Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
fence repair responsibility
Hi. We live next to one of those HMOs.
Our neighbour's house is an end of terrace and the landlord is happy to maintain the fence on the left hand side of the garden. We live on the right hand side, and, going by our neighbours we maintain the fence on our right, but, up until now, the landord has always maintained the fence on our left (on his/her right, like all the other houses). Unfortunate for the landlord, but, it seemed logical to me that one end of a set of terrraced houses is going to be responsible for repairing two fences.
With me so far?
Anyway, the fence on our landlord's side has been deteriorating, and although it used to be kept OK, it is no longer, so those heavy winds a while back did some damage to a couple of panels. The landlord via their agent has said that they will only contribute half of the cost of the maintenance of this fence.
I have done lots of emailing but there does not seem to be anything I can do. Our deeds are very sketchy on which side of the garden is our responsibility, but we have just gone by what our neighbours and near neighbours do. I have asked neighbours on the other side if their deeds are any clearer, but apparently not. Of course, the landlord will not tell us what is written on their deeds. I have rung the council and they say it is up to the two households to sort out themeselves. They have no jurisdiction.
I just want to sort this with the least cost, plus we are on good terms with the ground floor tenants. They keep the garden very nicely and I feel bad about the fence which is more visible on their side, and a real eyesore. At the same time, if we repair the two panels and share the expenses, then we effectively admit joint responsibility for ever and are committed to hundreds of pounds of expenditure in the future. It costs enough keeping up the fence on our right and the fence at the end of the garden, which now needs renewing again as well.
Anyone got any bright ideas? Presumably no point asking the advice of a councillor if there is no real right or wrong. And stupid to get legal advice, which would end up spending money on the fees not the fence, I would imagine.
Anyway, I think I feel better just getting it off my chest. I expect we will just have to give in and share the costs.
Any suggestions very welcome.
Thanks
Richard
Tags for Forum Posts: fence responsibility, neigbours
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by markb on
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You can get the landlord's deed via the land registry. Not free (£3-£7).
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/faqs/how-can-i-get-copies-of-...
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Not perhaps what you want to hear, but if your neighbour has offered to pay half you're lucky.
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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Each house is only responsibible for only one fence if that's in the deeds. Some houses never were made with any fences so nothing in the deeds so both fences are then usually taken as equal responsibility.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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I thought it was usual that if the posts are on your side then it is 'your' fence and therefore you areresponsible for it. If the posts are on neighbours side then it is 'their' fence.
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Not the case with our road, fences were not the order of the day when the house was built, it was just common back lands and over the years different people having put in different fences with no obvious understanding of that concept. So today both sides are shared because there is nothing written down anywhere.
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Ahh I see, actually I think that is the case where we live. Part of our fence was blown down in the storm, we think it was actually the neighbours fence but they didn't seem too bothered so my partner just replaced it because we didn't want an eyesore.
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But with the common shiplap fences the panels are nailed between the posts so there is no obvious " your " side or " their " side.
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Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on
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Is it a Ladder house? If so, I think this information is included in the "stipulations" for the building, which were laid down when Harringay Park was carved up into plots for auction to ensure that the individual builders made the houses all to more or less the same style and quality. Unless someone else with a copy has a chance to look more quickly, I'll try to look at my copy of the auction map that we (a consortium put together on this site) bought about eighteen months ago when I get home to see if my memory is correct. The stipulations should also be in the deed documents, but I know old papers can get lost - however, the stipulations were generally laid out in full (i.e. in relation to all the houses) in each house's deeds, so if a near neighbour has a copy in their deeds relating to the plots sold at the auction your land was sold at (and assuming my memory is correct and the boundary info is in there!), it should have the info you need relating to your house too.
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Permalink Reply by Richard on
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Thanks for all the advice . The street is Umfreville on the ladder. We are next door to the house that is next to the house next to the stenchpipe where Harringay Passage starts
I have some nice deeds with coloured in coloured plots and the modern equivalent. Both refer to us being responsible for the garden side marked with a T. However there is no T marked anywhere on the plan.
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I didn't get a chance to look at the auction map last night, but Umfreville is on either our map or the one from the auction before. Hopefully if it's on our map, it will shed some light - I'll have more time to take a look this evening.
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