Fences

[Geee0]

In the land registry I am responsable for the fence on all sides of my garden. My neighbour has put up a fence before i purchased the house (the house is a development and is going to be resold bought 6 months ago) at least 1year ago and has now approched me and told me I have to replace the fence as the one he put up was temporary meassure as the previous owner refussed to put one up. The one that is up is safe and secure.

My question is do I have to take down his fence and put one up of my own or is he just chancing his are to get a nice new fence to look at?!

[Golden Shred]

Although you may be shown as being responsible for the fence, this places you under no legal obligation whatsoever to provide a fence of any sort. Your neighbour's fence whether it is permanent or temporary is entirely his upon his own land and is nothing at all to do with you. Should you interfere with it in any way you will be liable for trespass, criminal damage and theft.

[malaise]

I'm sure my grandparents had a similar problem when they moved house and were told they had to repair a broken fence. Turns out the owner of the fence is whoever has the "right" side (e.g. not the posts) on their side. If there's nothing wrong with the fence that's there, what's the problem?
I also don't think there's any sort of law regarding HAVING a fence there... Surely it's just a matter of personal privacy whether you have a fence or not? Why doesn't your neighbour fence in HIS property if it's such a huge concern for him?!

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Golden Shred's answer might not be correct.

If there are no covenants, relating to fences, in force, then GS's answer is valid. However, I note that your post states that your responsibilities are stated in the Land Registry documents. This seems to indicate that there is a relevant covenant. If the the wording of such a covenant is along the lines of stating that you must 'provide and maintain' a fence, then you're obliged to do exactly that.

Many covenants are written into the deeds of modern housing developments. A large number of these are ignored or forgotten about. e.g. A covenant in the deeds of my house states that I'm responsible for mowing the grass on a piece of land around the corner from me. (The land doesn't adjoin my house. In fact, it's not even on the same road!). That small piece of land has been absorbed into the garden of an adjoining house and is tended by the owner of that house. He's probably unaware of the covenant in my deeds but, if he ever knocks on my door and insists that I regularly mow part of his lawn, I'm legally obliged to comply with his demands.

[Buenchico]

My advice is that you should check the wording of the covenant (which I'm sure must exist) very carefully. If you're obliged to 'supply and maintain' the boundary fence, then your neighbour is definitely within his rights to insist that you comply with this requirement. If, however, the covenant only requires you to 'maintain' a boundary fence, then an offer to maintain the 'temporary' fence which he provided might suffice. Of course, he's still fully entitled to remove his temporary fence. In this case you'll be back to square one and you'll have to put up your own fence - although, at least, you won't have to take down the existing one!

Chris

PS: I'm waiting for the day that some brave person tries to enforce a covenant which applies to all of the houses on this estate. This is a very bad area for television reception. The only way to get a signal is by having a very large external aerial. (Loft aerials won't work here). Every house on the estate, however, is subject to a covenant prohibiting external television aerials! I'm just wondering who'll be brave enough to try to get that particular covenant enforced :-)

[Buenchico]

PS: Despite my illustrations relating to covenants which are ignored, it's not wise to breach the terms of covenants when someone is insisting that these terms are obeyed.

The law regards covenants very seriously. (Getting a covenant revoked can involve getting a special Act of Parliament passed!). While most disputes between neighbours are normally civil matters, actions which breach the terms of a covenant can, in some circumstances, amount to a criminal offence.

Chris

[WoWo]

I'd be surprised if any covenants would go into much detail about what the fence should look like or be made of. If there were convenants and he insisted on you putting up a fence, get one with a really nasty colour on his side (pre paint it before putting it up) and leave your side as the natural wood.

[Geee0]

I have had anouther look at the land registry and it states that I am responsible for fencing on that side of the garden.

There is a fence in place and has been their before I purchased the porperty and I have only my neighbours word that he put it up. Do I have to replace it if it is in reasonable condition.

[Buenchico]

I think your question could keep teams of legal experts in work for months!

I suggest that your approach should be along these lines:

1. Tell your neighbour that you accept that you are responsible for maintaining a fence.

2. Tell your neighbour that you accept that he is the owner of the existing fence and offer him a nominal payment in return for him signing a document transferring ownership to you. Tell him that thereafter, you will maintain the fence and, if it becomes beyond repair, eventually replace it. (In regard to that 'nominal payment', I suggest offering �50 but being prepared to go up to, say, �100. It's probably still a lot cheaper than putting up a new fence!)

3. Inform your neighbour that if he doesn't agree to transferring ownership of the fence, you accept that you will have to erect your own. Point out, however, that because he has erected a fence which prevents you from erecting your own, you will be within your rights to insist that he is responsible for removing the old one. (This means that, not only will he not get paid for transferring ownership of the existing fence but he'll have to do some hard work - or pay someone else to do it - himself).

4. If your neighbour refuses to cooperate, but does nothing about removing the existing fence, just do nothing yourself. (Your covenant is designed to ensure that a proper fence is in place between the two properties. It's unlikely that any successful legal action could be brought against you while such a fence, irrespective of ownership, is actually in place).

5. If your neighbour refuses to cooperate and then removes his fence, you'll unfortunately have no alternative but to erect your own fence.

Chris

[Golden Shred]

It is an inescapable fact of life on AnswerBank that some people feel obliged to write about what they imagine and dream the law to be without the faintest idea of reality. And so it is with the cascade of words above by Buenchico. The answer to Geee0's question is simply that as between Geee0's neighbour and himself the neighbour can enforce nothing whatsoever and can safely be absolutely and totally ignored. Whatever is covenanted at the Land Registry is a red-herring.

[Buenchico]

I'm glad that I don't live next door to Golden Shred. It seems that he is determined to ignore any covenants which there might be in the deeds to his house, even if those covenants grant rights to his neighbours. Covenants are there for a reason and are LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE. (This is usually through the civil courts although, in exceptional circumstances, there may be complicating factors which involve criminal law).

I could provide dozens of references to back this up but, as Golden Shred will doubtless ignore them anyway, I'll just provide one:
http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph p?t=1727

Chris

[Golden Shred]

There is nothing at all in your link that in any way contradicts what I have said. It does in fact make my point, but you do not know how to read these things. You are making a silly of yourself.