Its a fence one .

[pavillion1]

We are having our garden landscaped the fence between our neighbours and ours was falling apart so even though it is actually neighbours fence we let them know that we are willing to replace . They said fine but can we make sure its like for like we said yes no problem.

I admit i didn't specify to our landscaper the fence had to be exactly the same i just said same height and we have chosen to replace the wooden post with concrete.
This hasnt come cheap . Upshot is the neighbours have gone mad about the new fence and demanded they at least get the better side of the fence which we have agreed to but im now feeling abit hard done by as yes ok its not exactly the same fence panel but it is a. stronger panel with concrete foundations .

How much different is it?

How different is the new and old fence? Dark wood to bright pink plastic or a slightly different shade or look?

Why on earth would you do that?! 😂

The easier thing to do would be to put your own fence up an inch under the boundary so it's in your garden!

If you’re paying you usually get the nicer side. Think it’s pretty ungrateful of them for be honest and think they are being cheeky!

It was a genuine mistake on your part, but I get their point of view. Fencing should have been delayed until you could chat with them.

You should have asked the neighbours about the new fence before putting it in. It doesn’t matter that you think the new fence is better.

If the fence is strictly theirs I’m sure you should get the good side. I’m sure the owners always gets the bad side, so in your case I’d definitely want the good side as you are also paying for it! Don’t let them get a free fence and the good side. I’d have asked to go halves too.

Put up your fence inside your boundary and let your neighbours do what they like.

Although, if the original fence was theirs, then legally you may be in for some issues as you had an agreement to replace like for like. They may take civil action. They won't realistically get anywhere in court, but a dispute could potentially affect the sale if you needed to move.

Who owned the original fence?

It really depends on how different it is. Yes the height may be the same but there's a huge variety of fence panels, so it could be very different from what they were expecting. You agreed to replace like for like, but it sounds like you've change the design without talking to them, and the first they know about it is when they've seen the new fence?

Has the old fence been removed of. It just put it inside your boundary.

Your neighbours are chancers, no wonder you feel hard done by, you allowed yourself to be taken advantage of.

If they are the concrete ones that have the posts and the large concrete slats in between though then they can be changed. Spend the extra few quid to get someone to flip them and enjoy your garden

I've heard this a lot - the neighbour gets the good side. Not if I'm paying for it they're not

Well , The fence is question was in such a bad state we have not long bought the house . They keep their garden quite nice so we assumed it must be ours . Nor when we mentioned replacing the fence did they make and kind of noises about chipping in or paying fully so we really did think we owned it .
Knowing what we know now we should of just put the new one up infront of theirs . We can not put the old one back it fell to pieces when taken down .

As PP said , just say no sorry it’s up now. Then leave it. You did them a favour by paying for it. If they want the good side they can reimburse you or stop going on about it.

When you asked for permission they didn’t just say yes. They specifically said like for like. The go-ahead was conditional on that, so by ignoring that you have stitched yourself up. If they had the good side before of course they should have it again- that was one of the things that their permission was based on.

Also if it was their fence and they are responsible for ongoing maintenance and you haven’t put in a like for like potentially you have lined them up for more costly repairs in the future.

I really don’t understand why you didn’t pass on that they had to be like for like. It’s not hard surely

We have said they can paint their side .

Actually you don't get the good side. Fence etiquette usually means that the 'fixings' are on the owner's side, although there is no actual law about this.
You should have consulted on type/colour of fence but having said that I would never have accepted a neighbour's offer to maintain MY boundary. More fool your neighbour.
You should have driven in some marked stakes on the actual boundary and then erected your own fence on your own land.

It's very telling you didn't respond to the part asking about how different it is...

That's not true if it's right on the boundary as the struts on the bad side can't protrude into your neighbour's garden.

You said in your OP that it was actually theirs and you were willing to replace….so did you know it was theirs or not?

It's very telling you didn't respond to the part asking about how different it is...

It's vertical slats not horizontal

Painting doesn’t really help though if the fence panels is a completely different design

They probably didn't mind having a bit of a rundown tumbledown fence and all three sides might have matched where is now they have a fence they don't like.

People live for decades with fences that are a bit shabby.

You said in your OP that it was actually theirs and you were willing to replace….so did you know it was theirs or not?

Sorry We now know it is actually theirs .

No i guess not , i dont think it would of held up to too many more storms .