pesky neighbour and dividing fence

brians_daughter

argh... right, deep breaths!

Just been to see our neighbour regarding the fence that divides us at the rear of our properties. A few of the panels are a tad worse for wear so i went to ask (out of politeness really) did he mind if we repalced them - we dont want him to contribute any money or anything.

He said he didnt want us to do it (concrete posts and wood panels - you know the kind?) I pointed out his dog (massive blinking doberman (sp) type thing) has a habit of pawing and poking his nose through the panels plus my children kicking footballs etc at it a few were starting to lean and break. (Having 3 young children i didnt want to be in a position where i was keeping them away from the fence for fear of the dog biting them through the panels, or the dog coming into our garden, or even the panels falling onto the children - i was nice, really nice to him! )

Anyway, he says he has ivy on his side of the panels (and yes, in places he does) and if we took the panels down the ivy would have to be cut which he isnt prepared to do..

So, where do i stand on this? I relly dont want to argue with them about it but i also do not want to risk the dog coming into our garden when the kids are outside and next door are at work (they leave it outside 8-3 but thats a different thread!)

I want to change the panels, and if the ivy hadnt been there i would just be inclined to do it and sod what he says, but the ivy would need to be cut right down (it creeps over our side of the fence at times) which i dont want to do without him being ok with it ...

Any ideas on where i stand about this - i dont want to put new posts and panels before the divinding boundries as i dont see why i should have to go to the time, trouble and costs of new posts and panels within my own boundries when the dividing ones are all ok minus these 2 or 3

diable

Who owns the fence?

Molly41

Put a fence up on your side. It might take up some of your boundary but hopefully you can get it in snugly.

DS4215

Can you just reinforce the panels that are there - so make it a double layer - keeps the old panels there and doesn't damage the ivy and stops the damage....

pigpen

Whose side are the posts on? that usually indicates who has responsibility for the fence.. his side your responsibility.. your side then his..

WASHER

Its not as simple as that, it depends who owns the fence, my fences are all joint owned on all sides as stated in the land registry/solicitors details, even thought the fence post are on the neighbours sides.

londoner1998

Oh Brian
What a pain.. We have panels like that in our garden and last eyar we got them replaced-thankfully our neighbour suggested it himslef , ut was starting to become silly. They were in the same state as yours: rather worse, probably, we could see each other through the holes and it was leaning on our side due to our neighbours' (annoying) chidlren smashing the fence while playing football.

Not sure what to recommend, but if his ivy is anything like ours, it will grow back in no time (we have it on our garden shed and it creeps up to the satellite dish... very fast!). May be putting a second fence, close tto the original one so that you can get some privacy and keep the dog's muzzle out?

Good luck

brians_daughter

diable wrote: »

Who owns the fence?

No idea, i expect all our literature from the house sale in in the attic. I *think* they are jointly owned tho from memory

Molly41 wrote: »

Put a fence up on your side. It might take up some of your boundary but hopefully you can get it in snugly.

Yes, thought about this but it would cost more than i can afford, plus the time etc. My dad (who is in ill health ) said he would slot the 2 or 3 (free) new panels into place, but he wouldnt be upto building/errecting a new fence.

DS4215 wrote: »

Can you just reinforce the panels that are there - so make it a double layer - keeps the old panels there and doesn't damage the ivy and stops the damage....

Yes, we did this last year but the panels are really bent over now.. my bro-in-law made a reinforcing thing for the panels last year, they do look unsightly (not a major issue) but they are starting to give now - hes had a look last time he was up (last weekend) and said they really do need replacing asap as come autumn winter they wont withstand it.

When the dog jumps up you can see the make-do panels bowing with its weight (hence concern about it coming into our garden whilst kids are playing)

The ivy that is there must be sparse if the dog can jump up - surely? If it was well established, wonderful looking stuff then i could maybe understand, but looking through my sons bedroom window lol it seems to be in pretty bad condition anyway...

The evil side of me says "garden centre weed killer (or the likes) in 2 weeks he will have no ivy to whine about lol":rotfl::rotfl:

kazwookie

Maybe the existing fence could be 'encouraged' to fall over a bit more.............then it would 'have' to be replaced, ivy or no ivy!

Good luck

diable

You could always say to the neighbour that his dog is trying to attack your children so he needs to sort the fence out.

princeofpounds

all the stuff about fenceposts on the side, or fence to the left is an urban myth (although for practical reasons fenceposts do tend to be on the inside for certain types of fence). You need to look at your deeds and see who owns the fence. If it is not yours then you can put up your own fence inside your boundary.