Hidden bit of fence the neighbours want fixing

BongoHunter

BongoHunter

BongoHunter

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East Sussex
Moved into our current house just over a year ago, got taken into the neighbours garden today to look at some fencing that's still standing, but looks like its close to the end of its life, it'll probably survive this winter, but probably not the next.

Neighbour is asking that I replace it - however I can't see anything on the paperwork that I got when I purchased the house about it, if its mine I'll get it sorted out - but if its not then I could really do with saving the money.

Until today I didn't even know there was a fence back there, as there's very thick hedges obscuring it:

RHXFLSK.jpg


And yes - I know it needs a trim - there's someone coming to give it its annual sheering next week :) (and the dead tree in the back on the rights is being taken out at the same time)

Just to make it a bit clearer where this is in relation to my house:

Dw3kgkQ.png

From a different angle:
y6vFIhZ.png


The green lines are fences I have been maintaining - the blue line is a garden wall I have shared responsibility for with my neighbours, the red line is the fence that I've been asked about today. I maintain the hedges and grass next to the red bit, as its the view from my lounge.

But I'm not sure how to find out if I need to fix this red fence as well - I could do without the cost of sorting this if I don't have to as there's a long list of stuff that needs doing to the house that I'm trying to work through before winter, but at the same time if I have some kind of obligation to sort it out I'd like to find out so I could budget for it and get it on the list of things to fix.

Any thoughts or ideas appreciated! Cheers
 
Even if the fence is yours you have no legal obligation to maintain it or even have one .

www.pettyson.co.uk

Which Fence Am I Responsible For? Garden Fence Law Explained

Many homeowners are blissfully unaware of garden fence laws until it’s too late. Boundary disputes can be both costly and frustrating, and garden fences are often at the heart of conflicts between neighbours.
www.pettyson.co.uk www.pettyson.co.uk
 
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You need to look on your deeds, also what fence ffs, I can not see one, if anything I would say it belongs to the house behind, ask your neighbour how he can to the conclusion it's even yours...
 
Are the fence posts on your side ?
I've had left one replaced with concreted posts because it looked like it would blow over 2 years back and potentially create damage,
the one on the other side is pending a similar analysis by my neighbour who owns it, it would damage shed if it blew over.
 
I cant see how that is your fence, if anything its 8's and 7 might have some responsibility for it, and 9 at a push, but no way is it yours, unless your boundary includes the shared access drive. Even then its an extreme stretch for it to be yours.
 
Should really be information on the deeds related to this - similar setup where I'm living now with a lane through to other houses and we actually own and have a certain amount of responsibility for the area equivalent to the one in red.
 
I’d be so surprised if something over the road like that has anything to do with your plot / responsibility.
 
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gingergundog said:
From just looking at that picture I cant see how that is your fence. Where are your actual boundaries on the deeds? Its a shared drive with 3 other houses, what do the neighbours of those 3 houses have responsibility for?
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

Sounds like this neighbour has the fence on their side and are trying to bag a new fence.

Anything on your title deeds to show ownership? Any comment from the nearby houses on who they believe is responsible for the fence.

If there's no legal requirement for there to be a fence there considering it's not dividing a garden, and it does appear to be your responsibility then I'd suggest to the neighbour that you'll rip what's left of it out and they're then free to either erect their own fence or live with those bushes acting as a boundary.
 
Its possible some requirement to maintain the boundary came with the "micro estate" your on.
But you 100% need the plans for that. Its very very rare for the boundary to be specified as being a certain type, but not impossible.

You could argue the hedge is fine anyway. Some people dont like it, but the vast majority of the time you have no requirement for a specific boundary type (ie fence, wall etc)
 
Is that fence even within your property boundary. This will be defined on the Title plan which you should have in hand given the recent purchase.
 
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