Neighbour and fence - help

[Thunderpants88]

My OH and I are in a disagreement about a fence.

Our neighbours moved in next door and have gone out of their way to ignore everyone else on the estate. Fine. Don’t even wave or acknowledge small children that say hi.

We have detached houses. A few months ago they took down all their hedges and trees (it is their right to do so) After the last storm the fence has come down on both sides of their property, the garden fence between our houses and the fence between their house and the neighbour on the other side.

I have asked the bank for the deeds of the house.

A while ago the neighbour (who has literally never spoken to us ever) came round asking to go 50/50 on the fence.

I am of the opinion no. If it is their fence then they pay. If it is our fence we will pay.

My husband thinks go halfers either way. I just don’t want to. If it was the same situation with my lovely neighbour on the other side I would but it’s annoying me that the first time they have ever spoken to us is to ask for money. My DH says “for a few hundred pounds be neighbourly” I think “they can’t even bother to wave at our 2 year old getting in a car. No I don’t feel like being out £100’s to “be nice” unless I have to. I also pointed out if it is our fence I would dream of going round and asking them for help the money. Our fence? Our problem to fix.

what does everyone else think?

Yanbu if it's their fence they should pay.

Going halves just complicates things. Like you say, if it's your fence you pay, if it's theirs they pay. Keep it simple.

Unless there's some sort of covenant to say that you have to have a fence, just say that you're happy to be without one, and if they want one it's up to them to put one up just their side of the boundary....

Thanks. We really disagree about this one (me and DH)

I just wouldn’t dream of finding out it’s ours and going round and asking them for half the cost. I also pointed out what happens (if it is their fence) when it needs painted? Treated? Fixed in the next storm? Are we expected to go half for all that too?

I agree I would rather pay if it were my fence, but otherwise youre being petty.

If it is their fence, they may be unwilling or unable to afford replacing it. There is a requirement to maintain the boundary, but no requirement to have a fence. In which case you'll need to consider how important the fence is to you and whether you wish to have your own.

The trouble with going halves when it's not your fence is that you are then paying for the upkeep of your own fence as well as half of your neighbour's fence.

You are making yourself responsible for one and a half fences. Why would you do that?

it's a really Subjective thing, i had a similar thing with a neighbour, about a fence that was blown down in a storm ages ago. BTW the fence existed pre our moving in. So the thing was smashed to bits and had blown into my garden, so i got rid of it, week or so later my neighbour says so when are going to replace the fence. i told him i had gotton rid of it. I know says he but are you going to put up a new one because it's your boundry marker . "Er no says, one i can't afford to pay someone to do it, and nor do have i the skill set to do it myself , besides i know where my gardens starts and ends, and in truth i couldn't care less if there was a fence their or not. he was'nt very happy. in the end he paid for it to be done because he must have felt safer having it up , proberbly because of the packs of wolves and bears we have locally, or at least to fend off maurauding vikings. anyhow i believe if the schematics are on the deed when you get the house, and it can all easily be checked out. then there is not a legal requirement to have a fence, bush tree or even a flag to let you or others what belongs to you

Why being petty?

They are 4 working adults

We are a family with 4 kids under 6. So if anyone can’t afford this financial pressure it is us

They put the fence up it is their responsibilty

your husband will change his mind when he sees the bill

Sorry this was a fence that neither of us put up. We both moved in and the fence was already there

Just out of interest, if it is your fence- is your dh expecting them to go halves?

The fence owner pays.
Unless someone does something to break a neighbours fence deliberately- then they should pay Imo.

I am sure if it is ours and they offered he wouldn’t say no. But I think I would. It all becomes too muddled otherwise.

If we find out it is ours I would rather pay to have it fixed.

This - we own all our fences and no issue. Wait for them to put a fence up and then if you want to put your own fence. Never ever halves.

You deed indicate whose fence it is and surely your solicitor did question and answers on fences - that is basic?!

You don't need to ask the bank. You can download the deeds from the Land Registry it's £3. You'll need both sets of deeds, you can download theirs as well.

Look up 'rules on fences' on gov.uk. There is no law that says you have to have a fence at all unless your deeds specify one. Most deeds show responsibility for boundary ( some don't) but the boundary can be anything- hedge, string and sticks. If you want a say in how the fence looks and to paint it/ hang things on it then it's best to pay for it. If you don't pay for it you can't touch it as it doesn't belong to you.

Go 50/50

its not worth the aggro and it’s the decent thing to do.

Op you can download your deeds from the land registry office to see who owns the fence.

i wouldn’t pay half for someone else’s fence but as you don’t know whose fence it is yet I’d politely tell them you want to see the deeds. You sound quite angry given you don’t yet know the facts.

Good point. And yeah I am angry. Maybe not angry but annoyed. No matter who owns it I don’t want to go 50/50. I either want to pay it all or not at all

If you pay to replace what is currently their fence, it will then become partly your fence and you will be partly responsible for it in future too. This is one of the reasons I won't replace one of the decaying fences around my garden until the neighbour is ready to pay their share (ours is currently owned 50/50).

Why would you pay for a fence that isn't your responsibility? The deeds should show who is responsible for the boundaries with a t marker. It's irrelevant whether they are nice or not. If it's their responsibility and they want a fence then they should pay.

After I'd been living in my house for about ten years and had been amicable enough ( say hello if you see them, brief chat sort of thing) with my neighbours, the fence between our back gardens blew down. I checked my deeds and saw it was their responsibility and waited for them to repair it. After months of nothing being done I went to see them and they were adamant it was my responsibility as the people who lived in my house before me had put it up. They refused to accept it was anything to do with them, denied the t markers meant anything, all ridiculous. They stopped saying hello but I didn't care.

After about 6 months the husband came and told me they were putting up the fence because they'd been to a solicitor who told them it was their responsibility to maintain the boundary. The wife hasn't acknowledged I exist for the 20 years since!

You can get the information for a few £ direct from Land Registry on GOV.UK. You can see their deeds and tours of you want.

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

You're not unreasonable about the fence. If its their fence they pay. If its yours m, you pay. however its fine for people to want to keep themselves to themselves and them not engaging with your kids isn't relevant

Some boundaries are shared (like a party wall agreement) but this will be clearly indicated in your deeds.

Stick to what the deeds tell you. Their boundary - their responsibility they pay. Yours then you do. Don't blur the lines that have been written i say.

As someone with very tricky (understatement to say the least) neighbours, I totally agree with you. Don’t muddy the waters by going 50/50. I hope you can access the deeds quickly and establish who needs to pay.