Being pressured to contribute towards fence

Loanranger

Your solicitor , the one you used to buy the house, should have given you a copy of the deeds or you should ask your mortgage lender. Either way, going to court, gung ho, without being in possession of the facts is foolish. Sorry if you dont like that.

Davesnave

Loanranger wrote: »

Your solicitor , the one you used to buy the house, should have given you a copy of the deeds or you should ask your mortgage lender. Either way, going to court, gung ho, without being in possession of the facts is foolish. Sorry if you dont like that.

I don't think the OP said they would be the one initiating court action.

They understand the situation now well enough, but I'm not sure you do.


On what grounds do you think the neighbour would pursue the OP (through the small claims court, I imagine)? Do you think they would stand up to examination by a judge?

I don't.

mrschaucer

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.

Little arrows or T marks denote ownership of boundaries, not fences. You can do without a fence completely (even if the boundary is yours) if you want, unless your deeds specify otherwise. OP is correct - the owner of a fence is the one who paid for it.

Davesnave

mrschaucer wrote: »

Little arrows or T marks denote ownership of boundaries, not fences. You can do without a fence completely (even if the boundary is yours) if you want, unless your deeds specify otherwise. OP is correct - the owner of a fence is the one who paid for it.

We go over this one week in, week out, yet there's always someone who knows differently.


I don't know where they get their 'knowledge' from. If they would only quote the source.

Norman_Castle

gazfocus wrote: »

I have just replied advising them my offer is now withdrawn as they’ve not accepted it, and I will not be contributing towards the fence.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

Good for you.

gazfocus wrote: »

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.

LOL Yes.


As you've said, your fence, your responsibility. His fence, his responsibility. Shared ownership, joint decision about replacement and not one person dictating what happens. A court will understand this.

adandem

Whatever you do, remember that you're going to live in your house for a long time and having a neighbour dispute hanging over you is not nice. You would also need to declare it if you sold your house.

Davesnave

adandem wrote: »

Whatever you do, remember that you're going to live in your house for a long time and having a neighbour dispute hanging over you is not nice. You would also need to declare it if you sold your house.

Your advice is unclear.

Are you saying the OP should just give in to bullying? Many people's life experience suggests that's not necessarily a wise course of action.

This person lives behind, in another road. In the OP's place, I'd be planting something between myself and them.

If and when the OP sells, this matter can be declared on the TA6, but it's a dispute exclusively between the OP and the person living behind, with no transference to a potential buyer.

Boohoo

gazfocus wrote: »

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.

Sorry to ask but the above seems to suggest that your neighbour has asked you to pay half the cost of the replaced fence and then he has asked another neighbour to pay also towards the cost of the fence.
I may have read it wrong as the word "neighbour" appears a lot and i am not sure which is which.

-taff

I read it as he has asked both adjoining neighbours to contribute towards the cost of two new fences either side of his plot.

Boohoo

-taff wrote: »

I read it as he has asked both adjoining neighbours to contribute towards the cost of two new fences either side of his plot.

OK.
I wonder if the other neighbour knows what they have paid for and has the OP been round to see them to make sure they have not paid the whole cost of the neighbours new fence.
What i mean is if the fence cost £1000 both sides has he gone after 1 neighbour for £500 and th OP for £500.