Neighbour damaged boundary wall - council wants me to go 50/50

[TheNefariousOrange]

The boundary wall between me and the neighbour is shared. My house is privately owned but the neighbour is in council. Neighbour had a cherry tree and decided to chop it down themselves, as a result, it tipped and damaged the wall. The wall is in a bad state and now and the council wants me to pay half of it. My argument is that the neighbour shouldn't have chopped down the tree, but where do I stand?

Call me dense but why would the council be involved in repairing a garden wall?

Oh sorry just re-read the op! So do call me dense please! 🙃

Quote seems on the high side, how many metres long is the wall and how high?

I'd do nothing apart from get my solicitor to write to them saying they'd pay and you have your own fenced boundary now

The wall doesn't need repaired - the tenant can just pull down any loose bricks

It's an eyesore but it doesn't sound like a necessary repair?

Have you told them that?

Wall is 4ft high and about 24 meters across.

Yes, they told me I had no choice legally.

So what happens if you say no?

I have no idea. The council sent me a letter and wants to discuss it further with me. They said they tried coming to my property to discuss it face-to-face but I wasn't there (I was at work). It makes me uncomfortable because it's almost like they want to railroad me into agreeing to something and by doing it face-to-face I don't have the time to go away and research.

Just continue to say no.

First , you were not responsible for damage
Second, you don't want the wall replaced, if they do then they pay for it and they put it on their property you have no responsibility for it
Be clear that you don't consent to any work on your property, and you won't be paying for any on theirs

Do you know the history of this wall? Are you in an ex council house now privately owned? Do the deeds stipulate ownership? Is it in good repair generally or are they trying to say the incident happened because the wall was already crumbling and needs replacing?

It's an ex council and the deeds clearly stipulate it's a shared boundary but doesn't mention the wall. They are not even giving excuses, just that it's my responsibility as 50/50 boundary owner to pay up.

Why haven’t you gone back to your solicitor who dealt with the matter originally and confirmed to you the council has confirmed you would not be liable in any way ?

Jut refuse.

Because I'm worried about the costs of the solicitor so I'm trying to see if it's possible to solve this another way first.

Have you accepted responsibility either verbally or in written communication? Have you spoken to them at all or are you just telling us what they’ve written to you?

I'd write a formal complaint to the housing association that they have even asked you for half. Completely inappropriate. Their tenants actions directly resulted in the damage. Therefore they rebuild it and recharge the tenant for the full lot!

No, I've not accepted fault in any way.

I have not spoken to them yet, but that's only because the number they gave me is the main number to the council and I don't know the extention to dial and I don't know whether it will come under housing or building, so I sort of froze and hung up.

Send them a copy of the solicitors letter you have.

Find the law online because I see it put on here over and over that there is no responsibility for anyone to have a garden fence or fix a garden fence on a shared boundary.

It may belong to someone but you cannot be forced to actually maintain it.

You have a dance on your boundary line. You've done what you are legally allowed to do and it suits you.

I found a link to legislation covering this www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/40/contents. Is the citizen advice agency still operating? If it is it might be worth asking for advice there.

I think the problem you’re going to have is you’re dealing with the council who has the ability to escalate this if you don’t pay up.

I wonder if the Money Saving Expert boards might be a good place to ask? Full of officious men who would probably love to debate this. Just be careful of talking or writing anything down until you know your rights. Once you enter into communication with them you are accepting some level of responsibility for the problem.

Bring out the letter from your solicitor confirming what the council said and send it to them

I am a solicitor, and although boundary disputes isn't my specialism, I know something about them.

No one can force you to pay for a repair to the wall. Whoever out of the joint owners wants it repairing has to pay for it.

Thanks for all this, I am taking it all on board and really appreciate the time and effort you are all giving up to respond.

I've now spoken to CAB who say this is a legal case and not their remit but they've sent me a list of law clinics that work in my area so I'm going to have a look at those when I've got the kids down and can give it more headspace. And I'll post on the MSE board as well, thanks for that idea.

I will hold off contacting them then until I have everything sorted.

This is very reassuring, thank you!

Good luck OP 🤞