Fence repair

craig_87

Morning,

Looking for some advice re a fence issue. The fence that separates my front garden and next doors blew over recently. I own my house, neighbouring one is council. Council have taken away the old fence but are now asking me for half the repair cost (£800).

The letter has an option to not have the repair done but I will be charged should they need to carry out the repairs if it  constitutes a health and safety risk (can’t see how this would cause a risk, there’s no fence there now)

Am I right in thinking legally I don’t not have to repair anything, if the fence is classed as mine, theirs or jointly owned? I don’t use the front garden and both gardens are fenced around the exterior anyway.


Thanks 

HampshireH

Legally you don't have to repair or replace the fence 

Obviously if yours and health and safety issues I e. It had fallen on someone through your negligence due to lack of maintenance then you could be liable 

Seems the council have taken responsibility.

Whose boundary is it?

Alter_ego

You may have an obligation to repair written into your deeds, especially if your place is ex local authority

craig_87

I’d have to dig out the deed to clarify. Either way surely if it’s my fence and I don’t want to put a new one up then I don’t, if it’s their fence they should repair it themselves. Even if it’s shared ownership they can’t make me pay for my half surely, not if I don’t want to.

Im not being difficult but they have loads of kids climbing the fence kicking it daily, certainly contributed to the poor state of it before the wind finished it off. 

craig_87

The whole fence is gone completely - no health and safety of it falling as it’s been pulled out and removed.

mundibananas

£800 seems quite reasonable - I would bite their hand off - you'll probably get a nice fence for that without any of the hassle of organising it.  you may not think you need a fence at the moment, but if next door decides they want a dog you will forever be clearing up dog poo from your garden !!

Snuggles

Surely it would then be next door's responsibility to erect a fence to contain their dog?

Slinky

mundibananas said:

£800 seems quite reasonable - I would bite their hand off - you'll probably get a nice fence for that without any of the hassle of organising it.  you may not think you need a fence at the moment, but if next door decides they want a dog you will forever be clearing up dog poo from your garden !!

If it's a front garden as the OP has posted, presumably it's not a 6ft fence. £800 could be very expensive - depends on how long the fence is.

HampshireH

Slinky said:

mundibananas said:

£800 seems quite reasonable - I would bite their hand off - you'll probably get a nice fence for that without any of the hassle of organising it.  you may not think you need a fence at the moment, but if next door decides they want a dog you will forever be clearing up dog poo from your garden !!

If it's a front garden as the OP has posted, presumably it's not a 6ft fence. £800 could be very expensive - depends on how long the fence is.

Especially as it's only 50%

eddddy

As a starting point, ask the council what their legal basis is for claiming £800 from you. (TBH, I'm surprised that they didn't explain this in their letter.)

And, for example, if the legal basis is a covenant in your deeds, ask them to quote the covenant for you.


That will save you the hassle of looking through Deeds etc - trying to find a covenant or term that seems to be relevant.  But check that the covenant they quote really is in your deeds, and that it really does say that you are required to construct a fence and pay for half of it.


(Is your house leasehold or freehold?)

pinkshoes

If they took the fence away, then surely it must belong to the neighbour so they need to pay to replace it?

(Because if it was your fence, then they would have had to ask permission before pulling it out and taking it away?!?! Plus I'd have wanted to fix the fence rather than just get a new one. Our one has been on its last legs for 6 years and a few concrete supports have sorted it out!)