Neighbour would like us to replace leaning fence urgently.

theoretica

Do you want a 6 foot fence there?  If you replace the fence you get the bulk of the say in what you put up.

FreeBear

YBR said: If you replace it, you'll be able to chose what fence you want.

And if you do decide to replace the fence, use concrete posts & gravel boards - They are a lot more solid and will outlast your tenure of the property. Wooden posts will rot and might last ten years if you're lucky.

Section62

Adamc said:

tonygold said:

you could download a copy of their deeds (£3 on land registry site) and see if ownership of the fence is marked on their plan as it is not on yours, presumably. In the absence of any clarification of who owns the fence, and to maintain neighbourly relations you could offer to go halves on the replacement, and explain that you would hope to have funds for that in the summer.

Do these always clarify boundary responsibilities or is there ever ambiguity? 

There's more often ambiguity than not, but if you solicitor said "that it was contentious", I would guess they saw something (rather than nothing) and that what it said is problematic.

The neighbour writing to you also suggests there could be some historic issue here... and by writing to you they may have placed you 'on notice' that the fence needs to be repaired/replaced sooner rather than later.

There's a limit to what people on here can advise you - if your solicitor thinks it was contentious then now might be a good time to go back to your solicitor and get advice from them now this has become an actual rather than theoretical point of contention.

bris

Best advice ia just deny responsibility for the fence. At the time of sale the solicitor could not find out who owned it so you are not responsible for it.

Tell them it's their fence and let them prove othewise, Or offer to share the costs stating it's not your fence and doing it as a good will gesture. 

Even if it is your fence you are under no obligation to even replace it, you can just take it down or make it safe. 

comeandgo

bris said:

Even if it is your fence you are under no obligation to even replace it, you can just take it down or make it safe. 

How can you state this when you have not read the deeds of the property?  Even their solicitor was not clear who had the responsibility for the fence.  

Section62

bris said:

Best advice ia just deny responsibility for the fence. At the time of sale the solicitor could not find out who owned it so you are not responsible for it.

Tell them it's their fence and let them prove othewise, Or offer to share the costs stating it's not your fence and doing it as a good will gesture. 

Even if it is your fence you are under no obligation to even replace it, you can just take it down or make it safe. 

1st BiB - The OP said the solicitor said "that it was contentious" - not that they couldn't find out who owned it, nor that the OP was not responsible for it.

2nd BiB - see my previous posts in the thread, and comeandgo's response.

People who haven't seen the OP & neighbour's deeds can't make categoric statements on the OP's rights/responsibilities.

andyf1980

For me it would also come down to relationship with the neighbour. Nothing worse than living next to neighbours that you’ve fallen out with (from experience!)

Land_Registry

Adamc said:

tonygold said:

you could download a copy of their deeds (£3 on land registry site) and see if ownership of the fence is marked on their plan as it is not on yours, presumably. In the absence of any clarification of who owns the fence, and to maintain neighbourly relations you could offer to go halves on the replacement, and explain that you would hope to have funds for that in the summer.

Do these always clarify boundary responsibilities or is there ever ambiguity? 

They don’t and in fact very rarely do they  - https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/27/drawing-the-line-on-boundaries/
Whilst the registered title may help add to the information you both have, and may also steer you in a certain direction, invariably it’s best to have a chat, share info and understanding (squash any myths) and agree what you both want to do.

Bendy_House

Adamc said:

1) We have a fence in our garden which separates our garden from the neighbours behind. I remember the solicitor saying that it was contentious as to who was responsible for the fence when we bought the house (due to it being between the behind fence and right flank fence). Sorry - little difficult to describe.   

2) We have had intermittent strong winds and it stands at over 6ft and is extremely exposed to them. We are currently expecting more bad weather. In fairness it does need replacing but I have no intentions of doing this till the summer if I am responsible. I have offered to take it down in the interim but they have not got back to me on this. 

They are retired with a wonderful pristine garden so it's quite an annoyance for them. 

1) Could you explain the strange 'behind' and 'right flank' fences, please, ideally with a sketch? And how might this possibly confuse the ownership of the fence?

2) As mentioned by others, would you prefer a lower fence? And would this compromise privacy, for example?

And are there any other reasons why a fence is needed with any urgency? Any animals, including kids?

EssexExile

Go round and have a chat.