Fence

clairecymru

In recent bad weather my very old fence has fallen down. It was in a bad state of repair when I bought the property 6 months ago.

Next door neighbour is now shouting at me to get a new fence because his dog is not enclosed in their garden anymore.

I do not have any spare cash at the moment and I suggested that if he wants a new fence he should purchase one. He went mad saying it was my fence and my responsibility.

Who is correct?

Browntoa

depends what your deeds say , which side of the back garden is the fence , left or right ??

chiefgoobster

You need to check your deeds and confirm who owns the fence. Don't quote me but as you look out of your back door at your garden, the right hand side is generally your fence.

Are the fence panels completely smashed ?.....If not you might be able to prop them up, bang some scraps of wood over the panels onto the posts.To be honest it doesn't really matter what it looks like, if the fence is to be replaced anyway.
If he has a dog the size of a large hamster I wouldn't worry too much.....if it's a Great Dane, then at least be neighbourly and try and do something with the fence.

Neighbour disputes involving fences can be major headaches.

KateLiana27

Even if the deeds say you are responsible for the boundary, you are under no obligation to provide a fence. Two completely different things.

A few strips of chicken wire between two metal stakes is plenty.

If he wants more than that, he has to fund it himself. If he has an animal, it is his responsibility to keep it within the boundaries of his land (by a fence, or leash, etc).

If he continues to harass you, email your council for confirmation and forward him the reply.

krlyr

As above, I don't believe you're obligated to have a fence at all. As a dog owner I wouldn't expect my neighbours to take responsibility for keeping my dogs enclosed.
If you do want to replace the fencing, perhaps try Ebay, I got about 8 panels of 5' fencing for £30 as the guy just wanted rid and it was just his wife insisting he try to get some money for them. The fencing was fine, not brand new but not damaged, they'd just replaced it with taller stuff in a different colour.

daggy

I'll echo what the above poster said...

I don't think it's relevant whether it's your boundary. I'd assume you are not required to have a fence there...

If it is your boundary and he does want one, you should agree to it for an additional fee as it is your land/boundary... no need for him to shout. STIR THAT POT!!! I jest of course.

Plasterer

Bite the bullet and put a new one up.

Paint his side iluminous yellow before you erect it.

krlyr

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/walls.html

Animals - a duty to fence

Although there is no general obligation on the garden owner to fence his land, even where the garden is next to the public highway, if he has animals on the garden, then he must fence to prevent the escape of the animals onto the public highway. The Highway Authority can come onto your land an fence it off to protect the public. If your animals stray either onto the highway or a neighbouring owners land, then you could be responsible for the damage that they cause.

Would suggest it's the neighbour's responsibility to prevent his dog accessing neighbouring owners land where it could cause damage.

For the sake of keeping peace, it could be better to suggest that you will eventually replace the panel when you have funds but if he wants to buy one to replace it, rather than spend out on his own fencing to fulfill his obligation to keep his dog contained, you'd be happy to let him. You could perhaps offer to give him the money for it when you have it, though you may not want the tie of owing him money. You could say that he retains ownership and if free to take it back to sell when you eventually have the money free to buy your own panel - or you could offer to buy it off him second-hand. Saves him the cost of buying fencing for the whole strip, and will probably look better than him having to put up fencing against yours.

Or if you're not worried about annoying him, sell your nice secure fencing and replace it with a nice wide-gapped picket fence that does absolutely nothing to contain his dog. Afterall, he says it's your fence, your responsibility - but you're not obliged to pick a fence that suits his needs!

daggy

Plasterer wrote: »

Bite the bullet and put a new one up.

Paint his side iluminous yellow before you erect it.

such a win:D:rotfl::rotfl::T

Mojisola

Browntoa wrote: »

depends what your deeds say , which side of the back garden is the fence , left or right ??

chiefgoobster wrote: »

Don't quote me but as you look out of your back door at your garden, the right hand side is generally your fence.

Which side of the garden it is gives no clue as to ownership. It's a myth that it's always the right or the left side.

Some houses are responsible for all their boundaries, some for two, some for one and some for none.

You need to see your deeds to see if there are any marks showing your responsibilities. Usually, even if one of the boundaries is "yours", you can't be forced to put up a fence. Some properties have a requirement in the deeds to maintain a certain kind of fence.

It's always worth marking the boundary in some way, eg. a length of wires, a few bamboo canes with string between them, but it's your neighbour's responsibility to stop his dog straying.

Plasterer

Yeah it is a bit of a myth, Im responsible for all of my boundry for some reason!?!