who owns which fence?

Question

I am standing in my back garden, looking towards my house. on the right there is fencing, but no other houses attached. Behind me there is fencing, but no other houses attached. On the left, there is fencing, but one house attached (our house is a semi detached). Who owns what?? I assumed as we have sole ownership of the right and back fences, our next door neighbours will automatically be responsible for the left fence, simply because, if they're not, we are responsible for all three sections of fencing, and may aswell live in a detached property! They are saying we are responsible, but are also telling the people who are attached to their back fence, and their left side fence, that they are responsible too!? So according to them, they have no fencing responsibilities at all!?!?

Answer 1

It is normally the left hand side (as you are looking away from your house) that you are responsible for. It is a good idea to see which side the piers or supports for the fence are on - if the bad side is facing you then odds are on its your fence or you paid for it to be put up.
Check the Deeds for your property to see which is your bounday and then if needs be see Citizens advise to double check which is your responsibility.

Answer 2

You can obtain copies of plat maps from your local municpality. These will show lot lines and so on, however, they are not consider the end all be all when looking to keep your neighbors off your property. As one writer suggested, you can have a survey done to find out the true border of your property. In newer developemnts there are usually pins in the road, steel pins driven into the pavement to mark a point, based on the closet meridian. Consider also that sometimes a neighbor or previous home owner might have built the fence a foot or two onto their own property because they didn't know exactly where the property line was, so just to make sure, they moved it one or two feet onto their property. This can create a problem for one of the property owners, if the neighbor is some kind of inch hungry land grabber. For example, if the previous homeowner of the house you live in built the fence and moved it 2 feet onto your property, then your neighbor MAY technically own the 2 foot strip of land that runs between your properties. There's this thing called, adverse possession, where through no intentional fault of either party the lot line as been skewed, either because of a fence, a brook or stream, a tree root or some other situation and one property owner, because they didn't say or do anything about the situation, loses a small part of their property to the neighbor. In this state, there has to be an adverse problem with the lot line for 10 years for adverse possession to have occured. A fence can be a prime candidate for this. This situation could create quite a stir between neighbors, so I think not mentioning this possibilty to a neighbor is important and considering a survey if you have a question about your lot line. Depending on whose fence it is can be a source of debate when repairs need to be made. In any event, consider a survey, don't mention adverse possession and see where the lot line falls and make your decisions based on that.

Answer 3

Well, did they put up or have any of the fencing put up themselves? If not then how can they be responsible for a single link? If someone put up your left side, and someone else put up your neighbors back, and someone else put up you neighbors other side then it sounds like your neighbors got free fencing. If they did not put up your left fence then it must be all yours. However, If your neighbor did have fencing installed and it was attached to yours then they are or should be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the section they are sharing. Having said that, it may be hard to make them comply even legally. As for the fence being yours if the ugly side is facing you that is not necessarily true. My home is the only fenced yard and the chain link is inside and the poles are on the outside facing away from our property. Both my neighbors know it is my fence even though the ugly side is facing them. I know these things can be frustrating.

Whomever puts up the fence owns it. My fence is mine regardless of which side the posts are on.
Good luck

Answer 4

Rule of thumb If the side of the fence that you are looking at has the fence post and struts on your side then it is your fence. If both fences are asthecially pleasing no fence posts or struts then one belongs to the person living in the house next door the other one you need to find out who owns the ground and get it sorted otherwise it may cause problems if the ground get built on.


Clear as mud...lol but it is true I know!

Answer 5

It may come down to something as simple as whose property the fence sits on. Do you know where your boundary lines are? I live on a farm and it's probably different than just a housing development, but the two farms that join at a property line are mutually responsible for a fence unless it is moved back a distance from the property line.

Answer 6

If there are supports on one side then this indicates ownership as stated above, but often there are not. Just because there are no houses at one side does not necessarily mean you own the fence and unless there are supports on your side, the party fence with your neighbour could be owned by either of you or it could be jointly owned.. You may need to consult your title deeds to be absolutely sure.

Answer 7

Take a look at the deeds for your property - it should show which boundary fences you are responsible for. Otherwise if you are to get along with your neighbour it might be best to agree that you are jointly responsible and share any cost for replacing/repairing the fence equally.

Answer 8

this is the same as us at the front we have a hedge at each side and we end up cutting both and the fences we maintain at the back of the house but everything to the right looking from the road is yours and the left hand side is the neighbours check your deeds and it will tell you ?good luck

Answer 9

When you bought your house your solicitor should have pointed out who is responsible for the various boundaries.
You can contact them to consult your deeds.
As a rule of thumb you are responsible for a fence if the supports are on your side. This is unfortunately of little use if you have one of these new fences with panels and centre supports.
Hope this is of some assistance.

Answer 10

There is no hard and fast rule!
Check your deeds, or check with 'Land Registry'.
We have a wall to the right. Not ours!
A fence to the left. Not ours!
A fence to the rear. Not ours!