Should we just half the cost of the fence to keep the peace?

[VivaLeBeaver]

Saw our neighbour today and he says he wants to replace the fence dividing our gardens and would we pay half. I said I'd check with DH but that I was fairly sure its his boundary. He did a bit of a cats bum face and said as far as he was concerned it was a shared boundary and we'd both benefit and the people who lived here before us had paid half for the first fence, etc. Have checked the deeds and it is marked as his fence.

Part of me thinks we should just pay half for an easy life - will probably cost us £60 of panels.

DH is a bit more pissed off, especially as this is the neighbour who on his extension has put a kitchen extraction fan blowing into our garden right by our back door. So we get the noise of hte fan and all their cooking smells. Neighbour said (years ago) he'd move the fan and now DH is threatening to make payment of the fence conditional on the fan being moved. I see problems ahead.

If the stench pipe met regulations at the time it was installed then the council would n't be interested. Be wary of blowing this up as if either of you tries to sell it has to be declared as a dispute. If you do pay towards the fence(after the fan is moved) can you get a receipt and make a note of it for future.

The stench pipe has never met building regs, he installed it himself. We've never complained about the pipe and to be honest I can live with that.

The extraction fan is worse, but legally I don't know if we can insist he moves it. His extension wall is dead on the boundary (to the mm) and the fan faces into our garden. So it is on his property, though I guess when the flaps blow open they overhang our property.

When we moved in he had a waste pipe for his washing machine on the same wall that was definetly on our property as it curved over by about 4". I nicely pointed out to him that we were one day hoping to have a matching extension and he'd have to move the pipe. So after 6 years he did move it but stuck a bloody fan there instead.

The man is clearly an arse, and I am shocked that some posters are still suggesting you stump up the cash for this effing fence. It's not your responsibility, he's failed to carry out jobs that detrimentally affect your house and quality of life inside it, and you're STILL worrying about being a good neighbour to him?!?!?!

The guy must have gone back into his house laughing his tits off when you agreed!!! "Cheryl!! Cheryl!! She said they would pay for some of OUR fence!! Bloody idiots, I only asked her on the off chance but she actually said yes. What a nutter - she doesn't even know what she's responsible for on her own property. No need to worry about that fan - clearly they'll never push us on it!!"

Do not pay for the fence!
As suggested below, you might inherit ongoing liabilities. The whole point of the legal stucture for deeds, boundaries and responsibilities is to be FAIR and CLEAR.

Whatever the situation with the fan the fence is not your responsibility and never was. Suppose he asked you to contribute to the resurfacing of his drive which adjpins yours or the replacement of his shed which backs onto your garden, you'd say 'no' - this really is no different!

And believe me, I am not Mrs HuffandPuffandTellThemWhereToGetOff - I am eminently reasonable and sensible and polite!

Please don't pay halve. he is a cheeky sod

Do not pay - responsibility for the boundary was established before he bought his house - he knew it was his responsibility....we replaced our boundary fence last year - never considered asking the neighbours and it was nearly £1000.

I think if you do contribute you will be setting a precedent and he will ask you for more and more.Believe me - i have had a neighbour like that and she was never happy and always pushed for more.I celebrated when she moved !.