How to find out who is responsible for a fence

peachyprice

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Fence ownership is on the documentation you get when you buy a house, as per land registry documentation.

That will show whose boundary it is. The owner of the fence is not necessarily the one and the same.

Land_Registry

Looks like this has already been largely covered, especially around the myths associated with fences/boundaries as well as the ownership/responsibility angles.

As you are already aware the seller provides the buyer with the particulars of sale which broadly speaking tells you what they think the situation is and/or how the fences have been maintained over the years they have been there. That is one piece of informaiton to consider but obviously just their view.

Registered title or unregistered deeds may refer to the responsibility and upkeep of fences, usually in the form of a covenant by the buyer with the seller. This is not always the case though but if you have a row of properties all built by the same builder then the odds increase that there will be such covenants.

Such covenants are another piece of useful information but as hinted at they may only bind the original buyers as it was they who covenanted and it is known as a 'personal' and not 'restrictive' covenant so binds the person and not the land/property.

The covenant can though be legally binding but usually only where with each sale the new owner has covenanted to observe the same covenant. That is very rare indeed so if the property has been sold on a few times then the original covenant is still largely just for information purposes.

So you can have information from when the property was built and first sold plus the understanding of your seller. You should also add in your neighbour's understanding as well as ultimately it is likely to come down to how you and the neighbour want to resolve it so plenty of options remain.

Do bear in mind that the neighbour may have an understanding based on the mentioned myths or indeed their seller told them something quite different - pooling information and sharing understanding can often get you to the point of agreement

And finally, the council won't have any details unless they are your neighbour for example

amistupid

Davesnave wrote: »

But nothing beats a good yew, beech or hornbeam hedge.

Not if it's 20 foot tall like the one my 'neighbour's' got at the bottom of his garden. :mad:

Davesnave

amistupid wrote: »

Not if it's 20 foot tall like the one my 'neighbour's' got at the bottom of his garden. :mad:

Many trees are mismanaged, just like dogs are. There are no bad trees or dogs, just bad owners.

FreeBear

Davesnave wrote: »

But nothing beats a good yew, beech or hornbeam hedge.

Yew is good, but if you want something to deter intruders, Poncirus Trifolata is better - The US military use it in place of barbed wire in some areas :D

MadelinesMum

Hi, I've just exchanged on a house and my solicitor told me the left hand fence was my responsibility but it was unclear about the right side. The house had never been registered with the land registry as the previous owner had purchased it years ago with no mortgage.

A clue could be if the fence posts are in your garden it's probably your fence but there are always exceptions.