WWYD Cost of a Garden Fence

emmadragon

I would love to have some opinions on this one please...  Sorry it's so long.

My neighbour and I get on really well, we both living in Housing Association properties and have done for 5 years.  For her it is her forever home and she is hoping to buy it, for us we will have to move next year into a 3 bed property as our son and daughter currently share a room and my son turns 10 next year.

We have a joining garden which had a simple wire link fence between them, no issue as we are good friends and love a natter over the fence in the Summer.  Her granddaughter has Autism and loves to climb and has been trying to get into our garden - totally not a major issue as our garden is totally secure so she couldn't escape but if she got over and we were out it might be difficult to get her back.  So my neighbour decided to get a fence built, we joked about a half fence with trellis so we could still talk.  I said we'd be happy to put some money towards it / go halves as it would make our garden look nice too.

She popped over last week and said she'd had a quote and they could start this week (quote was Friday, work started yesterday, so quick!), she said she had to go for full panels as trellis was too expensive.  I said no problem of course, whatever is best for her granddaughter.  I asked the price.  It was much much higher than I expected, more than we would have spent on 1 side of a garden fence.  Also I would have got 3 quotes too.  When the guys came my neighbour had forgotten to leave out an extension lead for the guys so I offered to let them plug their equipment into my house.

So the question is money...  there is no way we can give her half, I have said this already and she totally understands.  She said whatever we can afford.  I had a figure of £200 in mind as a friend's fence around her whole garden had cost her £600.  My husband however has asked me not to give her any money.  We paid for the electric to put up the fence, they did it all from our side of the garden as hers was too messy and I kept them in tea and coffee all day as she was at work.  Also, we're going to be moving this time next year.

What would you do?  Would you give her some money?.  I don't want to fall out with her, she is lovely and is a fantastic neighbour but equally £200 is a lot of money at the moment.

marcia_

 Not your responsibility as you don't own the house, tell her to give the housing association the bill. 

lincroft1710

You don't say how much the fence was.

Niv

What would I do? Well if I said I would contribute I would contribute. 

comeandgo

You agreed to contribute so I think you should.  The fact they used your electricity, yes, that should be taken into the equation but the supply of tea and coffee?  No, that was your choice to give them that.

ArbitraryRandom

Only you can decide what your friendship is worth, but from my perspective, if you said all along you would contribute then it's a bit off to now change your mind. 

I know hindsight is 20:20 but it's really on you for not setting a budget at the outset or asking last week how much it would cost/asking her to get more quotes if you wanted them.

I can't see that some power for the tools or cups of tea costs anywhere near the half you originally offered to pay and just sounds petty to me. 

Tiglet2

How many fence panels, kick boards and posts are we talking about here?  What was the actual quote?

A quick google of fencing products (nothing fancy) suggests that one 6ft fence panel is about £40, one concrete post is about £20, one gravel board £17.50, plus labour costs and some concrete etc.  I don't think your £200 would actually go very far, which may suggest that you were not being very realistic if you thought this would be half the cost.  

Your neighbour should have got around 3 quotes and should have discussed this with you prior to going ahead with the work, however, you did promise to contribute so I do think it would be quite rude to now renege on that promise.

emmadragon

Thanks all, just to answer some questions.

The cost was £1,700, there are 8 posts and 8 panels (1 already existing) plus concrete gravel boards. I'm happy to pay for the electric and tea/coffee as she would have done the same if I'd have forgotten. 

My gut says to pay her £200, it's my husband who doesn't think we should. I was just curious to others thoughts - thank you

HampshireH

marcia_ said:

 Not your responsibility as you don't own the house, tell her to give the housing association the bill. 

The Housing Association tenancy agreement both the OP and neighbours would have signed up to is most likely state that fencing is a joint tenant responsibility. The HA marked the boundary with a wire fence which is usually all they are obliged to do. They will not pay a bill which hasn't properly been agreed in advance between two neighbours.

8 posts, panels and gravel board would never have cost £600 let alone £400 (or £200 split 50/50) the total bill doesn't sound unreasonable but perhaps that may differ depending on geographical area.

It would also cover digging out the presumably concrete posts the wire fence was attached to and waste disposal as well as of course labour costs.

You agreed to contribute I think it would be wrong to go back on your word. The error here is you didn't say how much sooner or saying no in the first place

GDB2222

Tiglet2 said:

How many fence panels, kick boards and posts are we talking about here?  What was the actual quote?

A quick google of fencing products (nothing fancy) suggests that one 6ft fence panel is about £40, one concrete post is about £20, one gravel board £17.50, plus labour costs and some concrete etc.  I don't think your £200 would actually go very far, which may suggest that you were not being very realistic if you thought this would be half the cost.  

Your neighbour should have got around 3 quotes and should have discussed this with you prior to going ahead with the work, however, you did promise to contribute so I do think it would be quite rude to now renege on that promise.

So, 8 of everything is say £700, including postcrete. £1k for labour and waste disposal sounds like quite a lot, but I'd certainly expect to pay at least £500 labour, which gives a minimum price for the job of £1200, and £1700 is not outlandish.

If you offered to pay towards it, I fear the neighbour may be hoping for a lot more than £200. However, if you offered, then you must pay something, even if it's only £50.  

youth_leader

I do think she should have told you of the exact cost beforehand but as you agreed, I do think you should pay. I'm in the same situation with my neighbour and am in the process of getting quotes.

As for using your electric that would have annoyed me.  My neighbour had people in to do her patio and the man knocked and asked to use my electric - apparently she had left him a key, but he didn't want to go in?  I refused.