Fence Expense!

[Shandylou]

I’ve been in my property for a year and on that year we have had an approximate metre long gap in the fence to a neighbouring property. Having dogs it was frustrating having to keep them on leads to stop them going next door and assuming it was my responsibility since it was left so long, I replaced the fence at my expense. I have since realised it wasn’t my responsibility. Am I able to claim reimbursement from the neighbour since they left it to go into disrepair? Would it be worth pursuing?

[PallasAthena]

Almost certainly not worth pursuing.

It's often not clear from Land Registry documents and plans who is responsible for maintaining boundary fences but even if you could prove that the neighbour was responsible you went ahead without consulting him.

Unless there are covenants requiring the neighbour to erect and maintain the fence he may not have been obliged to maintain it even if he originally put it there

Legal action over boundary fence disputes are very good at destroying good- neighbour relationships but less good at resolving issues.

Nothing to stop you mentioning it informally and see what he says.

[wales01man]

I’ve been in my property for a year and on that year we have had an approximate metre long gap in the fence to a neighbouring property. Having dogs it was frustrating having to keep them on leads to stop them going next door and assuming it was my responsibility since it was left so long, I replaced the fence at my expense. I have since realised it wasn’t my responsibility. Am I able to claim reimbursement from the neighbour since they left it to go into disrepair? Would it be worth pursuing?

With respect how much did it cost to repair/replace the fence?

[Shandylou]

£800

[atticus]

What led to the realisation that repairing the fence was not your responsibility?

[Shandylou]

Completely my fault. I interpreted the deeds wrong.

[wales01man]

What led to the realisation that repairing the fence was not your responsibility?

800 for 1 metre thats 20 pounds per inch run?

[atticus]

Much as I enjoy pulling teeth, what do the deeds say?

[PallasAthena]

800 for 1 metre thats 20 pounds per inch run?

I understood OP to mean that they had replaced the whole fence (not just the 1 metre gap)

[atticus]

800 for 1 metre thats 20 pounds per inch run?

Or £8 for 1 centimetre.

[Shandylou]

Apologies the gap was probably more between 1.5-2 m, however, there was a considerable amount of work either side of that with concreting and stabilising the area due to the amount of neglect. It was 2 days work from the labourer with similar quotes when gathering. I think I’ll just leave it to keep the peace but annoyed at myself in the first instance and also at my neighbours who knew they were responsible and kept quiet.
For ref: the deeds on the plans are marked with a ‘T’ on the fence with whom are responsible. I interpreted it the wrong way hence the mistake.