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Original poster

Neighbour won't half in for fence

476 replies

thunderandbangs · 18/03/2021 20:36

I spoke to my neighbour over the back from me about a year ago to see if she'd be willing to half in for the back fence (fence at back of her garden, fence at back of ours) and she said yes that would be fine and to give her a quote when we had it.

Then Covid happened so we have just gotten round to it. I went over to give her quote (150 each) the other night. She then said that actually the fence at the back was our priority to fix and pay for as the posts are on her side of the garden! Confused

I said I don't think that's how it works and she said that the two fences at the left and right of her garden were her responsibility as the posts were in the neighbours garden therefore she gets the 'pretty' side of the fence meaning it's her responsibility. But as the fence at the back of the garden posts are in her garden and we get the 'pretty' side of the fence it is our responsibility.

She said she can't just go around halfing in for the upkeep of other peoples things and when the time comes she won't ask her neighbours to on either side either.

AIBU to think this is absolutely bonkers? Trying to find out if there's anything I can do to ensure she pays half as that is not how it works. She has a responsibility as well as we do.

OP posts:
PlanBea · 18/03/2021 20:45

When we moved into our house we asked the developer which fences we owned, they said "they belong to the person who has the posts in their garden" and pointed out we own the left and back fence, but the house at the back (downhill) owns the wall on the other side of our fence, and our neighbour to the right owns that fence. So I wouldn't put much faith in who owns "the pretty side" as we don't own the pretty side on any of ours!

The best way to confirm is check the deeds.

en0la · 18/03/2021 20:45

Look at your deeds, it will have a sideways T, the T points towards your house then you own the fence,if it points to your neighbour's house then they own the fence.

GrumpyHoonMain · 18/03/2021 20:46

@UrAWizHarry

She's most likely right. Fences are usually installed with the 'nicer' side facing the property of the owner.
No it’s the other way around. The nicer side often faces the neighbour so maintenance of the back can be done on the owner’s property.
SnoozyBoozy · 18/03/2021 20:46

@UrAWizHarry

She's most likely right. Fences are usually installed with the 'nicer' side facing the property of the owner.
I'd always understood it was the opposite - the posts were on the owner's side so that the owner would not need to go into the neighbour's garden if anything needed replacing it fixing. Might be wrong though.

But OP, she's right in as much as one of you will own the fence and it's that person's responsibility to maintain the fence. I would check your deeds and find out which one of you it is (will be annoying for her though if it's hers after she's refused to go halves!)

yoyo1234 · 18/03/2021 20:47

If a fence is on your land it is usually your responsibility (you could also remove it if you choose). We have a fence that is wide and crosses on to our neighbours and our land (we both pay half- we both chose it and the design allows it to withstand the wind so it lasts a long time in a windy area) . We both know it crosses the boundary. Another fence is entirely on our land, it was placed by us , paid for by us and we pay to maintain it. Who has the pretty side in the eyes of the law means nothing.

Wtfdoipick · 18/03/2021 20:47

It doesn't really matter whose fence it is, if you want it replacing its your cost. There is no obligation on your neighbour to pay to replace it when you are the one who wants it

CuriousaboutSamphire · 18/03/2021 20:48

Check your deeds. Pretty side of the fence and where the posts are is all well and good, but have no meaning in law!

SadSongsAndWaltzes · 18/03/2021 20:48

I always thought it was the other way round - by courtesy/ convention the "pretty" side goes to the non-owner's side and posts for maintenance to the owner's. You need to check deeds to be certain though, as others have said.

NovemberR · 18/03/2021 20:49

Whoever owns the fence pays.

It should be on your deeds.

Trying to find out if there's anything I can do to ensure she pays half as that is not how it works. She has a responsibility as well as we do.

She absolutely doesn't. One of you does. Whoever owns it. (And it's up to them if they decide to replace it or not)

AndAPartridgeInABearTree · 18/03/2021 20:49

What on earth are people talking about on this thread!

With the information the OP gave it is literally impossible to tell if she is correct or not!

Good/bad side means absolutely nothing! You can choose whichever side you like.

