Neighbour wants to replace MY fence, I don’t want them to!

[Fencewoes]

We have recently had new neighbours move in next door. A month ago they said that they would like to replace all of the fences around their garden (sides and back) which includes replacing mine. They said they will pay for this as they want their garden to look uniform. At first I was on board with this, actually quite pleased at the thought of having a brand new fence as mine is quite old, however they have now said they will be replacing my current 4ft fence with a 6ft fence instead.

I have told them I do not want them to replace my fence with anything higher than 4 ft. They’ve now said that in that case, instead of replacing my fence, they will just build another fence against mine in their garden. So basically, I will retain my current fence, then there will be another in their garden, but I will have double fences on my side! Is this even allowed?

Whether fences are or arent included, isnt a 0.5 meter gap enough to maintain a comparably simple structure like a fence?

OPs neighbours do not want to build the fence on the boundary but are planning to leave a gap between OPs current fence and their new one...

Or as OP put it:

So it will look dreadful from my side. Two fences with a half metre gap in between.

‘Reasonably necessary for the preservation of the neighbours land’ includes boundary structures

Whether fences are or not included, OP would need to prove that the only way to maintain the fence would be from the neighbours land. I cannot see what maintenance would be required to do so.

Hypothetically, even if there was a need the OP would not be able to dictate that the neighbour has to provide removable fencing to allow the OP to maintain their property. My understanding is that it is likely the OP would have to compensate for the inconvenience of access (ie. would probably have to pay for the removal and reinstating of fencing) on the neighbours land.

She doesn’t need to prove anything, but she does need the neighbours permission
Reasonable notice required and all that.
There is no requirement to compensate for the inconvenience of access but obviously if OP damaged anything, and visa versa, it would have to be put right at OPs expense.
Wooden fences, I’m assuming it is, decay over time.

“Good fences make good neighbours”

Very old saying. I reckon the fact that this thread has reached 24 pages proves it’s still true.

By far the easiest way for access to neighbours property is by permission, however the Access to Neighbouring Land Act (which my post was referring to) does allow an Access Order to be granted to access neighbouring land without permission:
“the court shall make an access order if, and only if, it is satisfied—

(a)that the works are reasonably necessary for the preservation of the whole or any part of the dominant land; and

(b)that they cannot be carried out, or would be substantially more difficult to carry out, without entry upon the servient land.”

So the OP would need to demonstrate that the work can only be reasonably carried out from the neighbours side.

Further to this, the expectation is that the neighbour should not “suffer interference with, or disturbance of, his use or enjoyment of the servient land.” So the Access Order would likely consider the removal of any fences on the neighbours side to be at the OPs expense. You are right that interfering with the neighbours fence without permission of the neighbour, or without an Access Order in place would be considered vandalism.

Essentially, the Access to Neighbouring Land Act does not help OP in this instance and OP cannot stipulate that the neighbour has to have removable fencing to allow access which the post I quoted suggested. Seeking an Access Order will also require money to be spent.

OP should just agree to the 6ft fence replacing the current one.

My source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/23/section/1

That's utter rubbish, she can still maintain it, she doesn't get access to their land to do so, fence panels can be taken down, fixed and put back up if it's not possible to do so from your side. Why would you advise anyone to be that difficult over maintaining your grubby old fence because they prefer being over looked ?!

They're well within their rights to put up a 6ft fence on their land. Given that, why wouldn't you just let them replace your fence? If I was your neighbour, I'd want a 6ft fence rather than a 4ft one too.

We had this situation this past summer. The old neighbour next door had a crap 4ft fence so they could nosey into the garden . We wanted privacy so asked to replace it and they said no, we’ve since put a fence our side that’s 6ft. There’s a dog and kids involved so we want security and privacy and we are entitled to it .

