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How can I tell if this fence is mine or shared?

59 replies

Missm68 · 04/07/2026 11:05

I'm trying to find out if my fence is mine or shared with next door but I can only find thease screen shots of what I have so I'm not sure what I need to look for.

How can I tell if this fence is mine or shared?
How can I tell if this fence is mine or shared?
How can I tell if this fence is mine or shared?
How can I tell if this fence is mine or shared?
OP posts:
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Wot23 · 05/07/2026 12:09

assuming the property is in England the Land Registry guidance emphatically states... it depends!!!
Drawing the line on boundaries – HM Land Registry

If there is explicit wording then there is explicit wording stating who is responsible, if there isn't then:

T marks - on their own without any wording in the deeds themselves do not constitute legal ownership, but hint at what was "intended"

which side is the post = urban myth (and panel fences have them in the centre anyway). But legally speaking a one sided fence cannot have posts in another person's land (and pedantically that includes the footings of the posts as well)

left side = urban myth

good side = urban myth (contractor told me to my face, in old days perhaps but nowadays customer paid, customer gets good side. Consequently neighbour has good face on all 3 of his back garden fences).

Drawing the line on boundaries – HM Land Registry

Our Customer Policy Manager, Adam Hookway, shares the main questions he's asked about boundaries and why they tend to be some of the hardest to answer.

https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/27/drawing-the-line-on-boundaries/

Taggiesbeefdaube · 05/07/2026 12:19

Stirabout · 05/07/2026 11:50

And for the non Latin readers 👩‍🎓

Quicquid plantatur solo, solo cedit" is a foundational Latin maxim in property and land law meaning "whatever is affixed to the soil belongs to the soil". Under this ancient principle, any permanent improvements, structures, or crops attached to a property legally become the property of the landowner.

Correct - which is why the tree example someone gave above is also incorrect. plant a tree on your neighbours land and it becomes THEIR tree. Likewise if your valuable specimen plant seeds itself all over your neighbours land and they they have lots of seedlings pop up they are their property NOT yours.

Fence belongs to whoever owns the land its been put on.

BeKookyExpert · 05/07/2026 13:28

You need to speak to your neighbours and see if they have an opinion. I put up a fence on all 3 sides of my garden, and deliberately put them up inside of the boundary on my land. “Bad side” facing into my garden. So although one side is my neighbours boundary, it’s not on their land or on the boundary. I wouldn’t however expect a new neighbour to know that unless they spoke to me.

Elbowpatch · 05/07/2026 17:15

Stirabout · 05/07/2026 11:50

And for the non Latin readers 👩‍🎓

Quicquid plantatur solo, solo cedit" is a foundational Latin maxim in property and land law meaning "whatever is affixed to the soil belongs to the soil". Under this ancient principle, any permanent improvements, structures, or crops attached to a property legally become the property of the landowner.

Fair enough, but if you can’t prove who the land the structure is on belongs to it means absolutely nothing.

As I said before, more often than not, the fence belongs to whoever put it up.

Stirabout · 05/07/2026 18:13

Elbowpatch · 05/07/2026 17:15

Fair enough, but if you can’t prove who the land the structure is on belongs to it means absolutely nothing.

As I said before, more often than not, the fence belongs to whoever put it up.

You can get professionals to assess as pp
if there’s nothing definitive on the deeds

Elbowpatch · 05/07/2026 19:38

Stirabout · 05/07/2026 18:13

You can get professionals to assess as pp
if there’s nothing definitive on the deeds

To definitively assess four inches? Which is the thickness of a typical fence.

Missm68 · 05/07/2026 22:11

johnd2 · 04/07/2026 21:14

@Elbowpatch is right, the fence belongs to whoever paid for it, unless there's any other agreement with the neighbour about ownership of that fence.
The deeds will only help with who owned the original fence at the time of the deeds, if any, but it's a useful clue often.
In reality, if the op doesn't have personal knowledge of who paid for the current fence, then the best idea is to talk to the neighbour and come up with a solution.
A lot of people prefer to stick to what the deeds originally went with, which makes sense, but that's by no means a given, and you aren't obliged to have or maintain your existing fence, as long as you don't let it fall onto your neighbour's land.
Hope that helps (I'm clearly not a lawyer though!)

I paid for the fence both sides up to there broken fence.

OP posts:
Missm68 · 05/07/2026 22:35

I've msg my neighbour asking them because I'm sure my side had one T on but not 100% sure.

OP posts:
Wot23 · 07/07/2026 11:32

Missm68 · 05/07/2026 22:35

I've msg my neighbour asking them because I'm sure my side had one T on but not 100% sure.

as per the Land Registry extract I previously gave, T marks have zero legal meaning on their own. It is written words in the deeds which categorically legally confirms who is responsible for maintaining the boundary. But even then that does not mean the person has to pay for a fence, they simply have to have some form of boundary marking (eg pile of stones)

You can ask your neighbours but you cannot force them to do anything, or share any costs if the deeds do not say so, T mark notwithstanding.

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