Home owner demanding money to repair/fix a fence.

Boohoo

Hello.

This issue is about my next door neighbour and she is in her 80's.

2 weeks ago my partner called and said our next door neighbour had a man knock on the door and said the fence at the back had fallen over(the 2 storms we had this year) and said she has to pay and gave her a some paper with a price of £600.

She was shocked and called my partner about this and she went round to look after her.

The story is 6 houses on my street and 6 houses on street behind us sold their gardens to a builder and they built the new houses. The 6 gardens were longer than my garden so now the gardens are about 40m long and are in a straight line. 

The builder put up new featheredged fencing on all the gardens that he bought from on my street and the street behind me but upto my boundry fence. 

During the storms 2 posts were blown into her garden along with the arris rails and fearther edge fences. They are still there now.

I got my neighbour to call this person made a time for him to meet up at her home while i was in the house. He knocked on the door and when she opened the door he said "you pay, you pay money now" and then i came out of her living room into the hallway and when he saw me he went quiet and we had a chat and said she owns the fence and she pay up now. We had a few other words and he left.

Her deeds do not show who owns the fence or who is liable for the upkeep and there are no "T" marks on the deeds map. 

I know the builder and spoke to him about this and he said that the 5 gardens he bought on my side of the street and the other street that have fences on are the responability of the homes on the estate and all repairs are done by his firm and the cost are split between the homes as a service charge for upkeep and maintanance. He said that this persons plot is seperate and not under the service charge.

I know the person that lives in the other street behind my property and his said that his neighbour also got a request to pay for a fence that had fallen over into this persons garde.

As my next door neighbour sold some of her garden and builder put up a new fence should she pay for the repair/fix to this person?

user1977

Of course not.

anselld

The builder may have put the fence up on her behalf at the time the plot was sold, so it might still belong to her.  However, even if it is her fence she is not obliged to repair it and certainly not obliged to pay a specific person who is making demands.

GDB2222

This chap has had two lots of fencing fall into his garden?! Has the fence been up a long time and the posts are rotted? 

There doesn’t seem to be a legal requirement to repair the fence, regardless of who owns it. If your neighbour doesn’t want to spend the money, or doesn’t have it, she should just say no. 

Alternatively, she could offer to pay half. Does she mind that the fence is broken? If so, contributing to the repair cost seems fair. 

Boohoo

anselld said:

The builder may have put the fence up on her behalf at the time the plot was sold, so it might still belong to her.  However, even if it is her fence she is not obliged to repair it and certainly not obliged to pay a specific person who is making demands.

The builder told me that he said all the new fencing put up belonged to his firm so it would fall under the service charge for the estate.
The new fencing he installed for the plot to the chap that is demanding money from my neighbour was sold to inclide the fencing as his responsabilty to upkeep as it was not included in the service charge for the estate.

Boohoo

GDB2222 said:

This chap has had two lots of fencing fall into his garden?! Has the fence been up a long time and the posts are rotted? 

There doesn’t seem to be a legal requirement to repair the fence, regardless of who owns it. If your neighbour doesn’t want to spend the money, or doesn’t have it, she should just say no. 

Alternatively, she could offer to pay half. Does she mind that the fence is broken? If so, contributing to the repair cost seems fair. 

Yes, his left side(my neighbour) and the right side which he is also trying to get money from. The rear fence belongs to the person who live at the back of my house.

The wooden fence posts are 6inch x 4inch or bigger and 1 post has rotted but person has decking along the whole way of fence at my neighbours fence and the top of the decking sits above the gravel boards( 1.8m high fence). Decking is also on the other sid that the fence has fallen down.

The fences are about 4 years old i think.

On a side note this person has painted/stained all of their side of the fence and also has lights and other things screwed/naid onto the fence. If they say they don't own it why have they done this to the fence if they have not go permission to do so?

GDB2222

I put up some fence around 10 years ago, and some of the posts have now rotted. The neighbour built up her garden against the fence, which probably accelerated the process. Two new posts, postcrete, plus a fence panel came to £80. It hardly seems worth worrying about. I fixed another fence post by sinking a spur into the ground, and I used one of the old fence posts for that. 

