Painting fence that’s on a shared boundary

[OneCyanHiker]

NDN replaced the old dark brown fence with a bright orange one so our fences don’t match at all. They didn’t ask us before they did it. I don’t know who bought the original fence. Boundaries are shared responsibility and they’ve taken out the old fence and put the new one on the boundary. Can we paint our side so the fences match?

If it’s shared responsibility, yes. Or put a better fence or hedge in front of it. Orange? Are they mad?

I don’t like it. It might not look as bad on their side because it’s not next to a dark brown one. Reminds me of Tango ads.

I thought about attaching something on our side but then we’re just encroaching on our own garden which isn’t fair. They’re entitled CFs. When they were renovating they just did what they liked (like regularly coming into our garden from their back garden and the side of our house, leaving crap in our garden, mess from their side constantly blowing into our garden, etc) and told us all the work they were doing was better for us too.

We painted all ours green on our side. Neighbours paint brown.

paint it whatever colour you want. If they put it up without asking you they’ve got cheek saying you can’t paint it. Though I guess on the positive, they paid for it!

they’re proper cheeky.

Our NDN is a 22year old whose parents bought her a house, which she doesn’t have to pay a mortgage on because they paid cash, when she graduated and renovated it completely before she moved in. They told us all this. Her parents outright said ‘she’s our princess and she gets whatever she wants’. Her garden is pristine because her dad comes fortnightly to do it.

They didn’t bother with a party wall agreement. We just came home one day from 2 week holiday and they were partway through the build. When we approached them her dad said he’s ’doing us a favour by not building a full width double story extension because he could if he wanted to’ I don’t think he cares about the 45 degree rule. Her mum said their extension was good for us because it makes the houses look nicer so we should cut our trees down (at our expense of course) because it’s better for everyone too.

If they have paid for it, it is theirs. Did you not want to contribute? Did the old fence need replaced? Have you tried talking to them?

This is incorrect (as any 2 second google would tell you). You are not allowed to paint it or stain it. It's their property. They paid for it and they own it.

If they removed a fence that you jointly owned with them then that is a separate issue. If they put up a fence on your land then that is also a separate issue.

What exactly does it say or show on your title deeds/title plan?

The best way to deal with this is to speak to your neighbours and keep things friendly. Getting into a battle about fences is generally a pointless nightmare.

The orange'ness of the fence will fade extremely quickly. The easiest solution would be to say thank you to your neighbours and put up with the fence until next spring by which time it will have mellowed considerably.

You could also put up your own fence on your own land and paint it any colour you like but I wouldn't recommend that as you will loose land.

One thing you definitely can't do is paint or stain someone else's fence.

How is the whole fence orange, have they painted your side?

I think some posters think the fence has actually been painted orange which it almost certainly hasn't. It will be the orange colour of the preservative, which is pretty ugly but which will fade very quickly.

I've no idea what the relevance of the neighbour being 22 and mortgage free is 🤔

how soon will it fade? It’s been a year. She behaves like she’s very entitled.

When we approached them last year they said all the changes they’re making are better for everyone. They put new fences on their other side which did new fencing and then replaced the shared side to match. The deeds didn’t have the T’s showing who’s responsible and we were told that they were shared. they took out the panels and put new ones in, and they never approached us. We didn’t know they were replacing the fences.

The old fence was old but still fine. We didn’t know they were replacing the fence until the old fence was gone and saw the new one in its place. We haven’t discussed it yet as we’re not sure where we stand as they’ve paid for the fence but we didn’t want it, they also took out the shared fence without telling us and didn’t ask us to contribute, and now our fences don’t look the same.

(Sorry, can’t edit)

and it’s the precursor to ‘she gets whatever she wants’ which I said to try to give an idea of what we’re up against if we bring it up with them because she probably chose the fence.

Could you grow something like honeysuckle up the orange fence on your side to cover it up?

Of course you can't paint something you don't own.

Have you checked the neighbour's deeds to see if they are responsible for that boundary? You can buy a copy from Land Registry.

By the way, I'm not sure I have ever seen a garden with matching fences/boundary treatment. Usually because all boundaries are the responsibility of different people - why would they match? Grow some shrubs!

The deeds didn’t have the T’s showing who’s responsible and we were told that they were shared. they took out the panels and put new ones in, and they never approached us. We didn’t know they were replacing the fences.

It's very normal for there to be no 'T's' They still own the fence though.
Is there anything in the deeds at all? Sometimes there are covenants etc
Do you know who paid for the previous fence? Have you any proof?

In your situation, I would just be happy you have a lovely new fence, that you did not have to pay for. Our stingy scrounging neighbours wouldn't contribute to replacing the rotten falling apart old fence. When DH approached them, he didn't even ask for money, as they pretty much said they agree "as long as you're paying for it." We knew they would never contribute, so did not ask. It honestly wasn't worth the hassle anyway, as they would have opted for the cheapest fence they could find, if by some miricle they had have contributed.

They even approached when the date changed asking if it was still going ahead, as were scared we had changed our mind. We updated them all of the way, apart from the delay, as were waiting for the new date. They hadn't bothered to make any preparation for the job anyway.

They didn't move any of they crap they had piled along the entire boundary, sandwiched against the old fence. We even kindly had their side of the alley replaced too. It is an excellent quality solid fence, and they haven't even said it looks nice, or thank you. Some people are just ignorant, and CF's.

I want them to knock and ask to paint their side, so definately knock on your neighbour. I've paid enough money out, so if they think we are paying for paint for their side they can sod off. We already had to do the entire garden, and have gone through 6 tins of decent paint!! If they actually do anything it'll be cheap rubbish paint any way. 🙄

So it’s just a normal organgey brown fence stain and you want to paint it? Ask her.

and honestly you’re starting to come across as envious and bitter. So what if hee parents bought her house. Back off.

I would happily paint my side without any discussion under these circumstances.

Just ensure none of your paint goes through to their side. Paint can easily drip through any holes/gaps and mark their side, so you need to be very careful.

I'd be happy that my neighbours were keeping their property in decent condition (which probably increases the value of your property as well - much better than living next to a shithole). Probably what the mother meant when she said it's better for everyone. As previous posters have said, try and stay on good terms - it's not worth creating bad feeling because of a fence.

@Lilliesandjasmine I don't think the OP is envious and bitter. More that she's brassed off with an entitled 'princess' (father's quote) telling OP to suck it up - again via her parents.
If it's a shared boundary then there should be an agreement. Otherwise, just paint it - it'll last longer.

@Lifeinlists Thank you. Exactly this. They knocked down the old extension, dug up the new one, which encroached 3m of our foundations and didn’t get a party wall act or even tell us. when we asked them about the party wall act, they said it’s permitted development so they can do it without telling us and they’re doing us a favour by not building full width double storey. And they need to get this done asap because she wants to move in by such and such a date.

The whole time it’s been ‘we need to do whatever because she wants it and everyone else should just accept it’ . I’m just trying to work out where we stand if we do what we want. If they had attached it and kept it on their side of the boundary obviously I wouldn’t think about painting it

@Lilliesandjasmine i don’t care that they bought her the house. I care that they think they can do whatever they want to give her what she wants and telling us that what she wants is what everyone should want.

Did they get planning permission for the extension? You would have been informed about the application if so.
I'd be inclined to get a bit of legal advice about your current situation, not to mention the permitted development, even though that's history.

They'll continue to try and ride roughshod over you as some people are like that and, unfortunately, you've got one (and her parents pulling the strings) next door.
Time to toughen up, I think.