention - they gave their consent (OP's first post made this clear), and there doesn't seem to be any dispute at all over the fence positioning so, as long as the OP realises that a future owner could change 'their' boundary should they wish to, there's no harm done, unless I'm missing something?

I think you were lucky that the neighbours agreed that you could take down and destroy their property at all. They could have refused. Sometimes what people do is that they install fencing on their property, so that there’s double fencing between the houses, then there’s no issue.

@daisypond 'destroy their property'? okay

asking for and receiving enthusiastic consent i've replaced two nearly completely rotten old picket fences. in five years of living here none of them have shown the first inclination to have their fences repaired so i'm not sure they're too bothered.

*after

OP you might want to keep some sort of documentation or get the neighbours who's side wasn't yours (you do need to check this) to sign something to say you paid for the new fence. Otherwise if they sold I assume the new neighbours could come in and replace with whatever they want and just chuck the fence you paid for.

thanks @Buyitinbamboo i will be sure to do that.

I don't think you can ask them, they'll argue that you were doing it anyway. I'd get a few digs in about how you've managed to save them a few quid though.

Hope that one or both neighbors at least acknowledge that you've inadvertently saved them money. If they were any way decent they'd at least give you something towards the work

I'd be pissed!

i'll expect a posh card at christmas @neverornow

It depends who is responsible for each bit of fence.

@detectivebird a bottle of wine at the very least!!

Do keep us posted !

It doesn’t matter who paid for the fence. It doesn’t make it yours if it doesn’t belong to you. The neighbours could chuck the new fence tomorrow if they wanted - as it’s their fence. It sounds unlikely in these circumstances but they are within their rights.