The advice about checking deeds is correct. There should be a T pointing in or out on the boundary. If the T is in your garden it's your boundary and your responsibility.

However the vast majority of deeds are silent on boundary ownership. In which case it's a shared responsibility.

Pay £3 for your deeds from the land registry. If there's T you know for sure. If not, pay for hers too and show her it's a shared boundary and therefore shared cost.

If she continues to disagree your only option is to erect your new fence up as close as possible to the old fence. With slide in panels you should be able to get up very close to the original boundary. And unfortunately pay 100% for it.

Shared responsibility boundaries you cannot force people to pay.

wandawombat · 18/03/2021 20:50

If you have the Land Registry plan, look at the boundaries. There should be a T which indicates ownership. T points inwards into your garden, it's your fence. A double-To is a shared fence. T outwards, her fence.

If no Ts, read the deeds.

SoWhyNot · 18/03/2021 20:51

Ultimately whoever owns the boundary line is responsible but they don’t need to have any fencing up at all if they don’t wish to. What do your deeds say? It’s very unusual to have a shared boundary.

FoxandFeathers · 18/03/2021 20:51

I thought the posts are on the owners’ side, if not they are giving away a few inches of their land/property ( the width of the post) by putting the nice side on their own?

Pancake4life · 18/03/2021 20:52

fence posts go on the owners side so if they're in her garden, odds are the plans will show she owns it.

DenisetheMenace · 18/03/2021 20:53

Yes, within their boundary. Not showing on their visible side though.

Wolfiefan · 18/03/2021 20:53

You need to check your deeds to see who actually owns the fence. It’s their responsibility to maintain it.

NichyNoo · 18/03/2021 20:53

Neither of the two houses I have owned (one built in 1998 and one built in 1920) have had any indication on the deeds about boundaries or fences.

Rollmopsrule · 18/03/2021 20:53

Bluecomfort I know it doesn't seem to make sense but I've looked into this as we had a similar issue. It goes along the lines of why should your neighbour put up with the ugly side because you've decided to put a new fence up that doesn't look pretty on both sides if that makes sense. It's down to whether you have good relations with your neighbours. If there's an option of no posts in one person's garden go for that one or the alternative is just think of yourself, which you may be inclined to do if they refuse to compromise and leave your neighbours with an ugly side. If the fence needs maintenance it could cause an access problem issue though.

FTEngineerM · 18/03/2021 20:54

It doesn’t really make a difference, at all, maintaining a boundary could be just stringing a line of chicken wire along the boundary (as explained more eloquently but other posters on these types of threads previously).

If you want a nice shiny new fence, just pay for it.

CombatBarbie · 18/03/2021 20:55

The way the fence posts go is a myth, it's polite to give the neighbour the nice side. You need to check the deeds. On my property I am responsible for all 4 boundary lines!

harknesswitch · 18/03/2021 20:55

Check your deeds, as a general rule you own the right and rear fences

ClarasZoo · 18/03/2021 20:56

The rebuttable presumption is that the pretty side faces the non owner, the owner politely keeping the worse side facing their property...

NoParticularPattern · 18/03/2021 20:59

You can check your deeds to see who actually holds responsibility for the boundary (who actually “owns” the fence may well be different say if a previous occupant got sick of the other person’s dog using their garden so just decided to pay for their own fence rather than expect the responsible party to do it). I would suggest you check her deeds too as it’s not unheard of for deeds to say different things entirely. HOWEVER you can’t force anyone to maintain or erect a fence in order to maintain a boundary that is their responsibility. Their only responsibility is to ensure the boundary is clear- that is usually done by a fence, wall etc but could just as easily be maintained by a strip of bare earth, a small plank along the ground etc.

The long and the short of it is that regardless of whose responsibility it is to maintain the boundary, if you want a fence then you put a fence in- on your property. In an ideal world people would share costs, but you can’t force anyone to do so.

Maggie900 · 18/03/2021 21:00

Maybe she can’t afford it?

dotdashdashdash · 18/03/2021 21:00

We want new fence, we pay.

Neighbour wants new fence, we agree, we half it.

Neighbour wants new fence and we don't agree, they pay.

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