Garden Fences, who owns which side?
 

Im sure its a pretty standard thing that most houses own the fence to the left in the back garden (when looking out the back of the house). Reason I ask, I cant be bothered digging out the paper work to work out which fence I am responsible for. One fence panel is fubared and the rest of the fence is in pretty bad state you see, A panel fell down this weekend giving access for my dog to get in the neighbours garden and consequently onto the street as their drive is not blocked off. I need to know if I should pay out or ask the neighbour politely to sort it

Thanks

Ours is left, not sure if all the same tho. was right in parents house.

It is in the deeds as to which boundary you have responsibility for (sorry, you'll have to get out the paperwork).

Steve

It does differ.

And sometimes people are nice and go halves on the new fence ;)

As above, mine is the right

Easiest way it to talk to the neighbour and go halves on it, which is what we did when a few panels collapsed last year ( it does help if you get on with your neighbours and they arent complete arses though ! ).

Regardless of who legally owns what, you both benefit equally from the fence being there, so its only fair you should both maintain it, and share any costs in doing so.

( In fact, without going back over my deeds, I'm pretty sure all party fences / boundaries are down as joint responsibility for our houses - it may depend on the age of the houses though as newer ones seem to have the left hand thing - not sure what they do for houses at the back of you though ? )

Best to dig out the paperwork. As if you put up a fench which is *pretty* on one side and *posts* on the other, the *pretty* side has to point towards your neighbour ...

Dave

I thought common practice was that it was your fence if posts are on your side of the fence. dl

They should be but without the paperwork you can't be sure ....

Dave

ok cheers for the answers, sounds like it differs then in most cases. I'll have to double check tonight. Dont know if I fancy going halfs if its not my fence ;) I dont mind paying for the fence tbh, theyre not exactly expensive IIRC but its the errection of the fence which looks to be a PITA, something Ive not done before but I guess would be easy enough.

yep we own both sides

If you do have a few bob to spare I would use a fencing contractor rather than d-i-y. Depends on fence type, of course, but say you want a close boarded panel fence then it's hard work. Panels aren't too bad but fence posts will need to be substantial to take wind load from panels for example. And don't forget old posts will need to come out and they could have a blob of concrete at bottom of post 2 foot underground :mad: A trip to Jewsons or similar will soon give you an idea of material costs.

Don't assume house deeds will always state who owns the fence but worth checking. dl

It differs on all properties and in a lot of instances the title for the property is silent (more common on older houses). Most new builds will show who owns what with an inward facing "T" mark on the Transfer Plan.

If the Title is silent hopefully your neighbour will either (a) think it's his and fix it or (b) have the decency to go halves with you. If he's a tosser and says he doesn't care then you might have to do it yourself.

Well, I put my fence up, and paid for it. But I expect my neighbours to paint their side, as if its theirs. I feel quite generous for I provided them with their side of the fence with my money. But they are expected to paint their side if they want, with whatever colour they want, I care not :cool:
I know some people split the cost with their neighbours for fence, if they are a bit confused about who originally erected it.

Dave, ask the neighbour if its his responsibility or what. Suggest if he would go halves with you. If he whinges, pay for the panel yourself. It will be better for your dog. It should cost you a weekend worth of booze, that's all. :D

It should be left and the back fence is yours if in doubt look at the deeds!

Lazy bones has already said he can't be @rsed looking at the deeds! :D In fact, he can't remember where he has put them ;) :D

mine is the right also

Scoobynet law states that yours is the one in good repair & your neighbours will need immediate replacement.

HTH ;)

D

Nope. It depends ...... My last house (mid-80s build) had the back garden fenced on all sides (well, 3 sides, the house forming the 4th .... ). ALL 3 were mine ......

Dave

Go boot your neighbours fence in on the other side and then find out who paid for that, if your next door neighbor didn't, then you are quids in.

Just replace it you skinflint :)

Well, after checking the deeds ( 7 drawings in total and the last bloody one showed which fence was mine) it turns out it is my fence after all. Great, just thought I got myself into a decent position this month financially I get another bloody bill :(

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:hjtwofing

Was only a simple question

I think it is down to initial agreement when the fences are first built.

By convention, the better looking side of the fence faces the garden of the man who is not responsible for it.

Les

This may be convention but I dont think its law.

If the fence is yours and is on your property/land you can have the good side showing on your side. Also, your neighbor should get permission from you if they want to paint their side of the fence. You dont want them painting it with a different colour thats going to leach all over your side and look an eyesore.

I have no idea whether it is law or not, but it always used to be part of cooperation with your neighbour and good manners to let the good side face his property. The same situation existed with the fence on the opposite side, in other words you got the good side of that fence.

Les