Neighbours Fence .....

thumbandit

Not really sure if this is the right board but someone may be able to help .....

I own my own house, but my previous neighbours were renting from an agency, now they smashed up the house and their rear left garden fence (which was that houses responsibility) now the house is empty with metal window guards etc and the fence is still smashed down.

Now my point is why the hell should i replace the fence with my own money when its not my fault or responsibility.

Is there some kind of legal requirement to have a fence or anything like that ?

seven-day-weekend

Straight answer, no they do not have to repair or replace the fence.

confused31_2

i wouldnt replace it just use there garden as yours, have a bonfire in the middle of their garden and burn there smashed up fence.

Im sure when new tennants come the fence will be replaced, why does it affect you as all it does is give you privacy and if no one is living there it shouldnt be a problem.

confused

thumbandit

I have a small child and the fence is gone and so is all of there fencing which backs onto an access road at the back of the house so anyone could come in (although the access road is gated)

dexters_mum_2

Do you know the agency from which they were renting the property from?

Take photos and send them to the agency, if they smashed up the house, they will probably have had their bond revoked anyway, ask the agency if the landlord can be contacted about the fence.

If they can't/won't repair or replace the fence, there is no legal obligation to do so, you'll probably have to do something yourself, a post a wire fence should be quite cheap to do in the short term.

Our neighbours were the same, broke the fence, we had a word with the letting agency and they took the fence repair money from the bond.

PasturesNew

I'd say you'd need to look at the deeds to see who has responsibility to maintain a boundary, if one exists.

A fence is not necessarily a boundary commitment though.

It could be that a boundary exists, with nothing on it, or even a wall that's long since disappeared.

As it is their fence I'd expect that a fence (being a temporary structure unlike, say, a long-standing, old-fashioned wall) was the choice of a home owner and part of their garden ornaments in a way.

You too have the choice of whether to erect a fence in your garden (allbeit on your land/against the boundary line).

But to toss a coin in the air, without knowledge of the plot/structures/deeds, I'd say it's their fence and up to them if they ever wish to replace it. So your only choice is to put up with no fence, or to provide your own.

tbs624

Donwload a copy of your deeds from the Land Registry (£8) & check if it says anything in there about particular responsibilities on fencing/boundaries (it probably won't). If the LA won't sort it out, you can simply do something yourself: the security of your garden, and the safety of your child is down to you.

Either put up a fence yourself or plant some berberis/pyracantha to keep potential intruders out- sometimes things are just more quickly resolved that way

Debt_Free_Chick

Tenants & letting agents are clouding the issue here.

Firstly - as others have suggested, check the deeds to see if they state who is responsible for maintaining the fence.

If it's next door, then the responsibility is with the landlord/owner .... not the LA or the tenants. The LL may get the LA or even the tenants to do the work/get it done, but it's the LL you need to be dealing with.

lonestar1

get the cheapest fencing you can and erect it 5 foot inside their land If they dont move/replace after a few years you may be able to claim the extra 5 foot of land. That should spur the LL into action

prudryden

Having spent the last couple of years sorting out fences with my neighbours (nine houses not counting mine), I can assure you that if the fences are not mentioned in any of the deeds (which none of ours did), the best course of action is to treat it as a party wall fence. If one person decides to put up a fence on the boundary (if you can find it), that fence then belongs to him.

olibrofiz

Have a look on the Garden Law websites discussion forum, there's lots of stuff about fences and responsibility there.

I think I read that if the fence blows down and it's not mine the owner of the fence isn't obliged to repair/replace it or something like that. But I can put my own up against the boundary sited on my property.