Maybe, you and the belligerent chap could roll your sleeves up and repair the fence together. It'll save a load of money, plus show him that his neighbours are people, too. 

propertyrental

You need to examine the deeds to the properties. In particular as you say there is an estate service charge you need to check the wording for this - what does it cover?

If the neighbour owns the fence, and there is no obligation in the deeds/service charge definition to maintain it, then thetre is no obligation to repair the fence. If she wants to repair her fence (if it is hers) she should get 3 different quotes.

If the fence is owned by someone else, that person can (but need not) repair iot.

If the fence falls within the remit of the servioce charge, then the estate manager or whoever, should provide written requests for any payment, probably by adjusting the annual charge at the end of the year to allow for this unexpected expense.

Random people knocking on the door and requesting/demanding money should be ignored. If they persist, call the police.

Boohoo

GDB2222 said:

I put up some fence around 10 years ago, and some of the posts have now rotted. The neighbour built up her garden against the fence, which probably accelerated the process. Two new posts, postcrete, plus a fence panel came to £80. It hardly seems worth worrying about. I fixed another fence post by sinking a spur into the ground, and I used one of the old fence posts for that. 

Maybe, you and the belligerent chap could roll your sleeves up and repair the fence together. It'll save a load of money, plus show him that his neighbours are people, too. 

Thanks for your reply.

I is not me that has the issue but my mid 80's lady from next door.

I will pass on your advice to her but i don't think she will roll up her sleeves and get repairing.

Boohoo

propertyrental said:

You need to examine the deeds to the properties. In particular as you say there is an estate service charge you need to check the wording for this - what does it cover?

If the neighbour owns the fence, and there is no obligation in the deeds/service charge definition to maintain it, then thetre is no obligation to repair the fence. If she wants to repair her fence (if it is hers) she should get 3 different quotes.

If the fence is owned by someone else, that person can (but need not) repair iot.

If the fence falls within the remit of the servioce charge, then the estate manager or whoever, should provide written requests for any payment, probably by adjusting the annual charge at the end of the year to allow for this unexpected expense.

Random people knocking on the door and requesting/demanding money should be ignored. If they persist, call the police.

1. I don't have access to the deeds(i know you can pay for them) but it is just 1 plot that my neighbour has the issue with and that plot is liable for the upkeep of the fences but they are joint liable for all the other fencing and maintanence along with the other home owners on the estate
2. She doesn't own the fence as builder erected after he bought the gardens.
3.The fence is owned buy the person demanding money.
4. The fence doesn't fall within the service charge remit.
5.This person has history of making threats to his neighbours about all manner of things.

ThisIsWeird

Boohoo said:

propertyrental said:

You need to examine the deeds to the properties. In particular as you say there is an estate service charge you need to check the wording for this - what does it cover?

If the neighbour owns the fence, and there is no obligation in the deeds/service charge definition to maintain it, then thetre is no obligation to repair the fence. If she wants to repair her fence (if it is hers) she should get 3 different quotes.

If the fence is owned by someone else, that person can (but need not) repair iot.

If the fence falls within the remit of the servioce charge, then the estate manager or whoever, should provide written requests for any payment, probably by adjusting the annual charge at the end of the year to allow for this unexpected expense.

Random people knocking on the door and requesting/demanding money should be ignored. If they persist, call the police.

1. I don't have access to the deeds(i know you can pay for them) but it is just 1 plot that my neighbour has the issue with and that plot is liable for the upkeep of the fences but they are joint liable for all the other fencing and maintanence along with the other home owners on the estate
2. She doesn't own the fence as builder erected after he bought the gardens.
3.The fence is owned buy the person demanding money.
4. The fence doesn't fall within the service charge remit.
5.This person has history of making threats to his neighbours about all manner of things.

There's your answer.
If he dares to turn up again, you - or your neighb - bring out your phone, take all the time you need to set it on video record while he stands there, hold it up, and ask this person, "What exactly is it you want?" When he replies as before, just state, "That is your fence, and your responsibility. You sort it. If you come back here demanding we pay for your fence, I will call the police. Have I made myself clear?".