Who should pay for this fence?

[Sweetchocolatecandy]

So our garden fence on the right hand side of our house is pretty much falling down (my partner has had to brace it up to keep it from falling). We have checked the land registry plans online and it’s not clear whose responsibility it is, as we live in a terraced house and it borders with our neighbours. We have tried to broach the subject with said neighbours about going half’s for a new fence but they are not interested saying they can’t afford it and they are looking to move soon anyway (they have been saying this for years but it never materialises). Does anyone know where we stand legally with regards to this? I just don’t see how it’s fair that we pay for a brand new fence to also benefit them and add value to their property. To make matters worse they have a dog that keeps coming into our garden doing it’s business (getting through gaps in the fence as it’s in such a bad state) and they just don’t seem to care.

Sorry about the long post but I’m just very frustrated!

No one needs to pay. Unless the deeds state, which they don’t, then there is no legal requirement for a fence.

If you want it replaced then pay for it. Of course it would be nice if they want halves but they have said no and that is their right.

Sometimes as a home owner you just have to suck it up and pay, or you’ll be moaning about it forever because the neighbour clearly doesn’t care/can’t afford to act. Build the new fence within your boundary and then it’s all yours to maintain going forward and you at least then have control over it.

We’ve just had new fences put in. We told the neighbours what we were doing, and didn’t remove the old fences - just put the new ones in front of them.
With regards to their dog coming into your garden, they are responsible for ensuring it doesn’t. Tell them they need to keep it under control!

I had to replace the fence at the end of our garden and the neighbour refused even to contribute £50 (it cost just under £1000 with new concrete posts and gravel boards).

I gave him the shit side which made me feel marginally better and we’ve moved now.

I don’t think a new fence is going to add to the value of their property. If it weren’t for the dog issue, I’d say, you want a new fence, you’ll have to sort it and pay for it.

However, the dog issue changes things. It is your neighbours’ legal responsibility to keep their dog out of your garden and you could complain to the council to enforce that if you were so minded.

I think I’d make them come round and clear up their dog’s mess every single time it happened and drop heavy hints about contacting the council if it doesn’t stop. That should spur them into action, though you may have to accept that they’ll put up something cheap and ugly out of revenge.

I have an ongoing issue about fences. I have a large garden of 2 acres. My neighbour has 4 acres. The gardens are long and thin and the fence between them (or lack of) is therefore also very long.

It is the neighbours boundary and their responsibility to fence is properly, as I do on all the other sidesThey have refused to do it and it's all falling downand looks a right mess. My dogs go in their garden and they complain all the time.

We have been at loggerheads about it for 6 years now. They complain about my dogs (jack russells) and I reply "well put a fence up then" ad nauseum.

It will cost about £10k to do it. I actually really don't care anymore about it. The guy is famous (and lovely) and earns megabucks according to his Wikipedia page so it's not a case of them not being able to afford it. Their hideous £50k summerhouse they've just built would attest to that. His wife is a complete cow though and we are both as stubborn as each other. It's almost a game now to see who will crack first. Won't be me! Haha!

It is the neighbours boundary and their responsibility to fence is properly

I’m sorry unless th deeds say there has to be w fence, then there is never an obligation to put one in. He can leave it with no fence if he wishes.

And I do know it's my responsibility to keep my dogs out of their garden btw. It's just become a bit of a tit for tat thing.

They don't actually need to have a proper fence but you should be keeping your dogs out their garden.

Yes I know Bluntness. I worded that badly.

Even if it's their fence on their land you can't insist they have a new fence. You could take out the leaning panels and you can put up your own fence on your own land next to the existing fence or you can replace the existing fence or you can leave it and have a leaning fence which annoys you.

Even if it's their fence on their land you can't insist they have a new fence

But you can insist they keep their dog out of your garden. The dog issue changes everything.

@BigusBumus PPs are right and your neighbour is right to be pissed off with you. Unless it's specified in their deeds there is no obligation for your neighbour to provide a fence at all but there is a legal requirement for you to control your dogs. Presumably your dogs shit in their garden? If so that's disgusting. Even if they don't I'd hate to have other peoples dogs running around my garden. What if they have little kids visiting?

You could always put up a cheap mesh fence.

I would crack to be honest @BigusBumus - if your dogs are getting into their garden, it's your responsibility to make sure that doesn't happy, even if it's their boundary.

I’d leave my side gate open for the dog to take a hike next time he comes over…

@HeddaGarbled

Even if it's their fence on their land you can't insist they have a new fence

But you can insist they keep their dog out of your garden. The dog issue changes everything.

It changes nothing. They need to control their dog yes, but it doesn’t change the fence situation at all.

I feel I should clarify my garden situation. My dogs are not freely going in the neighbours garden and have never crapped in there! I would pick it up if I saw them doing it, as they are always with me.

Basically we have a formal walled garden up at the house, gated, they can't get out. Next we have a fully fenced area where the hens are, garden 2, they can't get out of there either. That runs over a ha-ha wall into garden 3 also fully fenced.

Its the last garden, an orchard area, that they have let the fence fall over in. This is bordered by a river and once or twice a day I take the dogs down to the river to check on things and in this weather for a swim. So I am with them when they run into NDNs garden, and I call them back. (They are all working dogs and have excellent recall) The dogs have no idea there is a boundary there and they cannot get there themselves without me, so its not like they are running loose over whole place. But she spends a lot of time in their summerhouse, right next to this area and goes mental if my dogs so much as step over into her garden.

I think she has cracked actually, as there are new fence posts being put in!

Its all so petty really, she looks me up and down like a piece of shit and has screamed in my face about a different issue. (She's a WAG type and I am more country bumpkin tbh) So its not really even about the fence anymore!

@BigusBumus It doesn't make any difference if your dogs are well behaved or not. You shouldn't let them run around her garden. Even if she is a 'wag type' 🤦🏻‍♀️
I can't tell if you are just hamming this up or whether you genuinely believe you neighbour is obliged to fence her garden to prevent your dogs from going in her land.

I think she has cracked actually, as there are new fence posts being put in!

Since you posting about it this morning?!

I'd just put up a new fence but would only panel your own side. Our neighbours put one up all around their garden and asked if we wanted to pay to put panels up on our side. We did as we didn't want to look at an unsightly fence. We have since built a wall on the opposite side of our garden between us and other neighbour. We didn't ask for a penny though as we wanted the privacy. The owners were renting out their property so wouldn't have cared less about privacy for us or their tenants.