fence panels!!

furby-2003

Hello

Our fence came down some time ago because of high winds. about 2 months ago. It took the landlord a few weeks to come and put the first 2 posts in and then again to finish putting the posts in. Now it's been a couple of weeks since that was done.

We have had the fence panels knocking around in the garden since then but haven't touched them as he is going to do the work and he may want to paint them.

We also wouldn't touch them as we are moving out in a month and if we broke one thats part of our deposit.

Now i know it's frustrating that the fence panals arn't up for us and the neighbour we understand. But today they came into our garden and proceeded to put the fence panals in themselves. Frankly im in shock. My partner wants to take the 2 they have managed to put in back out and put them in the garage so they can't mess with them. I'm a little more worried about doing that, I'd rather mention to the landlord that they have put them in themselves.

How would you react to this?

krazykidskate

I think they should have spoke to you first but I can see how they are fed up of waiting so long for the fence to be repaired. Two months is a long time to wait and maybe they value their privacy, security and safety more than you do. If they have young children then the fences will be really important to them.

furby-2003

we have a young child and havn't been out in the garden since they came down. but it's not our house as such so i don't feel we should be messing like that. If it was our own house like the one we are moving into im getting our fence repaired the moment i move in but i wouldn't touch it as i was worried if we broke it trying to lift it then we have to fork out for another panel.

xycom1

Presumbly that fence 'belongs' to your property. I would leave it as it is, if the landlord says anything then tell him what happened and that he should take it up with the neighbours.

furby-2003

well to be honest thats what i thought. but i think my other half would like to go on the war path :-)

krazykidskate

furby-2003 wrote: »

we have a young child and havn't been out in the garden since they came down. but it's not our house as such so i don't feel we should be messing like that. If it was our own house like the one we are moving into im getting our fence repaired the moment i move in but i wouldn't touch it as i was worried if we broke it trying to lift it then we have to fork out for another panel.

well maybe you should have badgered the landlord to repair the fence sooner so you could use your garden that you are forking out the rent for. I would not be happy.

At least you will soon be in your own place and won't have to put up with pesky landlords :beer:

furby-2003

The trouble with me is i put up with things because i don't like to hassle people. I felt a bit guity keep pestering them.

In our bought house the fence is down on the side thats not ours so i guess well see whats it's like from the other side of the fence :-)

pboae

If the fence belongs to 'your' property, then they have no right to interfere with it. Your landlord isn't obliged to put a fence up for them, and if they really wanted a fence they should have put their own fence up on their side of the boundary. (This is quite seperate from his obligations to YOU of course).

At least that's the legal position, in practice it makes more sense to keep a civil relationship with your neighbours when you can.

In either case, they have already done it, and you are moving soon, so there's no point making trouble for yourself. If you are worried about your landlord being difficult about it, drop them a note to tell them what the neighbours have done, and let them deal with it.

prudryden

Knowing who owns a fence is next to impossible at the best of times. It depends on several things: (1) Where is the invisible boundary line (of no width)? If it runs down the middle of the fence, then it is a party wall fence. (2) On whose property are the post on? (3) What does it say in the property deeds (if mentioned at all)? (4) Who erected the fence and do they have proof such as receipts for the timber?
Best thing is to notify the freeholder and leave it at that.

daphne_descends

Tell your landlord what they've done and leave it at that - I can't believe you re considering taking them down. Your neighbours perhaps shouldn't have done that, but that's not an excuse to act like children.

Two months is a long wait but as there is a bit of a shortage of fence panels at the moment I'd be grateful you have any up at all.

Nicki

How do you know it was the neighbours?

If you didn't see them do it and were out at the time, could the landlord have come round and done it, or sent someone else round to do so? The fact that it took him two attempts just to put the posts up suggests he likes to do things in small bite-size chunks, so putting up only two panels fits his pattern. If it was p----d off neighbours they'd surely have finished the job.