To think NDN is being CF

[Nurseamy87]

Not sure what to do about this situation!

throw away account for this post.

always got on very well with our (semi detached) next door neighbour - until the last few days.

A repair urgently needs doing to our jointly owned fence- it’s in land registry info that we are both responsible for it plus I remember the builders telling us when we bought the house from new severally years ago,

NDN claiming that they do not have any money to contribute towards this. Their lifestyle would suggest otherwise. They are saying that because of financially recovering from Christmas, they are not going to be in a position to contribute any time soon. But there is no way that the fence will survive another storm and if we leave it, and it comes down completely, then that’s going to be a much more expensive repair so I’d rather get it fixed at this stage.

In process of getting quotes for the work to be done. NDN has asked me to get several quotes and to go with the cheapest. Yes, cost is obviously a factor , but also getting the job done properly is very important. I’ve got two quotes so far but they want more. I’m back to work tomorrow on a stretch of nights so going to struggle for time to do this.

what do I do.. just get work done as soon as, and tell NDN to pay me back at end of month (knowing I prob wont see the money).

For context of work involved, the quotes I’ve had so far would mean we both pay £70 -80 each if split equally.

just difficult to accept any claims of genuine financial hardship when they are off on their next skiing holiday soon and other very affluent past times.

Get the quotes, tell them each one and tell them to choose. Tell them the work will be done on x date, I will pay the builders my half upon completion and the builders will call to your house on x date to take your half payment for the job which amounts to x. If this date doesn’t suit agree one at that point that they will be home to pay the builder directly for their half

Skiing holidays are expeeeensive! If they can afford that, they can afford £80.

Or conversely, skiing holidays are expeeensive. If they're paying for one, their cash is committed and they can't afford another £80 on something they don't give two shits about happening any time soon.

This.

If you want to own a house then general repairs are part of ownership.
Your ndn would soon find money for a boiler repair.

yeah they'd find money for a boiler repair for their boiler they wanted fixing. a fence is not a boiler. if they don't want if fixing, it can wait. if the OP wants it fixing, they can get it fixed but the NDN's aren't obliged to pay half.

Yes they are CF. YANBU

£70-80 each is a very small cost to fix a fence.

Ask them to get a quote as you have run out of time to do it. But if it were me, I’d just go with a decent quote, pay it, bill them for half and write off their half.

Keep all the invoices and receipts - when there’s a further fence fix, you can produce them and reduce your responsibility by that same amount.

What goes around comes around.

I thought new houses came with a 10-year guarantee?

If so, does it cover poorly installed fences?

But then the op just loses a bit of garden. There is not much advantage to this plan.

@VandalsTookTheHandlez people who think £80 is a vast amount of money don't have expensive past times and go on ski holidays do they.

They might. Maybe they value their hobbies and ski holidays, and don;'t give a flying fuck about fences?

I don't think you can tell how much cash one has from their lifestyle. The fence repair is a priority to you but unfortunately not to them, they don't have to do anything if they don't want to.
Rubbish for you though.

People are being crazy on here. It's a scared fence. It's not going to withstand much more bad weather. It's £80 each now to reinforce it or much much more if it collapses and needs replacing. Of course the OP is reasonable to be feeling cross at people not being responsible and potentially costing both of them a whole lot more money.

Here's a concept for you.... shit happens.

One minute you're enjoying expensive pastimes and ski holidays, and then your DH loses his job, you fall pregnant, you get made redundant, the car breaks...
There is a whole plethora of reasons why you can go from being happily comfortable to in the shit.

In July 2024, a of more than 8,000 UK adults carried out by the housing charity Shelter and YouGov revealed that close to 40% of UK households are just one paycheque from potential homelessness.

Neither I, you, nor the OP know the financial situation of the NDN's.

I would fix it myself with the fugliest most mismatched piece of wood I could find.

But then I'm petty.

Do they agree it needs fixing? A neighbour and another neighbour fell out because she wanted then to go 50 50 on fixing the fence, they felt there was nothing wrong with it, I was inclined to agree with them, it was fine as it was.

If it's fence panels OP, then my advice would be to remove the one/s that is/are damaged, so that they don't end up pulling any more of the fence down, and then unless you and/or your neighbours have pets that need to be restricted by boundaries, get it repaired when the weather gets better, and the neighbours have had time to save up, if they genuinely don't have the money right now. Of course if you have an animal you need to keep in, then in spite of it being a shared responsibility, you would have the responsibility to ensure that your pet doesn't invade their space, in which case I would prepare yourself to pay this time and any other time the fence gets damaged. On the other hand if they have a dog for example, which will come into your garden if the fence is down, then they too have to accept responsibility, and either keep the animal indoors so it can't get into your garden, or pay their share.

Over 30 years ago the fence between my neighbour and me needed replacing. I was a single parent, struggling to keep our heads above water. Neighbour asked me if I could help with repair of the fence. I really couldnt. They accepted that, and had it repaired themselves.

Roll on 20 years, different people in neighbours house, but same fence. My financial position was in a much better place, and now neighbour was a single parent. I paid for the fence to be replaced.

What goes round comes round. I was the recipient of my previous neighbours generosity my current neighbour was the recipient of mine. It felt like I'd payed back a generous act, and it pleased me.

The first thing to do is to stop worrying about it. Instead, assume that it will work out eventually. Ease off on the timetable and eke it out to the end of January - by the time you get another quote in and discuss with the neighbour, then decide which one to go for and agree a date with the fence repair people, you will be nearly there.
January always seems to me a long bleak month to get through after the expense of Christmas. Once it's well under way and the end is in sight, things feel all round more cheerful and easier to face. And the neighbour will find the 80 quid that's needed.

That's a lovely story. Sadly often people are just CF and go through life getting out of paying their fair share.

Rich people get rich by being tight.

keep insisting.

I couldn’t get het up about 70-80 quid for a fence repair just get it done.

Why does everyone seem to think skiing means they're rich?
My PiLs are well off now but they went skiing some years ago now before they were nearly as comfortable. It was paid off over a load of months.
The bigger issue is you both seem to have known it was needing done and they clearly haven't prepared for that.