Boundary/garden fence issue

suzemuze

The fence to the right of our back garden needs replacing - our neighbours have said that this is our responsibility.

However our first issue is they've said they want a fence that matches the fence on the other side of their property, and they're happy to pay 50% - unfortunately their choice of fence doesn't match ours at all - of course we want a fence that matches the other side of our property!

Initially we thought perhaps we could just put the fence we choose inside the boundary of our property, which is our right as it's our land?

However our lease clearly stipulates that the fence on the boundary is a shared fence: 'all fences separating the demised premises from the adjoining property shall be deemed party fences' - and therefore we assume that we have to come to an agreement with our neighbours as we have shared responsibility.

BUT the property register seems to contradict this by saying: 'the purchaser shall forthwith erect and for ever afterwards maintain a good and sufficient fence on the sides of her lots marked T' - except there are no T markings on the plan!

To further confuse matters, on our side of the fence there's the remains of a concrete & wire fence, so it is totally unclear where the boundary actually is.

Utterly confused. Basically we want to know if we can't resolve the dispute regarding the style of fence whether we can erect our own fence within our property boundary, or whether we are legally required to erect and maintain an actual boundary fence.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - sorry for the long convoluted question!

Mojisola

suzemuze wrote: »

To further confuse matters, on our side of the fence there's the remains of a concrete & wire fence, so it is totally unclear where the boundary actually is.

That could well be the original boundary division between the two properties. If so, the wooden fence is in the neighbours' garden.

Tell the neighbours this is what you believe the situation to be and if they don't agree, ask them to find the proof. You don't need to chase around - let them produce evidence if they can.

If you want to put up a fence on your side of the original concrete and wire boundary marker, put up whatever you want.

If either of you want to make changes to the concrete and wire "fence", both sides would have to agree and would normally share the costs.

If the neighbours want to change the fence in their garden, they can have what they want.

suzemuze

Thanks for your reply Mojisola! I suspect you're right, although the first post on the wooden fence appears to be in the exact centre of the joining line between our two houses, and the concrete posts of the old fence are on the inside (on our side).

Nevertheless to maintain good neighbourly relations I don't mind losing a couple of inches off my garden so we can both have the fence we want! My only concern is as our neighbours can't actually see our side of the fence (and the old concrete posts), they are fairly adamant that their (completely dilapidated) wooden fence is our responsibility to remove. Easily solved by just inviting them over to have a look I suppose

Mojisola

If the house next door is registered at the Land Registry, you can buy a copy of their deeds and see what they say about the fences - https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/online-services

Do try to work out an amicable arrangement with the neighbours. As they offered to pay 50%, they may be reasonable people - although insisting that the fence matched the one in their garden wasn't so reasonable.

suzemuze

Yep that's why they offered to pay 50%! It's an extremely stylised expensive fence panel - even with them paying 50% it's more expensive than a standard high quality featheredge fence! It'll look totally out of place in our garden.

evoke

You appear to have a lease which would suggest you have a landlord so it's probably worth checking with the landlord too.

suzemuze

Unfortunately our landlord is fairly absent - it's almost like living in a freehold property! I'm suggesting to our neighbour that we continue essentially with what's already there - two fences side by side. That way we can both have the fence we want. Not sure how anyone could possibly object to that!

ValHaller

suzemuze wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Mojisola! I suspect you're right, although the first post on the wooden fence appears to be in the exact centre of the joining line between our two houses, and the concrete posts of the old fence are on the inside (on our side).

That lines up with the concrete fence being the one marked T for which you are responsible.

suzemuze

We don't have T marks on our plans, hence the confusion re who's responsible for maintaining the boundary fence. And in reality it isn't clear which is the boundary fence - the old concrete one on our side, or the wooden one on our neighbour's side.. there is also a small gap between the two fences which could also possibly be the boundary. Anyway I'm hopeful we'll find a solution!

jackomdj

The concrete and wire one will be the original boundary fence.

I guess it depends on how well you get on with them. You could always say you are willing to pay half the price of the one you would o or, if they want to pend more that is their choice.