Who Owns A Garden Fence??

[Smowball]

Is there a hard and fast rule or does it vary from house to house? If I stand in my back garden it’s the fence on the left between us and guy next door. It needs repairing in the middle as the gales a while ago have damaged it. There is no problem as in whoever it is will take responsibility, we just don’t know who it is.
Btw we have the ‘good’ side, and next door has the side with all the fencing support posts.

[Bobbisox1]

I was always led to believe it was the one with the post sides that were responsible ?

[bednobs]

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Home-and-Garden/Question1695347-2.html
you asked this before (twice)

[bednobs]

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1710103.html

[Herbgardener]

If you are unsure who owns a boundary fence you can look at any copies of title deeds you have in your possession, or ask the Land Registry for Office Copies and a Title Plan. This plan will show the boundaries to your land as officially registered at the Land Registry.

[Smowball]

Bedknobs I couldn’t find the post/answers lol..... memory like a goldfish lately. X

[bednobs]

who fixed it last time?

[woofgang]

Herbgardener "If you are unsure who owns a boundary fence you can look at any copies of title deeds you have in your possession, or ask the Land Registry for Office Copies and a Title Plan. This plan will show the boundaries to your land as officially registered at the Land Registry." Except that boundaries and fences are two separate things and the location of rarely says anything legal or definite about the other.

[davebro]

It's not always clear or mentioned in deeds. My neighbour (ground floor flat) has just renewed a fence which is on the left of his property looking from the front but the posts are not on his side.

[Buenchico]

As has been said here many times before, there's no hard and fast rule.

However, if you think for a moment about how you'd erect a fence at the front of your property, next to the footpath, you'll probably be able to see that most people erect fences with the posts on 'their' side. (i.e. facing inwards towards their own house). So, if the fence between your garden and that of your neighbour was erected in a similar fashion, it's your neighbour who owns it.

However owning a fence isn't the same as having responsibility for repairing it. Unless (unusually) there's a covenant in the property deeds of one of your houses, requiring the owner to keep the fence in a good state of repair, neither of you is responsible for repairing it.

If, as seems likely, it's your who neighbour actually owns the fence, he's perfectly entitled (subject to the provisions of any covenant, as above) to leave it exactly as it is or to simply remove it altogether. (He could then say to you, "OK, if you want a fence there, you'll have to provide one").

[Herbgardener]

I apologise for attempting to answer a question.
Good bye

[Smowball]

It hasn’t been repaired before by looks of it. It’s literally one section between two main posts but this section is about 10 foot long. He’s put a shed his side tho exactly where the damaged section is so if it’s up to him to repair it will be very hard to get to.

[anneasquith]

Why not offer to pay half of the repair bill ?

[Bigbad]

I don’t remember seeing any title deeds that show who owns boundary fences.
They’ve just got a thick red line on a very small map, showing the property boundaries, and I’ve always thought that was a bit ambiguous.
Plus, when you sell, one of the forms you fill in asks who owns the fences/ hedges/walls surrounding the property.
Any time I’ve bought, the previous owner has stated “don’t know” so I’ve done the same when I’ve sold.

[davebro]

" if it’s up to him to repair it will be very hard to get to."

Surely whoever is repairing the fence will go at it from either side? or both!

[Old_Geezer]

I reckon the one who paid to put it up must own it.

[Khandro]

The fence belongs to the side with the posts. Regardless of laws, this is logical - If you were erecting a fence, you would first put in the posts & then fix the rails or whatever to it without leaving your property, to do it the other way, i.e. fixing on the far side of the posts, you would have to do it from your neighbour's land.

[davebro]

how would you fix panels to a fence from the post side?

[woofgang]

Khandro it may be logical but its not factual proof. Its also worth remembering that owning a fence doesn't mean you have to retain it or maintain it unless there is a covenant to that effect.

[woofgang]

dave "how would you fix panels to a fence from the post side?"

yup. Two differently owned parts of the fence around my garden were replaced last year (I have a biggish L shaped garden, many fence owners) In both cases the fencing blokes had to ask for access to my garden for parts of the job.

[10ClarionSt]

I think OG is spot on, without sitting on the fence over it.