If Your Fence is Damaged, Who is Responsible?

The UK is currently taking a battering from yet another storm, Storm Isha, and with Storm Jocelyn reported to quickly follow, it looks like there will not be any let up any time soon.

The effect of the storms is not only an inconvenience to some, with cancelled trains and flights, but storms like Isha, also cause property damage. And a lot of homeowners' concern will be their fences.

If your fence is damaged, who is responsible for it?

During the course of your house purchase, your conveyancer will point out the boundary responsibilities for your property. Sometimes the boundary responsibility will be referred to in the registers of title, and will simply state that the property owner is responsible for (for example) “the northwestern boundary”. Or it may be referred to in an old Conveyance or Transfer document with inward “T” marks. These are shown inside the property boundary and denote that you would be responsible for that fence. If there is also a “T” mark on the neighbouring property as well as yours, this means that the boundaries are shared. Sometimes, however, the title is silent as to which property is responsible for each boundary fence. If there is no indication in the title or any old documents as to boundary responsibility, it will be deemed to be shared.

So, there may not be a definitive answer in the title to your property in respect of who needs to repair damaged fences. If there isn’t, and the boundary responsibility is therefore deemed to be shared, remember to approach your neighbour calmly and keep your relationship amicable. They are likely to be as frustrated by the damage caused by the storm, and working together to find a solution is always much better than creating animosity with the person who lives next to you.

This blog was written by Sarah Workman, Conveyancing Manager based in our Leamington Spa office. She is rated 5/5 stars on ReviewSolicitors with a total of 53 reviews. To see more, click here.