Council now deny ownership of broken fence

[BreadAndButter]

a year ago the council came out and replaced a fallen down rear fence to the right of our property which is council. (both sides are council, i am private).

To the left, my law society document i received on completion states I own this. This is how it has been for some time for general repairs.

They both blew down this year and i replaced the whole fence on the left, replaced out front and out of courtesy replaced next doors front fence as it was a terrible state.

next doors stays down and I get a bill from the council stating:

a) The fence is part owned and I need to pay £600 half of the fee to replace

b) If i replaced the fence to the left, this would also be shared and although i have taken the full bill for replacement they will not be contributing as i didnt contact them first.

The thing is they ALREADY replaced the fence last year, so they have surely admitted ownership at least once and im tempted to send them an invoice for the left

My land registry doc just shows basic borders, nothing to state ownership.

I dont know where i stand now as i need to reply to them and the neighbour is getting frustrated they still have a fence on their lawn ( ive offered to dismantle it for them).

On a side note they also said i could ask a contractor to do it and charge them back - im tempted to contract myself out!

...

My initial draft:

 

Dear xxxx

 

Thank you, xxxx, for your letter  regarding [address] boundary fence which has had wind damage.

 

I have checked the deeds that came when we purchased and the official Law society legal document that comes with the house states I own the whole left boundary of the property and it is my right to keep in in form, it states the neighbour (council) is responible for the right.  This has always been the case and I have done just that and more so.

 

A few weeks ago the whole fence came down. I replaced the whole length with new posts, concrete footings and panels. 

I also replaced number xx's fence out front (yours) as it was in a bad state of repair for good will as I know they are an elderly couple living in a council home.

I also replaced the panels for boundary number xx out the front as again they were rotting away which im now being told by you, are joint owned.

 

So, based on this, there is a general good will between our neighbours and we were all in agreement and I go beyond where needed.

 

My neighbour came over to let me know he couldnt get the fence rapaired as per last time and he had contacted you to be told 'its all changed' and now I was somehow responsible for it aswell. Nothing has been agreed by me to 'change' and you do not have the right either.

 

Last year this was reenforced further when the fence we strongly believe you own, blew down. Next door quickly responded to the council who came out and repaired it.  This compounds the fact the council owns this fence as they have already admitted liability and paid for the work in the past.

 

So, based on this, I do not agree with your demands for £367 to resolve the return of contractors to replace the fence again.

 

On that, as this fence was repaired once by the council already, I would  go back and check what was paid for as it has blown down again - they may need to investigate the quality of workmanship with the contractors who carried out the work and have them come out and re-do/finish the job. The reason the fence has come down is the post are rotten - so why were they not assessed and replaced at the time of the others?

 

I will also be sending on a copy of this letter to my local councillor and a further follow up letter to the MP for xxx to demand these sort of events are clarified. I suggest you escalate internally this matter to your council contact as it is not clear if you are just property management or owners of the property, in which case the official owner will need to be contacted to agree, again, to replace the fence.

 

Peter Thompson

Owner of [my address].

[honeybee13]

Your post has been edited, you might like to check that what you wanted edited has been removed now.

Fwiw, you can only edit your own posts in the first 10 minutes or so after posting.

HB

[BreadAndButter]

thanks all good.

Ill get it sent as I need to progress the issue.

[dx100uk]

you need to spell check it

lots of mistakes

dx