Haha pointing out your inaccuracies and making valid points is rude now is it? I'll have to remember that one whenever I can't come up with a logical rebuttal myself

I used to have 4 foot fences, I couldn't ever go out in my garden for 5 seconds without being ambushed by my neighbours and then having to spend an hour chatting. I'm the only one who isn't retired, I like to chat occasionally but I also like to be able to enjoy my garden in peace. I've put up 6 foot fences all round and its much better.
If I've had a horrible day with people dying all over the place I just want some peace, I don't want to be forced into talking or stuck inside.

And you have a funny idea about what bullying means - what is actually happening is you are not getting your own way. That isn't bullying.

Mending Wall
BY ROBERT FROST
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’

Life is too short, just accept the new free gratis fence.

I don't think you can blame them for wanting more privacy can you?

I would go back to them, say you have given it more thought and that it does make more sense to replace your fence.

I personally really wouldn't be digging my heals in if I was you, and having a half metre gap that looks like no-mans land!

No. I suggested OP ask the neighbour.
Theres no harm in asking for removable fences. ( The ones set in concrete pasts are removable whereas the all wooden ones are not. )

Op however can do what they like but I’d rather chose my own fence personally than have one imposed on me. At least one side can be their choice. I don’t , however, like lower fences and I can see why the neighbour wants more privacy. A fence behind a fence seems ok to me and a reasonable compromise.

It’s their garden and they are entitled to a 6ft fence, we raised ours up from 5ft to 6ft. Why would you want to see people in the next garden whilst you’re enjoying yours? Very strange. Just accept the new freefence rather than have to look at a 4ft and a 6ft fence your side!

Sorry but this is bonkers.

I recently bought a house with shorter fences, and as I was viewing I just thought "I'll replace those with higher ones" just as I thought "I'll paint this room blue" and "I'll put my desk there".

What I didn't do was go knocking on all the neighbours houses to check how short their fences were, and whether it would be okay to put a taller one in. I checked with my solicitor that there was no restrictive covenants that would stop me from doing so, but that is as far as I or I think any sane person would go in terms of pre-purchase fence investigation.

And of course you’d be well within your rights to do all of that. But I guess im a little bit different because I o ow how much a new tall fence would annoy me, and so I would want to make sure to check with my neighbours first.

that doesn’t make me bonkers at all. It just makes me different to you. (Fences affect neighbours on a way that internal paint colours don’t)

Im not sure why so many people think im so mad or insane or bonkers (all words used against me on this thread) for considering the effect of my decisions on my neighbours before I make them.

Op's insistence on a 4ft fence would be inconsiderate to her neighbours if they'd listened to her.

And visa versa.
OP owns the fence on that boundary line and currently her fence is 4ft. There’s nothing wrong with her neighbours asking to change it but there’s also nothing wrong with OP saying she doesn’t want her fence touched.
From there on it’s up to the neighbours if they want to put their own fence up inside the boundary line.

They are only entitled to put their own fence up on their own boundary. They are not entitled to remove someone else’s fence on a boundary they do not own.
Its the choice of the owners, a higher or newer fence doesn’t trump the owners.
If they want their own uniform fence surrounding their property they will have to forfeit some space on that side and put it inside the boundary line.

Well, we know that, but it's a bit of a foolish stance for op to take, really.

Assuming the fence panels can be taken down. What exists at the point of sale to the neighbour is also important.
boundary owners have access rights to maintain the boundary

See other posts on here as it’s been discussed already

Surely that’s a matter of opinion.
I bought a house at the end of a terrace some time ago with wire fencing about 1 metre high. About 5 adjoining neighbours had exactly the same boundary arrangement but there was no requirement in the deeds to have that.

I was selling on the property and noticed two of the neighbours stepped over the run of fences to go into mine to put their rubbish out.

I said to them all as I was selling everyone likes privacy and I would be putting up a 6ft fence on my boundary to match the wall on the other unattached side.

I was amazed at how everyone was so shocked as I just assumed everyone would want privacy. It’s just not so. So I can understand that OP is much the same.