Fence Repair Responsibility

AnnieGunn

A fence between me and my neighbour came down last Sunday and I was told when I brought the property that I was responsible for the right hand side and the back.  The left hand side has come down but my neighbour has just knocked on my door saying she is not responsible and she is responsible for the left of hers and the back which leaves this fence in the middle as neither of ours.
Can anyone tell from these plans who is responsible or point me in the direction of who I would need to speak to?  I am in number 8 and the neighbour is in 7, the fence has come down where the red arrow is.  Numbers 9,10,11 all maintain their right side of their fences.

Slithery

The fence belongs to whoever paid for it.

AnnieGunn

Slithery said:

The fence belongs to whoever paid for it.

I don't think it's been paid for since the properties were built 1985 sadly.  I've just moved here and so I'm now it seems like I am being told by both neighbours that both fences are mine to fix.

Slithery

There is usually no legal requirement for a fence, a couple of sticks and a bit of string would be acceptable unless your deeds say otherwise.

Mutton_Geoff

Slithery said:

There is usually no legal requirement for a fence, a couple of sticks and a bit of string would be acceptable unless your deeds say otherwise.

Just mention to your neighbour as you see this as the perfect opportunity for you to plant a load of leylandi that you'd been planning to put up as a new border.

AdrianC

AnnieGunn said:
I am being told by both neighbours that both fences are mine

Lucky you. You get to decide what happens to them both.

JGB1955

We had a piece of wire for the first 20 years we lived in our (then) new build.  Got a dog so put up a fence - the neighbours are a bit miffed about it because they can no longer have a friendly neighbourly chat every time one of us is in the garden.  We compromised by making the far end fence less than 120cm high - truce now in place!

TBagpuss

Have you ever actually done any repairs or maintenance to either side? 
Have you spoken to anyone other that n your immediate neighbours? 
Were all the houses built at the same time?

It's probably more likely that someone got mixed up about which side they were responsible for than that you are responsible for both, so it may be worth asking the neighbours on the far side of each of your immediate neighbour if 8,9.10 & 11 all think they they are responsible for the right then it's more likely that it's your nieghbour who is mistake or truing it on, but it would be interesting to hear what No 6 thinks. 
Were the houses built and sold straight away, or were the council or HA? I ask because I used to own an ex-HA house and I was responsible for the fences on both sides, I think because mine was the first (of the 3) to be sold, so the HA seems to have decided that he the buy could be responsible for both fences.

The picture isn't very clear - on the original, are there any 'T' marks on any of the boundaries? 

cattie

As mentioned, there is no requirement to replace a fence, but it would stand to reason if you've been told your property assumes responsibility for the right sided fence & most of the other properties in your row also take responsibility for the right hand side, then the neighbour who claims the left  hand fence is her responsibility is the odd one out.
I'd be inclined to let this neighbour know that the fence is question isn't one you've been informed as being your responsibility, so won't be replacing it. She probably will soon want to work something out with you like a shared cost.

The important thing to remember is that there is no law that can force anybody to fence off their garden, (but of course if a person has a dog it would be the sensible & responsible thing to do).

AnnieGunn

I would guess Bagpuss that the houses were all sold straight away.  There are no further Ts on any of the fences other than the one thats pointing to the back fence.  There is no mention in the deeds other than to repair fences marked with a T on the plan.


It is pretty clear by looking out of the window and along the street that others have always done the right side - but how can I get this confirmed from a legal standpoint?

Some sites are giving RICS, some sites are giving the council?

theoretica

If you have a row of 3 houses there will be 4 fences (2 between houses, 2 end ones) so mathematically you can't all have only one fence each.  Doesn't work. For any number of properties.

Does the T for the back fence mark where the fence was the edge of the building plot?  But the developers wouldn't care about the fences between plots on their own development and just leave it up to the owners to sort out.  There is no legal standpoint to sort this out for you.