Fence issue

Carrot007

DRP said:

Have owned 3 houses , each with 2/3 fenced boundaries. Never have the deeds specified who is responsible for what. Houses/deeds dated from 1880s - 1930s.

Is this a new build thing?

Possibly, would not touch one of those with a very long pole though.

I have opnly ever seen deeds saying who maintains the boundry (whatever that may mean, hence my stick and string idea!).

Mine say T to me all round. Nextdoor neightbour reaplced his fence as he wanted to. I replace the other side and got something from one side (other is an old guy and I did not want to ask (and it was like 3 (2.5) panels anyway! compared to the 10 of the other one!)).

mandy47 said:

I was under the assumption that I was responsible for the fence to the right and rear of my property. We had panels replaced after consulting with neighbour, they didn't offer a contribution and we didn't ask. Then they dropped it out that their deeds stated the boundary was theirs. We checked and we aren't responsible for any of our boundaries. Nice of next door to let us fork out for new fence.
lesson learnt. Always check your deeds.

Rear and right has always been nonsence but maybe some places T's (like that) there were common. Still never mentions fences though does it.

So fences. Whomever wants a fence pays for one. If the opther partty wanst to contriubute all good. If they don't it should not be expected unelss mentioned in the deeds which is very very very rare.

theoretica

If you can't afford it then I think it is a bit of a pity you sent your neighbour off to get quotes rather than simply starting from the issue that unfortunately you were not in a position to contribute financially.

DRP

Carrot007 said:

DRP said:

Have owned 3 houses , each with 2/3 fenced boundaries. Never have the deeds specified who is responsible for what. Houses/deeds dated from 1880s - 1930s.

Is this a new build thing?

Possibly, would not touch one of those with a very long pole though.

Yes, where deeds specify ‘ownership’ of boundaries, fences, borders you name it , it seems to cause no end of problems, from what I read on here. 

When the deeds are silent on this, it means that there shouldn’t be any assumptions, and facilitates discussion, and agreement.

Bendy_House

DRP said:

Carrot007 said:

DRP said:

Have owned 3 houses , each with 2/3 fenced boundaries. Never have the deeds specified who is responsible for what. Houses/deeds dated from 1880s - 1930s.

Is this a new build thing?

Possibly, would not touch one of those with a very long pole though.

Yes, where deeds specify ‘ownership’ of boundaries, fences, borders you name it , it seems to cause no end of problems, from what I read on here. 

When the deeds are silent on this, it means that there shouldn’t be any assumptions, and facilitates discussion, and agreement.

I suspect that, in the vast majority of cases, having the fence/boundary responsibility 'allocated' in the deeds serves its purpose very well, and makes life easier for most folk.

comeandgo

Bendy_House said:

DRP said:

Carrot007 said:

DRP said:

Have owned 3 houses , each with 2/3 fenced boundaries. Never have the deeds specified who is responsible for what. Houses/deeds dated from 1880s - 1930s.

Is this a new build thing?

Possibly, would not touch one of those with a very long pole though.

The 

Yes, where deeds specify ‘ownership’ of boundaries, fences, borders you name it , it seems to cause no end of problems, from what I read on here. 

When the deeds are silent on this, it means that there shouldn’t be any assumptions, hereand facilitates discussion, and agreement.

I suspect that, in the vast majority of cases, having the fence  responsibility 'allocated' in the deeds serves its purpose very well, and makes life easier for folk.

Our house is now 16 years old, moved in when new build but private high end builder so not the problems that the mass production developers leave but our deeds here were the first I’d seen being so specific on ownership of fence, not boundary but actual fence and it does cut out any problems regarding who is responsible for what.

Swasterix

As I understand it….

T markers on the deeds indicate who is responsible for maintaining the boundary. As somebody suggested earlier, this can be achieved by simply pulling a piece of string between two canes. 

Either party can build a fence on their side of the boundary. Whoever builds/pays for the fence, owns it. Both parties could have their own fence if they really wanted. Or neither. You could have a hedge, a wall, a row of pallets… whatever you wanted. 

So- even if you do have a T marker on your deeds, you’re under no obligation to build a fence. 

However, from a common sense perspective you’re better off opening a dialogue with your neighbour and coming to some sort of arrangement. Makes life a lot easier and who wants to watch their neighbours sunning themselves in the garden?? But- you are under no obligation to contribute to the neighbours fence if you can’t afford it. 

Edited to add- all of the above assumes there is not a covenant in your deeds which states that you must maintain a specific boundary feature of some kind. 

GDB2222

Can I ask how long the fence is, ie how many panels? How high are the panels?  How tall are the concrete posts? People here can then give an idea of how good a price £600 is.

Personally, I prefer the look of wooden posts, but there's no denying that concrete ones last longer. 

The_Unready

It may not help with your exact query, but this blog is a good read:

https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/27/drawing-the-line-on-boundaries/

Section62

Carrot007 said:

So fences. Whomever wants a fence pays for one. If the opther partty wanst to contriubute all good. If they don't it should not be expected unelss mentioned in the deeds which is very very very rare.

What's the basis for "very very very rare"?

It depends on the age and type of property.

For ex-LA (and Development Corporation) a requirement to maintain specified boundary features is very very very common.

Estate new-build after about 1990, I'd expect a reference to boundary feature maintenance more often than not, typically because there was a planning condition to that effect, or the developer wanted to keep things tidy.

Properties built on land carved out of an existing property are also ones where I'd expect the newer property to be specifically required to maintain a boundary feature. Its logical to lumber your new neighbour with the liability for fencing their plot from yours, in a manner you prefer.

Overall I'd describe the inclusion of a covenant regarding a requirement to maintain a fence/wall/hedge of some type as "hit and miss".  With the exception of ex-LA properties it is difficult to predict in individual cases.

GDB2222

Our next door neighbour told us that we ought to replace "our fence". She said confidently that it was our responsibility and 'in the deeds'.

So, my wife and I (both getting on a bit) dug holes, poured concrete, and installed a new fence. A year or two later, I looked at the LR, for some other reason, and of course it says nothing at all about responsibility for the fences.