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?

I had the this situation except the reverse. They didn't want to go halves (their fence was rotted and needed replacing it was sqaying dangerously in the wind) I was doing my garden up and offered to go half because they had to replace it anyway. They said no the fence was fine and had no intention of changing it. Okay fine.

I put my one up inside the boundary. Had concrete posts too, no issues installing and it didn't damage the neighbours fence in any way. There was a small gap. Mine ended up being 6ft and their was 5ft and yes it won't look great from their side. So much so after telling me they couldn't afford to go halves (total bs) they tore down their fence down less rhan one yr later and tried to say my fence was the actual boundary. They got a nasty shock when my lawyer sent them a letter reminding them of the legal rights around boundaries. Now they will spend more money either installing a new fence on the boundary to mark it or have a problem selling as the boundary is no longer marked. They will most likley have to get a surveyor out to declare it where the boundary is now.

Very shortsighted of them.

If they had agreed (it was only £400) they could of painted their side and so on. But since they caused alot of stress including involving other neighbours who threatened me I have refused them any rights to do anything to the fence.

So i woukd personally agree, it's free for u but get something in writing about who is responsible for it and if u can paint or, attach plants to it and so on.

Sounds awful. As pretty much everyone on the thread has said.

They've done everything right! They want 6ft and smart all round. They might have kids/dogs to keep in or just want privacy. They offered to pay for your boundary and then when you declined theyre gojng to lose some garden to get it how they want.

You have no right to a view over their garden

I bought a dilapidated terrace and also wanted uniform 6 feet fence around it for privacy and my pets. Knew I'd have no joy with one side as rented and very obvious that they didn't spend any money so on that side I did put it in front of the old fence. They then removed their fence and thus stole a foot of my garden! Now that's cheeky, not offering to fund a new fence for op!

It's still your land, if the renters took the fence down you need to write a letter to the owner. If the owner did it u still write one to him stating the land is yours

A six-foot fence is pretty standard. And if you want a 'community feel', you could try to get out more.

I think your neighbours sounds lovely and have been perfectly reasonable offering to pay for the fence.
They are well within their right to have privacy in their own back garden .
We had this with a neighbour (a very odd man , odd area and an odd road in hindsight !) who objected when we put a higher fence up , wrote us a letter (two sided -typed 🤣🤣) it was hilarious... I will try and dig it out and post it in here Mumsnet would love it .
I think it was a control thing that he didnt like the fence and we were well within our rights to do what we wanted in our own garden ! He used to always try and talk to us when we were trying to relax our back garden ... annoying !
We have since moved (not because of that , we were flipping the house anyway )
Accept the fence and allow your sons neighbours privacy.

Good fences make good neighbours.

They want their privacy in the garden - as would I in their place.

Accept their offer to put in a new fence as it'll look far worse from your side if you have a double fence with one being much lower.

You’re going to end up with a six foot fence either way.

I would recommend letting them erect their own fence on their own land without removing yours.

If you let them replace your fence, they will then feel that it is theirs and could possibly complain in future if you wanted to hang, attach anything to or decorate said fence.

i would just be so happy to get a new fence that I didn't have to pay for that I wouldn't care. When I got mine done I had a 6ft one installed as I wanted privacy and also did not want to see into the house the other side of the communal entry as it is a hell pit full of rubbish and every morning when I came downstairs the sight of it made me want to cry.

The owner has no obligation to fence his boundary.

By refusing, you’ve not stopped them, you’ve just made your garden look worse- not ideal. We’re paying £3500 for new fence down one side of our garden. It’s all falling down and was about 4’. Were gettting a solid wooden fence for 4’ with a foot of more open fence on top bringing the total height to 5’5”. Much much better. We knew it needed doing but our neighbours gave us the push to get it done. They’ll lose some light but we communicated with them about the height and the style and now we’re all happy (apart from with the bill!) I’d much prefer 6’ but DP much prefers lower fences for sunlight purposes.

It looks really bad to your neighbours that you have refused this, can you change your mind? 2 fences will look nuts and it won’t gain you anything.

Some deeds have "right to light" written into them. Check your documents as there might be something about that which would prevent a taller fence being imposed.

It's perfectly legal to erect a six foot fence.

Good grief.

If op agrees to the 6' fence, who then is responsible for the upkeep? Eg damage from footballs, blown down etc? Is it still op's fence?
I feel for you op. You'll have a lop-sided garden and non-matching fences but I think it will be preferable to a half metre gap. You'll be the only one affected by all the weeds growing there!

Yes it’s perfectly legal, you will land up with a higher fence next to your 4ft one.
4ft is very short for a fence, maybe they want more privacy?
Id jump at them paying for a 6th one

It will look shit from your side seeing double fences, and they're going to do it anyway so why not just accept the 6ft fence in the middle?

I think that was a really kind offer of your new neighbours tbh, I’d have been really pleased. They probably have dogs etc and are trying to make sure they don’t annoy any neighbours. We chose our home as the tiny garden is private and has high fences so we can’t annoy anyone and if we have pets they can’t escape.

There is nothing illegal about a 6ft fence.

I take it you have never actually put a fence up or you wouldn't have posted this. A fencing company will have no difficulty whatsoever. Not quite as easy for a DIYer but certainly not impossible

When I bought my house 25 years ago one side of the back garden had a 4 foot fence which was a bit low for my liking. A few years later I was doing work on my house and this was one of the first things I got done. Neighbor was fine about it. Good fences and all that... He is still a lovely neighbor all these years later.

"Bullied" into getting a free new fence? Are you quite ok?!

Yes what horrible bullies they are, offering to replace your fence.

Look, they are entitled to a 6ft fence. They're being kind enough to offer to replace yours at their cost. You are entitled to refuse, but you're not entitled to be in charge of all possible outcomes of everything ever. You have a choice: get the ugly and weird 2 fences next to each other scenario, or agree to a 6ft fence replacing yours, have a chance at having a say in the colour/design etc and have a decent relationship with your neighbours. 2ft of extra privacy seems like a small price to pay to me, but you do you.

Edited to remove a whole extra story that wasn't relevant

I'd hate to have a 6ft fence. Our garden is small and it would be in shadow more often than not