Reply With QuoteDo you own the fence on both sides of the boundary? Normally you only own one side.
Our surveyor has sent the party wall agreement for some planned works and one neighbour has consented but the other is an older chap (in his 90’s) and bless him, is very hard to get any meaningful sense out of. He acknowledges the receipt of the letter from our surveyor but as far as we can understand has not read it in any detail. He has a partner who is a lot more with it but for any important/property matters she defaults to him as the property owner, which isn’t ideal. Any ideas as to how we can progress this?
As an extension to this, we wish to replace the (original and knackered) fence on both sides of the boundary but any attempt to discuss this with said neighbour goes to pot. They seem to be very attached to the 1960s concrete fence posts on their side and seem to ignore our intentions to install new closeboarded fencing (at our cost, may I add). I know we can install whatever we like within our boundary but that would be a last resort. Again, any ideas?
We’re new to this community and everyone has been very welcoming but this neighbour (probably completely unknown to them) is proving tricky. Thank you!
Do you own the fence on both sides of the boundary? Normally you only own one side.
I don’t think the party wall act applies to fences and boundaries
We only own one side of the fence but to be neighbourly we are proposing to pay for a new fence on their side. Presently there is literally nothing save for bare concrete posts and very little privacy.
Party wall has nothing to do with this part of the query.
Has he not got any relatives / visitors you could reach out to?
If a party wall agreement is necessary for construction and the gentleman is elderly it would be worth informing him he has a right to appoint a surveyor of his choosing at your expense. This would protect his interests and would problably improve communication thus helping your situation.Originally Posted by rico
Yes, I am aware of that and the letter from our surveyor states that.
Edit: yes, necessary for construction but not for fencing.
Last edited by rico; 2nd January 2021 at 23:20.
This sounds like more to do with the capacity of the neighbour to make decisions. If he doesn't have capacity to make such decisions, I would have thought the starting point would be a discussion with his partner or close relatives as the implications probably go beyond your issue - at some point Power of Attorney will come into it. But this can be very difficult for families to deal with so not necessarily a straightforward route. If he does have capacity or they won't get involved, a solicitor who is made fully aware of the situation might be your best bet.
The OP had no automatic right to replace the neighbour’s fence, even if he is generously offering to pay.
Assuming the neighbour does have capacity and simply doesn’t want a new fence imposed by a neighbour, he could well just be ignoring the OP to avoid having to say no.
I’m unclear what involving a solicitor would achieve in this scenario apart from souring relations with the neighbour?
The ‘best bet’ is surely for OP to build the fence on his own land?
What's the other planned works?
Are you proposing replacing the concrete posts with timber posts?
Should be in the 'New Posts' sub-forum.
Not ideal but could you position the new fence your side of the boundary butting up to the old posts- you’d only loose a couple of inches of garden- might save a lot of hassle.
That way the guy keeps his posts
This is the solution. It sounds like informed consent from the neighbour will never truly be established and he possibly has an issue with you/your works but is hiding behind apathy or just wants a quiet life so proceed under your permitted rights to erect a fence on your boundary unless there is a right to light issue or similar.
These things are hard. Took us over a year to convince our neighbours for 'us' to build them a new drive and fence !
Its hard to get your head around how someone would not want free expensive work done on there property which benefits and improves the sale value of there property.
I would take your time. The very last thing I would be doing is building it Infront of the existing.
Thinking about it this very thing happened to my mum. She was paying for new fences on both sides but the one neighbour would not let them take down the old concrete posts with wire mesh. Mum had to build on her side in the end. Neighbour still has the proxy fence Infront of the new fence years on.
That why I think the op would be better to erect it on his side- he could be waiting for years and still not get consent
Concrete fence posts might not be attractive but they’re very practical. The moment wood posts go in the ground they start rotting.
I'm am referring to the party wall aspect of the post, not the fence. I should have made that clear.
I did have a chuckle when using postimages to host this image of the posts. As you can see the original (shorter) posts are achieving absolutely sod all in terms of actual fencing, the chainlink has rotted away many moons ago.
I think we will butt up the new fence to the existing posts.
We are doing a loft conversion and adding a dormer on the garden side of the house in addition to moving a small structural wall on the ground floor.
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We are proposing to replace with concrete posts.
Probably easier to do between existing posts if theirs embedded in concrete.
No doubt, but I think the OP's problem is securing permission from the elderly neighbour to utilise these shared posts.
Realise this but he said he would butt them against existing and assumed he meant posts.
In an ideal world we would remove all existing fence materials and install new fencing in the same position. If we are to butt up against their fence posts, we would not utilise the existing posts (they came out rather too easily on our side) and would install new full height concrete posts.
My next door neighbor put of a very nice party wall as he wanted it to match the other side he put up. As he was paying. I had no problem. The middle was done by a new housing division that went up behind me, so he matched his to that.
My other neighbor and I share a chain link fence and as it's in good condition. Have no interest in changing
The old guy. If he's of sound mind and refuses to bother. I'm not sure what you can do. If you got a permit. Even if on your side of the property. He could object that it would ruin his line of sight (if he's prone to wandering in the backyard)
Not sure how high your party fence is. In Canada. Fences are limited to a set height and can not exceed it.
Only choice is offer him a beer and discuss or wait until he pops a artery.
Some are very set in their ways. Curious what the concrete post fence looks like?
Good luck
DON
There’s a picture of it in the thread...
Had to click on the "more added posts" to see the image
Thanks
DON
Only thing you could do is maybe wait until it's a nice warm sunny day and ask them again. Might change there mood a bit. If not maybe just buy the fence and posts and offer them up to show them how it would look a lot better for them without the posts there. If no go then to loose as little space as poss put the new posts between the old ones with the panels touching the old posts.I did have a chuckle when using postimages to host this image of the posts. As you can see the original (shorter) posts are achieving absolutely sod all in terms of actual fencing, the chainlink has rotted away many moons ago.
I think we will butt up the new fence to the existing posts.
Like that, the posts will probably be encroaching on neighbours land.
Get the holes dug, posts in and postcrete. 10mins and you can chuck the soil back in hole. New Posts edge would not go past the middle of the old posts.
New post edge, shouldn't really go past edge (not middle) of neighbour's posts.
I would of thought boundary was dead centre of posts.
I always thought posts were put on fence owners side (not the boundary)...
That’s what I understand too.
Oh right. Never new this.
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