the cheek of some people!!!

sharpe106

if i was me I

Sonofa

sharpe106 wrote: »

if i was me I

You are you....aren't you?

RetroBob

Haha, what a !!!!!!. You win. Better fence. No money spent.

bluejake

Just a thought, if you are not living in the property it might be worth paying £400 to keep your neighbour on good terms and of course get an £800 fence as part of the bargain.

If you haven't seen your fences for a long time they may have been falling to pieces. A new fence will surely benefit you if you ever sell the property or need to rent it out again. A run down badly maintained fence may lead to a run down badly maintained property.

I think you may have been getting a good deal: a new fence at half price and friendly neighbour to your property who could be useful for an absentee landlord. Especially a house proud neighbour who cares about his property.

I wouldn't have been so quick to p1ss him off and would have given this more thought before making a decision. Not out of a sense of fairness to pay my share but from self interest. I think I would have said I will need to take a look at what has been done when I am next at my property and then I will make a contribution. Then have a think about it now you have some time. When you add in labour costs and maintenance every year like applying paint/preservative a cheaper fence thats needs replacing/repairs/maintenace more often may not work out better value. Especially if your neighbour is doing the maintenance and keeping an eye on your property.

I would make sure he knows he can contact me if there are any problems and he must do before he decides to spend any more money expecting a contribution from me. However, sometimes you need to box clever rather than rub someones nose in it. I would rather have someone who is house proud next door rather than an anti- social type and I would rather keep them on my side if I am absent elsewhere.

Just a thought. I am surprised at how little value people seem to put on remaining on good terms with a neighbour: "I think I would have laughed at him".

vikki400

When I bought my house I was told by my solicitor that although the boundary wall was originally my neighbours responsibility the previous owner has replaced it (as your neighbour has) and as a result I now have to maintain it. Fine for me as I knew when I bought it, but your neighbour could just have landed himself with responsibility for upkeeping your nice new fence! Best to check that out with someone more knowledgable than me before you start enforcing it though!

clutton_2

""Obviously now i have a nice looking fence which will help to show the garden off when i do decided to sell up. ""


i think this says it all - i think you are adopting a very selfish attitude. Someone else has replace something which is an asset to your property and you have had to do absolutely nothing. Even though the neighbour went about it the wrong way, you have definitely profited from his work, and i think you should be fair and offer him half.

concrete panelling fencing may cost a little more to install, but in terms of future maintainance and shelf life - it is a great product.

i have just done exactly this with my neighbour - very amicably - and i dont even know if it is his fence or mine - BUT i am getting the value of it and so is he, and so we shared the bill.

I agree your neighbour should have consulted you - had it ever occured to you that he thought he might be doing you a favour and that you might be pleased ??

i think bluejakes post is absolutely spot on

as bit of give and take is necessary in this world and £100 contribution towards an £800 bill is taking the peee

Catblue

Agree with Clutton and bluejake.

Aside from the fact that good neighbour relations are essential in my view, you need to think longer term.

If you have angered your neighbour and subsequently wish to sell your house, then the neighbour may well decide to be awkward during this process. The neighbour might even decide to inform your Estate Agent and solicitor that there is an ongoing boundary dispute with the house.

This will effectively scupper any sale and could end up costing you a lot more than £400.

gauly

I think £800 is a lot for a fence just on one side - surely it could have been done cheaper? You can't just expect someone to fork out £400 for something they didn't want done, didn't choose themselves and didn't give permission for. £100 sounds like quite a decent good will gesture to me, certainly not "taking the peee".

mark5

I wouldnt pay a penny, if he wanted a contribution he should have waited to contact you before going ahead with the work!

clutton_2

since none of us know the length of the fence - none of us, including me, know whether £800 is a fair price or not

i suspect OP would think it too much if it was half a mile long .......