Being pressured to contribute towards fence

scd3scd4

greenface wrote: »

So how much can the OP spare ? OP how much have you paid so far ? He told you he was putting the fence up and you said you would contribute to it . roughly how long ago did he put the fence up ?

The OP answered all this in her first post.............


Ok, so some time ago, the owner of the house behind ours knocked on our door and told us that the following day, the fence in between our gardens was being replaced so to keep our dogs inside and asked if we would be wanting to contribute. I said I would be willing to when I can afford it, and he went on his way.

About a week later he came round and told me that my contribution would be £368 (for my share of 6 panels, concrete base boards and concrete posts inc labour). He has asked a few times since for the money and I’ve been honest about my financial situation in that I cannot currently afford it.



Nothing.........and nothing is the answer!


If the neighbour needs the money so much or could not afford it. Then he had no right organising its replacement. The putting up of the fence was not reliant on the OP contributing. I know you don't like the answers you are getting but that's to bad.


How about she contributes £50 and tells him too now get lost!

fezster

Is greenface the neighbour, trolling OP?

Davesnave

Sometimes it's not worth further debate.


There's no reason whatever to believe that all those reading a post will take the same meanings from it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

gazfocus wrote: »

As for the fence itself, they have chosen quite an expensive fence - each fence panel was £25, concrete bases were £7.50 each and concrete posts were £9.50, so we’ve worked out 50% would be about £140 (for 6.5 panels and bases and 7 posts). So they are trying to say 50% of the labour cost is £220 which seems an awful lot.

Maybe I should ask them for a breakdown of the labour costs, then offer them a monthly amount to try and salvage the relationship.

£25 a panel is about the price for a 6x6 standard fence.

I know posters said OP wasn't involved with choosing the fence but it doesn't seem like the neighbour has gone for decorative panels that cost a fortune, (if the fence is only 3 foot high will it keep the dogs in? Probably not and I'd not pay anything towards a small fence that doesn't benefit you).

£440 for labour, hard to say but if that includes VAT you are looking at £400 to put in a 6 panel fence, doesn't sound OTT to me.

If the old fence was at risk of failing during the coming winter and thus letting your dogs escape I'd ask for a copy of the invoice for the work and offer to pay x per month to cover half as you have the responsibility of keeping the dogs in your garden and thus benefit from the new fence.

If the old fence was fine, as you said you would contribute give the neighbour a small amount towards it.

MrsStepford

Painting your side of his fence would be criminal damage, according to Kent Police. Ditto Hampshire Police who gave a guy a fixed penalty notice.

DavidJonas

If you want to get into legals, surely the question you need to answer is ..whose land is the fence on?

He engaged the contractor, so I'm guessing it is on his land. The boundary is a line of no width, so it will be on his or yours. Unless they made a mess of it.

If it is on his land, it is his fence. His private property. Now and forever more. In theory you can't so much as bang a nail into it without his express permission. He has improved his property. Does his garden look nicer now? I bet it does. The value of his house just ticked up a tiny bit.

Your deeds should indicate whether you have an obligation to maintain a fence (and which one). They may not. If they don't then you are under no obligation to have a fence at all. There are laws requiring fences for animals, but these are for livestock. Pigs, sheep, etc. Not pet dogs.

If he wants to build a fence on his land to keep it free of dogs, then that is his business. He is benefiting.

He chose a fence he liked, he hired contractors to build it on his land, he arranged a day for them to come.. then knocked you up the day before to solicit a contribution. Not your consent. He took that for granted. He pressured you into it. Would he have cancelled the fence if you had declined?

Oh, and what happened to the old fence? I suppose he took it for granted you wouldn't want any of it? Seems silly, but I guess he disposed of it as he saw fit. Didn't involve you in that.

These things are not really about the law, from which you are probably safe. You pay to maintain relations.

So, examine the invoice, work out what you think is reasonable - and what you can comfortably afford.. and pay that. If it is only £2 a week, pay that. Given that it his own private property (I'm assuming he didn't go and build it on your land!), and you will have no rights over it, I doubt if I would go above £100.

gazfocus

Just to update the thread

I responded to the neighbour and made a voluntary offer of 50% of the cost of fence panels etc that were visible from our garden. I also asked for a breakdown of the labour costs so I could see how much I could offer towards that. I specified that we were struggling financially and that I would appreciate being able to pay in installmebts.

Over a week later, I got a response from the neighbour advising that they expect us to pay what they have asked and not a penny less and said that our neighbour paid them almost straight away. They have stated that there was a discussion beforehand (which is a lie) and that they’ve already provided a full breakdown (another lie) and if we don’t agree to pay them in full, they will pursue it through the court.

I have just replied advising them my offer is now withdrawn as they’ve not accepted it, and I will not be contributing towards the fence. I’ve also invited them to take me to court if they disagree with my decision and advised I will fight it all the way

Loanranger

You haven't stated what your house deeds say about who owns the fence. Look for the little arrows along the boundary line on the deeds. If they point towards your neighbour then he owns it and thus is responsible for it.
If you own it you have just been foolish by telling him you will see him court.

gazfocus

Loanranger wrote: »

You haven't stated what your house deeds say about who owns the fence. Look for the little arrows along the boundary line on the deeds. If they point towards your neighbour then he owns it and thus is responsible for it.
If you own it you have just been foolish by telling him you will see him court.

Where do I get copies of my deeds from? However, I disagree with the suggestion that I was foolish. Regardless of who owns the boundary, he organised replacement of the fence without my prior agreement that I would pay 50% of an unknown sum.

You cannot just issue a neighbour with a bill for x amount of money and then take them to court if they don’t pay you (well you can but you won’t win).

Edit: I’ve just looked at the title plan on land registry and it doesn’t show who’s responsible for the boundary or who owns the fence but obviously the owner of the fence is the one that paid for it.

If he removed fence owned by me, I could sue him for removing my fence without permission.

unforeseen

The T marks (not little arrows) only have meaning if referenced in the deeds. Even then they only show responsibility, not ownership.