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Moving house in 10 days and having fence dispute
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I pity your new neighbours where you are moving to.
Fences are often shared between neighbours. I cannot imagine what you are thinking by not wanting to contribute half of the cost of a fence with your old neighbour? This is half of the cost not even the whole cost.
The fact that you paid for the whole new fence on one side without even questioning it is down to you. You can't take this mistake out on the neighbour on the other side.
I can't understand why people will only pay for something if they themselves benefit from it. People who give money to charity don't get any actual benefit themselves from it but they still give it. I find the attitude that you won't get benefit from half the cost of a new fence very difficult to deal with as a reason for not contributing. I would hate to be the person buying your house.
If you want a fence put one up. Don’t expect others to pay for you.0 -
moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »The new owner saw the fence/bought the house with the fence intact (regardless of who actually owns it).
If I were the new owner - I would expect a decent fence still to be there and there would be ructions if the vendor (ie OP) expected me to pay anything towards it.
Whoever else the cost falls to - it does NOT fall to the new owner.
Irrelevant. They may or may not be buying a fence - without knowing that there is no way to give the correct answer0 -
Hi,
I wouldn't give the neighbours any cash, as they might still not replace the fence and then you have the worst of both worlds. You would have lost the cash and still have angry buyers with no boundary fence.
I understand why you are thoroughly fed up. Although you might have been obliged to pay half to the fence repair that got damaged (because of the stipulation that boundaries are shared) and your ongoing sale. Having to pay to replace the rest of the fence that your neighbours have deliberately pulled down without your permission is rotten.
But it's also rotten for your buyers. Had you told them the fence had gone when they exchanged - (as you said it was the day before exchange?). If you had told them that there was now no fence and you didn't promise to replace it, then they exchanged knowing there was no fence and you don't need to do anything further.
If you didn't tell the purchasers I wonder if you should be replacing the fence yourself and then suing your neighbour for your losses at small claims (money claims online)? My line of thought being if the neighbours had smashed a window or two (damaged your property) and you didn't tell your buyer you should make good and then choose if you wanted to sue.
Your argument to the court would be that you are willing to pay half of the original weather damage repair, but in taking down the fence that's half yours, without agreement they have vandalised your property and you shouldn't have to pay for that. They would probably argue that the whole fence was in poor condition and the court would decide what settlement was fair.
You could do nothing and allow your buyers to be disappointed and angry when they arrive. They will choose whether to sue you for allowing them to exchange without making them aware of a significant change at the property. It might be that they can't be bothered to sue and then you win on that score but it leaves a nasty taste all round.
Tlc0 -
Hi,
I wouldn't give the neighbours any cash, as they might still not replace the fence and then you have the worst of both worlds. You would have lost the cash and still have angry buyers with no boundary fence.
I understand why you are thoroughly fed up. Although you might have been obliged to pay half to the fence repair that got damaged (because of the stipulation that boundaries are shared) and your ongoing sale. Having to pay to replace the rest of the fence that your neighbours have deliberately pulled down without your permission is rotten.
But it's also rotten for your buyers. Had you told them the fence had gone when they exchanged - (as you said it was the day before exchange?). If you had told them that there was now no fence and you didn't promise to replace it, then they exchanged knowing there was no fence and you don't need to do anything further.
If you didn't tell the purchasers I wonder if you should be replacing the fence yourself and then suing your neighbour for your losses at small claims (money claims online)? My line of thought being if the neighbours had smashed a window or two (damaged your property) and you didn't tell your buyer you should make good and then choose if you wanted to sue.
Your argument to the court would be that you are willing to pay half of the original weather damage repair, but in taking down the fence that's half yours, without agreement they have vandalised your property and you shouldn't have to pay for that. They would probably argue that the whole fence was in poor condition and the court would decide what settlement was fair.
You could do nothing and allow your buyers to be disappointed and angry when they arrive. They will choose whether to sue you for allowing them to exchange without making them aware of a significant change at the property. It might be that they can't be bothered to sue and then you win on that score but it leaves a nasty taste all round.
Tlc0 -
Again more nonsense. No one is obliged to pay for a fence; unless they broke someone elses
No but they are obliged to inform their buyers of material changes to the property before exchange.
The deed stipulates "divisional walls and boundaries are shared" (whoever paid for the fence 6 or 15 years ago). So the property (that someone was buying) had a material change that they should have informed their buyers about giving them the chance to accept the change or to pull out of the sale. It seems they didn't inform the buyers so I think they should put the property back how it was - for the sale not the neighbours.
edit "unless they broke someone else's " (fence) - the neighbours "broke" the OP's fence!0 -
No but they are obliged to inform their buyers of material changes to the property before exchange.
The deed stipulates "divisional walls and boundaries are shared" (whoever paid for the fence 6 or 15 years ago). So the property (that someone was buying) had a material change that they should have informed their buyers about giving them the chance to accept the change or to pull out of the sale. It seems they didn't inform the buyers so I think they should put the property back how it was - for the sale not the neighbours.
edit "unless they broke someone else's " - the neighbours "broke" the OP's fence!
We don’t know that for sure; but yes if that is what happened. Sue the neighbours.
If it’s the neighbours fence; then decide what they want. 50/50, no fence, their own fence.0 -
We once had a neighbour that decided he wanted to extend a fence. Then (once it was done) asked for half the cost. We refused, mainly because they had not involved us in the choice of panels or provided the opportunity for us to say no before it was done.
I appreciate your situation is different, but our deeds didn't say whose fence it was either. It was more that the way it was done wasn't reasonable or fair to us.
In this case, for the sake of avoiding problems for the buyer, I'd be tempted to swallow your pride and meet the neighbour half way. Nobody wants to move into a house with a dispute ongoing, and if the fence was there before, I think they are within their rights to expect you to sort it amicably before completion.
Maybe ask your solicitor first though (and don't hand over any cash without receipts).0 -
Speak to your solicitor.0
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Thank you for all of the replies, particularly the constructive ones. Since I initially took it in good faith that our neighbour would take ownership I didn't tell our solicitor at the time of exchange (given that it only blew down the day before and I quite literally didn't get the chance). Its only as a week or more has passed and nothing has been done and our moving date gets closer that I realised I must make the buyers aware. I have today via the estate agent and unfortunately the buyers are not prepared to contribute anything. Our solicitor says it is a civil issue however she said the house is bought as it was at point of exchange. We probably will just have to bite the bullet and pay 50%, but I will not hand over any money until the work is done and I have sight of it (they will have to send me a photo or something) and give me a professional receipt. It's worth one more conversation with my solicitor regarding the deeds and ownership (the red line title plan is neither use nor ornament though) and for the sake of expending much more energy on it, we'll just have to take the hit. Very very galling though and not a pleasant note to move out on....damn wind and very bad timing!0
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If you are going 50/50 then you need to make sure you get a say in the fence purchase and installation. Why would you pay for a really nice expensive fence? I would cost up a basic but fine budget fence and say you would contribute half of that. Any extra fancy bits they need to pay for themselves. Don't cost up from the likes of B@Q (although the they aren't that pricey they will probably come in more expensive than small companies). Phone some local suppliers to get an idea for the cost of the most basic fence they do. How long is the fence? How many posts to replace? Then you can offer the basic cost. I think that is fair although personally I would just stick in a hedge if I was the new owners as fences are a right pain to maintain and don't look nice.0
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