Neighbors taking out our fence - tomorrow

Guest101

Yes a fence belongs to the person who paid for it, put it up, carved the wood themselves. Regardless of who's boundary it is to maintain

HelenRachel

To be honest I'm not disputing its our fence it most likely is I just dont want to loose out if there is damage to our garden

Guest101

HelenRachel wrote: »

To be honest I'm not disputing its our fence it most likely is I just dont want to loose out if there is damage to our garden

I was more suggesting that it may not be your fence? Which obviously weakens your position considerably in that he can do as he likes with it

Dan-Dan

societys_child wrote: »

As the builder is planning to quote you for a new fence, I would say that he firmly believes it's yours.

He obviously loves to take the michael in any event, op doesnt know if its theirs, he could well know its his but see`s a way to get his fence done for nowt

HelenRachel

Guest101 wrote: »

I was more suggesting that it may not be your fence? Which obviously weakens your position considerably in that he can do as he likes with it

This was my worry also but he seems convinced that its our fence that needs replacing this week!

mildredalien

Perhaps you could have a very clear and firm chat with him and then tell him that you are following it up with a letter to make clear your position and expectations while you are away. He can't force you to replace your fence whatever he thinks of it, and if HE damages it while doing work on his own garden surely he should replace it for free??

HelenRachel

This is my note that I've drafted to them

'Just a quick note so there is no confusion about the fence/boundary. Thank you for letting me know today that the bushes are being taken down tomorrow (13th April) I hadn’t realised that this was moving forward so quickly as I hadn’t heard from you as we discussed at the beginning of March and no firm date had been set. As I hadn’t received your quote for the fence I didn’t realise that this was so pressing. As we are going away next week (18th April) I don’t think its going to be possible for me to organise the new fence being put up within your time scale (approx. one week) so that it goes up before you tarmac your drive. Therefore can you please ensure that the drive is laid in such a way that a new fence can be placed along the current fence line without damage to your driveway, thus addressing your concerns about damage to your tarmac if we delay replacing the fence till after the driveway is laid.

Moving forward when you/your contractor removes the bushes every care needs to be taken to ensure that in doing so the fence and supporting posts and plants in our boarders are not undermined or damaged. This may result in you having to put in temporary supports until you have made good the ground adjacent to the fence and laid the tarmac. Also if any tarmac spills past the boundary please could you clear this off so that it doesn’t have to be disturbed once it is set and doesn’t run into our garden damaging plants and the soil.



Kind regards'

eddddy

Sounds good.

The thing to bear in mind is when you sell your house you will probably be asked about disputes/complaints with neighbours. So just make sure you don't make the the note sound like a dispute/complaint. But it seems ok to me.

AlexMac

New to this thread, but I think you should simply delete and amend some middle bits in your letter so as not to give him written evidence that you admit the fence is old, nor promise to replace it at your expense...

HelenRachel wrote: »

(Delete "As I hadn’t received your quote for the fence I didn’t realise that this was so pressing". (delete 'As' but keep) " We are going away next week (18th April). (delete "I don’t think its going to be possible for me to organise the new fence being put up within your time scale (approx. one week) so that it goes up before you tarmac your drive"). keep "Therefore can you please ensure that the drive is laid in such a way that (but change this to ) any future new fence can be placed along the current fence line without damage to your driveway, thus addressing your concerns about damage to your tarmac (replace "if we delay" and say) " when we consider replacing the fence (delete" till") after the driveway is laid.

(Keep the rest)..."Moving forward when you/your contractor removes the bushes every care needs to be taken to ensure that in doing so the fence and supporting posts and plants in our boarders are not undermined or damaged. This may result in you having to put in temporary supports until you have made good the ground adjacent to the fence and laid the tarmac. Also if any tarmac spills past the boundary please could you clear this off so that it doesn’t have to be disturbed once it is set and doesn’t run into our garden damaging plants and the soil".

Kind regards'

That way, you have clearly put the ball in his court, without actually agreeing to buy his overpriced new fence, nor saying you won't!

Good luck

Hoploz

Are your plants actually climbing up the fence? Or just next to it? If they are supported or attached to the fence then he won't know as he can't see from his side, and it'll probably all get wrecked when the fence gets removed. I can see his point about the fence - hate likelihood is it will fall down once the bushes his side go, but he needs to give you time to sort your plants out before they get ruined. Tell him NOW that there are plants attached (if there are) and they are not to be disturbed until you have had reasonable notice to at least detach them!