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Original poster

Boundary Fence

15 replies

Dothehappydance · 16/03/2019 21:17

We moved into our house last June. One of the boundary fences runs alongside the side of the neighbours house and it is their boundary fence.

When we moved in there was a big ivy growing from our side along the fence being supported with various types of support. At the end of last year I started to cut down the ivy and finished it when we had that really nice weather. Then the winds came, and now the fence is leaning right over to the neighbours house and the fence posts have pretty much snapped, so it will need replacing.

In the past the neighbour has put up a secondary fence within their garden (but not along the side of the house) the fence is theirs so legally it is theirs to replace, but it was our plant that caused the damage (even though we didn't actually plant it) so morally we probably do have some responsibility. What is the best way to solve this please?

We have another fence down (which is ours) so need someone out anyway to do some work.

Thank you

OP posts:

Original poster

Dothehappydance · 17/03/2019 15:42

Well, let's just say that I now know how neighbour disputes start.

Knocked on the door and said we were there about the fence. It was never going to go well from the start. Stated it was his fence, to which he argued, decided that because the fence is one side of a small wall it must be ours, all fences are 50/50 surely and who says it is his? Well the deeds do.

He then said I can't afford a fence then muttered something about 50:50. To which I said we would just sort it and left him to argue the toss.

So we will do it how we want, and just do it. I can't be bothered to argue the toss back and shove land registry plans in his face. It isn't worth it, enough going on as it is.

But I did remark to be husband that if we were the type to respond in kind you could see this being on Channel 5.

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TwoBlueFish · 17/03/2019 18:26

If the fence is his then it’s up to him to decide when or if he wants to fix it. You can always put a fence on your side of the boundary if you want a secure garden.

GreenTulips · 17/03/2019 18:31

Not sure why you think it’s your job to knock his door and ask what he’s doing about his fence?
My neighbor was like this when a panel blew and she was knocking at a ridiculous hour demanding we replace it!
We don’t have £ to throw randomly at a fence - neither had dogs etc and it was doing nobody any harm!!

We would have got to it as when!

Some people - serves your right for poking your nose in really

Barrenfieldoffucks · 17/03/2019 18:34

He doesn't have to replace it if he doesn't want to, so be prepared for him to not pay a penny for work he didn't commission. Equally, I have a feeling that if it is on his land, he could just remove it.

Original poster

Dothehappydance · 17/03/2019 19:00

Until we tied it back up it was blocking the side acess to his property, but seeing that he didn't think that the fence was his I'm not sure he would have done anything.

At no point did we demand he replace it, he started arguing the toss as soon as we had mentioned it, and calling the previous owner a prick.

I don't actually care if he doesn't pay, we were always fully prepared to pay, what I didn't expect was all the aggro. Part of why we wanted to speak to him was so he was happy with what we did.

We couldn't even have a reasonable conversation because he was so busy shouting about why it wasn't his.

But fill the gaps in, and make your own version of events.

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Movinghouseatlast · 17/03/2019 19:20

I am moving house because of a neighbour dispute over a stupid bloody fence, that had been out in the wrong place over 30 years ago allegedly. We bought our house 20 years ago. New neighbour moved in 3 years ago and day one raised a boundary dispute with us. I swear that the stress nearly killed me.
The neighbour was in the wrong but it cost us a few thousand just defending ourselves. When he insisted on going to court over it our solicitor told us we would 100% win, but even if awarded costs it would not cover the actual costs. And if our neighbour didn't cough up then we would have to take him to court to get the costs!

So my advice is that whatever you do, read up about the law, get whatever you do documented and photographed and never, ever just do something for a quiet life as it may rise up in many years time. Just a fence can cause SO many issues down the line.

Lwmommy · 17/03/2019 19:26

They are stupidly expensive to replace at short notice. Storm Freya took out 2 6ft panels and 3 posts the other week. Next door neighbour knocked at 6.30am the next morning to let us know (thanks, hadnt noticed the massive gap in our fence) and ask when we would be replacing it as their garden was now not secure for their dog (NOT MY PROBLEM).

