Fence, who's responsibility?

Rod_Flanders

I was woundering if anyone can Help.

I Purchased My house over 3 years ago and the fence on the front of my property to my right is an old wire fence the local council placed, but is now falling down and is not secure. There is no property next to it, it used to be waste land which the council still own, but they have now turned the waste land into a car park. However this has now left my property open and is not secure. We feel the council should take ownership for this as they cleared the waste land and the fence should have been replaced by them.

They are saying we are responsible, but surely as it seperates my property and there property there just as responsible???

Please help as they cannot give a straight answer.

Syman

you will need to check the property deeds.

IIRC, usually an owner is responsible for any boundary along one side of their property. youmay find however some "end of terrace" types are responsible for both.

asp746

tbh if you can afford to, it'd be best if you replace it yourself and then at least you know you are getting the type of fence etc that you want.

if the council do it they could put any old tatty thing up or even a breezeblock wall which wouldn't be very nice.

SirLancelot_3

As asp746 said i think you should do it all yourself as you can get to choose what kind of fencing you want. I was in the same position as you and I did it all myself.

ixwood

A hawthorn hedge will cost a lot less than a fence, last longer, look nicer, attract wildlife and eventually create a better barrier. Admittedly it will take a while.

Or hazel. Free nuts from a fence!

daveyjp

The Council would have needed planning permission to change the land to car parking. Check the application and see what they applied for and what the conditions of approval say.

Check your house deeds too - it may mention in there any conditions attached to the sale of the land for your house as regards fencing.

Whenever I sell land a clause to erect and maintain fences around the boundaries is always part of the deal.

Rod_Flanders

Thanks all for the advice,

I agree, i was thinking about the same thing last night. Knowing the our Local council they'd do a poor job. Getting out of there van is a challenge for them.


Thanks for the advice guys.

planning_officer

Surprising that the council didn't put a decent fence up. Although it's not my department, so I won't take any credit, my council purchased some areas of back gardens to extend a town centre car park recently, and as part of the deal the council erected a nice new 2m high close boarded fence (not a cheap panel fence either! lol) along the new boundaries with the remaining gardens.

headpin

You need to check your house deeds (if you have not got a copy you should be able to obtain one from the Land Registry (at a fee) as they will have a copy lodged along with the registe information. All property bought and sold in England will be registered unless the last sale was 50(?) or more years ago.

The normal symbol for your fence is a “T” mark against the boundary on your side on the plan accompanying the deeds (this is not the same as the Land Regsitry file plan BTW). If there is no mark and the deeds are silent then it could be either a party fence or nobody is responsible.

If you want to erect a fence and you cannot establish who is responsible then you have a few options:

1. Contact the Council and see if you can persuade them to erect a fence as they have the adjoining land and have created a car park from it;
2. Contact the Council and offer to share the cost of a new boundary fence;
3. Check your deeds and see who is responsible - if it's the Council put pressure on them to meet their obligation which they will have covenanted to perform;
4. Ditto - but if it's you then you'll have to undertake providing a new fence if that's what you want;

Remember that if it's not your responsibility but you decide to erect a fence anyway, then unless you obtain the adjoining owners consent (the Council I assume in your case?), then any new fence that you arect, including the whole of any posts, must be completely on your side of the boundary line. If not the adjoining owner could ask you to remove it.

Also if abutting a car park you want to ensure that it's both safe and secure as if it falls and injures someone you will possibly be held liable. This duty I would suggest is probably a little more onerous than if you were fencing a normal domestic boundary.

Rod_Flanders

Many thanks for the advice, i will certainly look into it with the land registery office.