Neighbours fence fallen into our garden

mugetsu

A couple of nights ago our neighbour's fence has blown over in the wind and fallen in our garden leaving sharp bits of wood and nails exposed meaning we can't let our young child in the garden.

Last year we approached the landlord of the property next door about the state of this fence as it looked as if it was going to collapse he denied it was his fence and asked us to prove it was his, we provided him copies of our deeds showing that it was his responsibility but he still denied responsibility saying his deeds weren't clear on ownership. We left it at that as we are aware that we can't force him to repair the fence and he didn't seem in a rush to do so.

This was fine but the fence and overgrown shrubbery(which seemed to cause part of the damage to the fence previously) that was leaning on his side of the fence have now collapsed onto our garden which as I said above has left our garden unsafe.

What can we do about getting this removed from our garden and repaired? we have contacted him again but no response so far, can I move the fallen fence into the neighbours garden?

At the same time as the fence falling the neighbours guttering has also been damaged causing water to leak onto our decking, what can be done about this?

Thanks

phoenix_w

You can't force the landlord to fix the fence. If you can guarantee it's his by, for example, confirming that the 'good' side of the panel was facing into his property (you can't 100% rely on the paperwork, because it's possible he let his fence fall into disrepair and a previous owner of your house erected their own), then carefully place it on his side of the boundary and let him know you've returned his property to his land.

As for the gutters, ask him nicely to fix it. If he fails to respond play hardball - contact your insurer's legal helpline and ask them to help you draft a letter before action and send it to the address your neighbours have to serve notices to.

Gordon_Hose

Pick it up and put it back into the neighbours garden?

As already said, you can't force anyone to fix it.

jhs14

mugetsu wrote: »

Last year we approached the landlord of the property next door about the state of this fence as it looked as if it was going to collapse he denied it was his fence and asked us to prove it was his, we provided him copies of our deeds showing that it was his responsibility but he still denied responsibility saying his deeds weren't clear on ownership.

Correct. The deeds will show who is reponsble for maintaining the boundary. This has absolutely nothing to do with maintaining a fence. The fence belongs to whichever house erected it in the first place. The deeds are irrelevant.

What can we do about getting this removed from our garden and repaired? we have contacted him again but no response so far, can I move the fallen fence into the neighbours garden?

I'm confused. You want the damaged fence removed. The neighbour denies it is his fence, so presumably he won't care if you remove it yourself. So why don't you remove it yourself?

As to the replacement/repair, there is no requirement to maintain a fence, so you can't force your neighbour to do so. If you want a fence you're free to erect one on your land at your own cost.

Of course in the real world it's reasonable to split these costs 50/50 - but if the neighbour is unwilling there's nothing you can do about it.

Dan-Dan

phoenix_w wrote: »

You can't force the landlord to fix the fence. If you can guarantee it's his by, for example, confirming that the 'good' side of the panel was facing into his property (you can't 100% rely on the paperwork, because it's possible he let his fence fall into disrepair and a previous owner of your house erected their own), then carefully place it on his side of the boundary and let him know you've returned his property to his land.

As for the gutters, ask him nicely to fix it. If he fails to respond play hardball - contact your insurer's legal helpline and ask them to help you draft a letter before action and send it to the address your neighbours have to serve notices to.

This is nonsense , nothing more than an old wives tale

phoenix_w

Dan-Dan wrote: »

This is nonsense , nothing more than an old wives tale

Although it's not a sure thing, I'd say it's true for 99% of fences out there between residential properties. Few people would erect a fence against a neighbouring property with the intention of looking at the less pretty side.

It's also been completely true for all the properties I've lived in, including one where I had the "bad side" on all three fences of my back garden - and after reading the sellers information pack and speaking to the neighbours guess what? None of the fences were mine!

Dan-Dan

phoenix_w wrote: »

Although it's not a sure thing, I'd say it's true for 99% of fences out there between residential properties. Few people would erect a fence against a neighbouring property with the intention of looking at the less pretty side.

It's also been completely true for all the properties I've lived in, including one where I had the "bad side" on all three fences of my back garden - and after reading the sellers information pack and speaking to the neighbours guess what? None of the fences were mine!

That does not make it any more fact , and no one should formulate an action plan based on it

phoenix_w

Dan-Dan wrote: »

That does not make it any more fact , and no one should formulate an action plan based on it

In the OP's situation, I think it's entirely appropriate.

- They have a strong belief the fence belongs to the neighbour
- The boundary itself belongs to the neighbour

If there are other pieces of evidence to support that the fence has been installed/maintained by the neighbour such as having the nice side of the panels, the neighbour having a nail in it they hang their washing line off or you've seen them at it with the cuprinol, that is reasonable enough grounds to hand it back to them.

StuC75

But it still doesn't necessarily mean that the neighbour has to put a fence there.. How they maintain\ mark the boundary is there own doing..

phoenix_w wrote: »

In the OP's situation, I think it's entirely appropriate.

- They have a strong belief the fence belongs to the neighbour
- The boundary itself belongs to the neighbour

If there are other pieces of evidence to support that the fence has been installed/maintained by the neighbour such as having the nice side of the panels, the neighbour having a nail in it they hang their washing line off or you've seen them at it with the cuprinol, that is reasonable enough grounds to hand it back to them.