Not your average fence post

[CalamityJaneway]

Our neighbours' garden is separated from us by a very fragile 3ft chicken wire fence. The deeds show that we are responsible for that boundary and since we have two toddlers who are always trying to climb it and they have two large dogs, we got quotes to replace it and let them know when we're going ahead.

Their response has us tickled: The neighbour says it can't be removed because his brother installed it and he would be HIGHLY offended..... Apparently he 's quite proud of it, lord knows why.

They also claim that because they paid to install the 'fence' originally, we can't replace it now without their permission. That can't be true can it? Our garden isn't wide enough to accommodate a second fence in front of theirs, and tbh I don't see why we should have to do that anyway. I'm not particularly worried about upsetting them, but I'd rather not have them arguing with the contractors when they arrive..

Just do this right up close to it without removing his

If it were me I'd have the contractors remove the fence and deposit it in their garden before they erected the new one. Bonus points for doing it whilst they're on holiday.

I sympathise with you - our neighbours are the most miserable, knuckle-dragging sods you would ever wish for.

That's definitely the plan, but part of me is worried they're going to claim we're destroying their property etc..

So you are offering to put in a nice new fence to replace something ugly and ineffective at no cost to them and they are complaining.

People baffle me.

Unless what you are proposing is ugly (an acquired taste) or 6 feet tall or they have some mature plants that could be damaged then I'm at an utter loss!

You can't really remove their property though.
I'd try talking to them again

If it’s their fence, you can’t remove it without their permission. Just put your fence up next to it; if it’s as shit as you say, it’ll be very thin and adding a fence on your side of the boundary will have little or no effect on the size of your garden

This is where you need to check where the boundary line really is. Are you sure the fence is not actually entirely in their own garden?

Its their property you can't just remove it. Build one right next to it in your garden

Is the fence on your side of the boundary, or theirs?

If it's on their property, don't touch their fence and put one up on your side of the boundary.
If their fence is on your side of the boundary, tell them you will be returning their property and put up a fence of your choosing.

As others have said, you cannot remove their fence.

I would do what bathbombsarethebomb suggested and showed in her photo

It is right on the boundary, no question. I should add that they're council tenants so we've also sought the opinion of the HA, we'll see what they say.
What a mad old world eh.

@CalamityJaneway

I should add that they're council tenants so we've also sought the opinion of the HA, we'll see what they say.

OK, that's a whole different ball game if they're tenants, I'm guessing that most people here assumed they were owners. (I assume that you own your property by the way).

You are correct that you should be talking to the HA - they own the freehold and will be responsible for things like walls and boundaries etc, not the tenant.

I would guess that the likely outcome would be that the HA will agree with you that it is for you to maintain the boundary.

However, it would be wise to return the chicken wire to your neighbour rather than just getting rid of it as the actual chicken wire itself does belong to them.

Of course, they will no doubt be unhappy about this and you will need to consider any ongoing bad feelings that may arise from this.

Just put a massive fence up in front of it and be done with them.....bye bye 🤣

Drip feed with them being tenants OP! Their opinion is somewhat moot, just negotiate directly with the HA.