Fencing issue with council tenant neighbour

Gefjun

Hi All,

Hoping you can help with an issue on fencing I have with my neighbour. OH and I own our house (mortgaged) and live next door to a council house. We've been here 3 years during which time the fence between us has been down more than it's been up. There's no dispute as to the ownership of the fence - it belongs to next door, but now there are only 5 panels standing out of 12, and not only does it look a total eyesore, it's going to cause problems when my 1 year old starts toddling round our garden and I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him. Likewise, next door have a LO who I don't want in my garden.
I spoke to next door last Oct and it's always the same old story of no money which comes out. With one salary and a small child, we're not exactly flush with cash right now! I told her that the fairest thing I could do is pay for half, but I said that it had to be concrete posts and panels which would last, to which she agreed. Since then, I've not seen her and she now seems to be avoiding me to get round the issue of money over this b*&^%y fence, plus we've had a few unexpected bills and we now can't afford it.
So I've phoned the council to see what they're going to do about it and they've said it's not their responsibility, but on their website, it doesn't state that it's the tenants responsibility either to put the fence up. So it's now totally down to us to replace the fence it seems. The most the council will do is come out and place a single wire to mark the boundary. I'm astounded at their attitude to this that they have totally washed their hands of it and have put nothing in place to insist that the tenant puts something in place.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I go from here? I was hoping to get a proper panelled fence up rather than a temporary chain link, as we'll be constantly shelling out to get the fence to a state where we're happy with it.

Thanks for reading

Mrs_Arcanum

Chances are the HA will put in 3' high chain link. This seems to be HA's favoured style of fence. However there is nothing preventing you from putting up your own fencing next to the chain link. Or, you may be able to come to a deal with your council neighbours to put their own panel fencing up. Council neighbours on one side of us put panel fencing up between them and their other neighbours. The others to our left we went 50/50 with on lap fencing as it is an odd split for responsibility. Now all we need is to fix the fence we are responsible for

System

If there is nothing in their tenancy agreement about maintaining the fence then they need do nothing. If you wish to keep your LO in your garden then feel free to erect your own fence

Gloomendoom

Gefjun wrote: »

The most the council will do is come out and place a single wire to mark the boundary. I'm astounded at their attitude to this that they have totally washed their hands of it and have put nothing in place to insist that the tenant puts something in place.

Surely if you want a fence, then you should pay for it. There is rarely any legal obligation for anybody to erect or maintain a fence unless they keep animals loose in their garden.

Your neighbour may genuinely not be able to afford a fence. She may not even want one.

Taadaa

I would take what the council are offering, at least it's a start. If she cant afford it that's the best you've got for free. It doesn't seem fair but it doesn't sound like theres much you can do about it. You can't really demand the quality of the fence if you aren't paying for it. Perhaps at least it wi give you the barrier you want?