Neighbours dog

[Nikkibham]

I am in the process of moving to a home with a lovely garden, I have a young baby and my Neice comes to visit often. The fence next door has fallen down and the neighbours dog comes into our garden. I don’t want to sound dramatic as the dog seems friendly enough but I don’t want to constantly worry about the kids being in the garden unsupervised if I pop into the house etc.
I am also not a dog fan.

The house next door is being rented. They state they are unable to get in contact with the landlord. They also stated that the landlord ever fixes anything.
I have reason to believe that the fence is the owners next doors responsibility and I don’t really want to pay to get it fixed.
What should I do?

Contact the council? They can presumably contact the landlord and say he has to repair the fence. And if he doesn't fix it after being told to do so, I believe they can fix it themselves and bill him.

Thanks Murane. I didn’t think the council would get involved as it is privately owned and I believed it would be considered a civil matter. I will give the council a ring

Are you sure it's not your responsibility at all? If you are buying the house can you not ask the vendors to take steps to get the fence reinstated before you exchange? If you will be renting, be very careful because if you just move in with it in that state you can be deemed to have accepted it.

If the fence is definitely the responsibility of next door then do the tenants contact an agent? The agent must know who the landlord is. Alternatively, download the title register for next door from the Land Registry gov.uk site for £3 and hopefully the landlord's address at the time the house was bought will be on there and it won't be the address of the house.

There’s a difference between what you “should” do, and what you’ll end up doing. Yes, the neighbour’s LL should fix it, but that’s unlikely to happen. You need to make sure your garden is safe for the children, so realistically you’ll have to secure the perimeter.

It doesn't matter who owns the fence. It is the responsibility of owners to keep their dogs under control. If they don't want to put up a fence, they could tie up the dog or keep it indoors.

The council does occasionally get involved in stuff like noise and anti social behaviour. My neighbour had a large conifer that was blocking the view for traffic, when she refused to remove it the council removed it and billed her.

As the law stands if you want a fence you sort it, there is nothing in law that can compel your neighbour to repair/replace the fence

First things first before exchanging establish who actually owns the fence, even if T markings indicate the boundary is the neighbours he may not have installed the fence

The dog owner is however required to have its dog under control at all times regardless of being just the tenant, if they continue to let it roam in the garden then you can involve the council

these people are pathetic. if they live in a dump run by a crook they either leave or take action rather than sitting and whining. money isnt that tight if they can afford a dog.

the dog is their problem, tell them to fix the fence while they take action or you will to stop it endangering your kids.

look on righ tmove, see if there was an agent for the property. raise a complaint with the council about an out of control dog.

Thanks for the advice. I brought the property a while ago, it’s been a nightmare renovation project. I think it may have been the beast from the east who took the fence down. In the first instance I’m going talk to the council just in case they can help. Then I will probably end you fixing the bloody fence 🙄

complain about the out of control dog first.. try to find the landlord.