Fence ownership?

[likeitorlumpit]

Customer of mine phoned the council a couple of weeks ago with self same question, they said looking out your back door you are responsible for the left hand side.

 

whoever told them that should be fired. They shouldn't pass on that sort of information.

[Rich Rule]

As has been said it would marked on the deeds with a T. If no T's are present the. It is the persons who erected the fence/wall.

 

In my case my neighbour on the left is asking me to replace the fence posts as they are rotten a bit wobbly. The previous owner of the house was a handy man and neighbours on both sides were elderly so he built and maintained both sides. Hence I inherited the responsibility when I bought the place.

 

I looked quite a lot into boundary law and if he keeps pecking me (tbh, if he offered to go halves I would do it) but he is a jobs worth who has never worked in his life, to my knowledge.

 

The reason the fence post is moving is he has lots of plants tied to it including some dwarf Connies. Basically I haven't given him permission to do this and under boundary law it can be classed as criminal damage. As does painting or treating the fence.

[nepia]

whoever told them that should be fired.

 

Why not out of interest?

 

The 'left' and 'right' thing varies locally so it may be true for that council area.

 

For the OP... Al, I'd say the best thing to get the parties to agree between themselves.

[treequip]

Why not out of interest?

 

The 'left' and 'right' thing varies locally so it may be true for that council area.

 

For the OP... Al, I'd say the best thing to get the parties to agree between themselves.

 

The left and right thing is a myth, it only varies when people misquote the myth

[mendiplogs]

It belongs to whoever owns the land it is on, this idea that you can tell by looking at the fence is nonsense.

 

Some deeds will have "T" marks denoting responsibility for a boundary however "T" marks don't convey any responsibility to maintain a structure.

 

Some deeds do contain covenants to enforce the construction and maintenance of boundary features but they are the exception rather than the rule and can be difficult to enforce.

 

In a nutshell the fence belongs to whoever built it (or the person that bought the property from them) as long as they built it on their own land, if they didn't they have gifted it to the person that owns the land.

 

HI TREE your right we have same going here can say no more that on it at this time but your right tree jon

[Johny Walker]

The left and right thing is a myth, it only varies when people misquote the myth

 

not quite a myth, while clearing privet hedges on a council state, the council & the contractor told us to work to, right house ,left hedge ,

[treequip]

not quite a myth, while clearing privet hedges on a council state, the council & the contractor told us to work to, right house ,left hedge ,

 

All the way a myth and its stuff like this that propagates it.

 

That's just what they told you to do got their convenience, it has no legal basis.

[Coximus]

On 90% of ex council stock in Leeds its left hand boundary and the north most property owns the rear fence - I was told this by the council - and its in my Deeds for my ex council house.

This may explain the council telling people this - if you live in an ex council house they would certainly know!

[Bluedog]

The whole left and right thing came about because developers and local authorities wanted to standardise the rules, they wanted there to never be a dispute regarding boundaries since they were laying out set rectangular or square plots, not the organic ones that would have generally grown up long ago. It is true that generally its all a load of tosh, the title deeds should have boundary ownership and as has been said this might not necessarily denote ownership but it's very rare for it not to. If the homeowners title deeds don't have a T and subsequent red line it can often be mentioned in the deeds themselves and often an owner of a boundary will enter a covenant with their neighbour to allow them to maintain the fence or wall. Over the last 20 years as a fencer I have had this come up at least a few times a year, some years it's almost every job and generally I try and advise clients to either contact the Land Registry (not always helpful believe me) or to treat the fence as a party boundary and split the cost. Nothing makes the neighbours step back from an argument quite as much as having to split a bill!

[DannyCane]

Some areas say that the left hand side looking from your property is your responsibility , others state that the right is your responsibility . As stated in another comment this can be found in the house deeds or by contacting the local council or planning office . I sometimes advise my customers to go halves with their neighbours if they can't come to an agreement .

 

Another good tip is to always inform neighbours of when you are carrying out the works , I have previously come back to fence posts been cut or panels broken due to neighbourly arguments .

 

 

Dan Cane