Based on their behaviour in the past we decided to just sort it, £295 it cost to.fix which is a lot for a small section of fence that i'm not bothered about, at short notice.

Original poster

Dothehappydance · 17/03/2019 19:41

Oh moving what a nightmare. I will heed your advice. As mentioned before we have a panel on our boundary that needs replacing so someone will be round, but one way or another something needs to be done as the only reason it is not further over is because we have it supported our side. The trouble is now if we untie it (my preference as it is round a tree) it will probably just escalate things. We are totally and utterly stuck.

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Original poster

Dothehappydance · 18/03/2019 08:08

la ouch.

MN is a funny place, post about an issue with someone and the general response is speak to them, but then if you speak to them you are poking your nose it.

We didn't demand anything, we got as far as 'with it being your fence' before he started arguing about it. I will check to be certain that it isn't a 'secondary' fence just within our boundary, but surely when you buy and own a house you work out which boundary is yours.

Tbh it would be better if it was down, at the moment it is in limbo. The fence is down in a way that means it just leans over to his house blocking his access, we have managed to resupport it from our side (originally has it was) but now we have a fence supported on our side that I don't really want it to be, but to let it go isn't going to achieve anything.

Oh well, I am sure it will get resolved (I will just record everything)

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Movinghouseatlast · 18/03/2019 10:38

The problem you have is that there is no way of knowing if this is a secondary fence or not. It could be, as a boundary and a fence are two very different things.

Have a look on the gov.uk site 'Guide to Fences'. Also the Garden Law website and forum is very informative.

I never thought I would have my whole life turned upside down by a fence I had looked at for nearly 20 years.

Original poster

Dothehappydance · 18/03/2019 12:52

moving I did a whole reply and it never posted.

Our deeds do state that the fence needs to be maintained, so I will read through the 'guide to fences' and we will work out where to go from here. We are hoping that he was just having a bad day and we can have a proper conversation another day.

I wish you all the best with your move and that you find peace and happiness in your new home.

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Movinghouseatlast · 18/03/2019 13:25

Thanks! Yes, I have to start looking forward not back. My neighbour was the most intransigent person, which didn't help the matter.

I would put your OP on Garden Law as there are very knowledgeable people there. When you go through it you get to learn a lot about it! I am also an expert on the Party Wall Act sadly...

Tubeworker · 18/03/2019 22:16

Not that you should have to, but if you or your DH are handy replacing fence posts isn’t a big job. Buy some 8 foot pressure treated 4x4 posts (£12/post), dig out the old ones and put the new ones in with postcrete (£5/bag). Then refix the old panels to the new posts with galvanised or stainless steel screws (£10/packet of 200).

The hardest part will be digging out the old posts. Postcrete dries in 10 minutes so it’ll take less than a day, and cost you around £100 in materials for 6 posts.

If the old panels are also f’d then they cost anything from £35-£70/panel to replace. Generally they can be reused with a little reinforcement.

Spiritinabody · 19/03/2019 14:01

I would take the opportunity to change the posts to concrete ones, particularly if you get cross winds, so that you aren't necessarily in the same position again in the future.

Original poster

Dothehappydance · 19/03/2019 22:03

Thank you everyone for all the advice.

It is kind of resolved. I have spoken to the neighbour again (and both of us have looked again at the deeds)

It seems that there was a dispute with him and the previous owner of our house in regards to boundaries, fences, extensions and plant pots being thrown on the ground with a lot of swearing and I perhaps poked a bit of a hornets nest.

It does seem that at some point the previous neighbour put the fence up within his boundary (there was something about taking down the original fence posts, but I'll skim over that) so it is the bush that has broken our fence. It is his boundary, but if he was to put a fence up it would make it near impossible for him to get down the side of his house. At the moment the fence runs down the whole length. We are going to totally remove the part where he has put up a new fence (from the corner of his house to the end of the garden) and then replace the rest.

I need to consider how best to get this all recorded as I don't want this to cause issues further down the line, as the fence will be about 6 inches inside our boundary.

So hopefully all resolved and harmony will ensue.

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