Money Moral Dilemma: Should we help pay for the fence our new neighbours put up?

smartwoman

What an awful way to built a relationship with your new neighbours.

I would not pay but would suggest this is done in a friendly way by saying that you were happy with the original fence and did not want to change it. I would add that had they wished to change it, and were looking for you to contribute, that the best way forward would have been to discuss a mutually agreed replacement and the proportion of costs expected. This way if one party wanted a higher grade fence they may be expected to meet the original cost.

Which, when the fence next needs replacing again you have got a good basis to proceed. 

Scillydiver

The house deeds more often than not show ownership of boundary fences. Three scenarios:
1. It may be their fence, in which case 100% their cost.
2. It may be your fence, in which case they had no right to replace it without permission, so 100% their cost.
3. It is a shared fence, in which case they should have consulted you first, so 100% their cost if not in need of replacement. 
Even if it is their fence, good neighbours would still tell you out of politeness that they were going to replace it. 
A fall-out looks inevitable if you refuse point blank, so have a sensible conversation before burning your bridges,  

Pollycat

ginger_chocolate said:

I recently put up a fence on a shared boundary with my neighbours. I wanted a new fence. I knew they weren't bothered and likely wouldn't want to pay for it but out of courtesy I asked if it was OK for me to do it (given the disruption this kind of work can cause). They actually offered to pay part of the cost but I gracefully declined, it didn't seem very fair seeing as I'd taken it upon myself to get the work done and was choosing a more-expensive-than-the-most-basic option. 

A lesson on how to do it ^^^^.

I wouldn't mind you living next door to me.

But I'd have wanted to discuss height and the type of fence panels and would have gone halves with you.

pjaj

Strangelybrown_2 said:

If the fence is to your left (looking from your back door) it is generally your responsibility. If they took it down and disposed of it without your permission then they have committed the criminal offence of Theft (S.1). If it is to your right then they can do what they want but cannot ask you to contribute because it is their fence and their responsibility to maintain as they see fit. If was at the rear boundary then it is likely shared so they should have consulted you before any work was done but if they didn't they legally cannot ask for recompense retrospectively. This is ofc all dependent on what your deeds state but these are the commonly accepted legal boundary rules.

The rule as to who owns a fence is not hard and fast when it isn't in the deeds.
In some cases it may be "the one to the left" but another rule of thumb is: "If the fence posts are on your side it's yours" The idea being that to be nice to your neighbour, you have given them the better looking side, no visible posts.

Then again, in a row of N houses there will, in general, be N+1 fences. Who gets the extra one? In a house my daughter owned a few years ago, although it was in the middle, she got to maintain all 3 as it wasn't in the deeds and no one else would take responsibility when the old ones virtually collapsed.
Another consideration is what happens when you sell the property? These days you have to fill in a form about disputes with the neighbours amongst other things. Do you want to have to declare that? (OK if there's nothing in writing then I suppose you could "forget" it, but then that's another Money Moral Dilemma)

It's best to do things by mutual consent, before the trouble starts. We've got high hedges and have agreed with our neighbours that they cut their side, we cut ours. Too late in your case.

pjaj

Scillydiver said:

The house deeds more often than not show ownership of boundary fences. Three scenarios:
1. It may be their fence, in which case 100% their cost.
2. It may be your fence, in which case they had no right to replace it without permission, so 100% their cost.
3. It is a shared fence, in which case they should have consulted you first, so 100% their cost if not in need of replacement. 
Even if it is their fence, good neighbours would still tell you out of politeness that they were going to replace it. 
A fall-out looks inevitable if you refuse point blank, so have a sensible conversation before burning your bridges,  

That may be so in modern houses, but in many older properties (pre WW2 or even later into the 50's in my experience) there is no such information either at the Land Registry or in the deeds. You just have to muddle through, hopefully by means of mutual cooperation.

wiggers

The neighbour is assuming responsibility for the fence, if nothing is stated in any of the title deeds. Technically, there is no reason for you to contribute, but maybe offer 33% to keep on good terms.

kroome

traditionally your responsibility if on the left as you look out of back of house, but will be shown on deeds and land registry, cooperation always the key but if already bought then they made that decision, perhaps if it is your boundary you offer to pay next time it needs doing which is what happened to us. We should all talk to our next door neighbors and look out and after each other.

fezster

The problem with hard and fast rules about fences being on the left, is that they are usually a myth. Some title deeds will show the boundary lines and responsibility, but this does not automatically translate to ownership of a fence.

Take a simple example - your title deed shows the fence on the left belongs to your neighbour. You decide to build a nicer looking fence on your side of the boundary right next to the original fence. The original fence is taken down some time later. 20 years pass and ownership of the neighbours house has passed onto someone else. How does the neighbour now determine that the fence which is standing does not belong to him/her?

There's no simple answer but the best approach is always for both neighbours to agree on how they'd like to proceed.

kroome

fezster said:

The problem with hard and fast rules about fences being on the left, is that they are usually a myth. Some title deeds will show the boundary lines and responsibility, but this does not automatically translate to ownership of a fence.

Take a simple example - your title deed shows the fence on the left belongs to your neighbour. You decide to build a nicer looking fence on your side of the boundary right next to the original fence. The original fence is taken down some time later. 20 years pass and ownership of the neighbours house has passed onto someone else. How does the neighbour now determine that the fence which is standing does not belong to him/her?

There's no simple answer but the best approach is always for both neighbours to agree on how they'd like to proceed.

as in previous post if read, deeds and land registry, that's why it exists.

EtheAv8r

Simply NO.  You should not pay anything towards the replacement fence.