Fencing

bozzy18

Hi, we moved into our house less than a year ago and our neighbour spoke to me last night about the fencing between our garden. He asked me when we were thinking of replacing it (its in poor state of repair and falling apart) which surprised me as I thought it was their fencing. He said no its ours!


I looked on our legal papers and can see that the 'T' mark on the land registry papers showing the fencing to be theirs. Looking at our properties from the front of the house the fence is on their left side.


How should I deal with this as I am conscious of the fact that we don't want to fall out with them thus producing further problems in future! Any advice welcome.


Thanks.

DRP

Does the land reg document actually say the fence is your neighbours' ? If your predecessor in the house paid for & put the fence up, then you bought it along with the house...

Of course, this doesnt mean you are obliged to repair or replace it.

Elli452

I had a similar problem. A discussion with the neighbour with the Land Reg papers to hand resulted in an amicable "lets both pay half" situation. If they are concerned about it to the extent that they are asking for a date they might be open to a similar arrangement.

Dan-Dan

DRP wrote: »

Does the land reg document actually say the fence is your neighbours' ? If your predecessor in the house paid for & put the fence up, then you bought it along with the house...

Of course, this doesnt mean you are obliged to repair or replace it.

and as i know you know DRP , but OP , it is your responsibility to contain any animals

Gloomendoom

bozzy18 wrote: »

I looked on our legal papers and can see that the 'T' mark on the land registry papers showing the fencing to be theirs.

Do the deeds actually mention the 'T' marks in the text?

‘T’ marks on deed plans which are not referred to in the text of a deed have no special force or meaning in law...

Where the ownership or responsibility for maintenance of a boundary cannot be determined, that boundary feature is generally best regarded as a party boundary. Any alterations or replacement of the boundary should only be done with the agreement of the adjoining owners.

Land Registry

phill99

The 'T' mark on the deed plan and the ownership of the fence are two different things.


The T indicates who owns/has responsibility for the boundary. Occasionally the deeds will stipulate that a fence of hedge must be maintained at all times. However, this is quite rare and deeds re normally silent on this issue.


The person responsible for the fence is the person who owns it - normally the person who erected it. Plus there is no requirement in law to maintain or upkeep the fence.

Davesnave

bozzy18 wrote: »

He said no its ours!.

Next time the matter arises , just mention that you have looked at the title documents and they're silent on the matter of responsibility for boundary maintenance.

Then add that the expense of a fence so soon after moving in is not something you can easily meet, so you're thinking of a low-cost option.....like a fast growing conifer hege.

You may soon find the neighbour more amenable to the idea of sharing costs.

no1catman

Is the 'fence' a boundary fence - in which case it could be shared. Or, is it on one side or the other, in which case whose land it is on is responsible.
Is it made up of fragile fence panels, or more sturdy feather-edge boarded fence? With the latter, the boards would face the owner.
HTHs

phil24_7

Not necessarily, I have feather edge with the rails inside. This keeps the neighbours sweet, is more secure for me (it is much harder to climb from the other side) and I actually like it!

Davesnave

phil24_7 wrote: »

Not necessarily, I have feather edge with the rails inside. This keeps the neighbours sweet, is more secure for me (it is much harder to climb from the other side) and I actually like it!

And if you grow plants needing support, it's easier to attach them to the arris rails.

This putting the rails on the neighbour's side seems to be a relatively new phenomenon, and of course it's hardly ever the case if the 'neighbour' is a pavement or other public place.