Are my neighbours obligated to pay if the fence is repaired / new one put up?

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Guest

Post by Guest »

Bought an old house as a PPoR. The fence is pretty old and needs some attention. Are my neighbours obligated to pay if the fence is repaired / new one put up?

What is the protocol - should I bring the topic up and see what they say?

I mean I can live with it for a couple of years but they have a dog and I have seen it sneak out from gaps. I am not in any rush but want to address the fence at some stage. It is clearly very old with several rotten planks.

How would you approach this is you were in my position?

I meant obligated to share cost.
Nick

Post by Nick »

Talk to them upfront and say you’re interested in repairing/replacing the fence, ask if that’s something their interested in doing, and use phrases like “we can split the costs of blah blah”.
Felicity

Post by Felicity »

There are different laws regarding fences and who pays what in different states. Generally speaking though, best option would be to approach your neighbour and have the conversation with them. I would leave their dog out of it (as you don’t want to get them offside) unless you angle it at them in a way that shows you want to help them keep their dog safe and don’t want to see anything happen if their dog should escape and just focus on the fence being in run down condition and see if they are in a financial position to pay half. When doing the fence, give them input and there may be some compromise on both sides like which colour or who to engage.

If they aren’t able to do it now but would like to in future, maybe set a timeline and let them know you’re going to do what you can on your side of the fence to make your yard secure. If you have to compromise on colour then just paint your side of the fence the colour you want it. So visually, it’s what you wanted and they get what they wanted too.

Win win. Good luck.
Anne-Marie

Post by Anne-Marie »

I suggest you have a chat to your neighbours, if they are like us we were expecting our new neighbours to pop over and have a chat re the 25 year old boundary fence. However, what we didn't expect was the neighbours relatives(??) to come walking up our 45m driveway, through our front yard and down the side of our house without knocking on the door first.
Michele

Post by Michele »

I have horrible neighbours they complained the whole way through our build so we paid for the new fence. We went 1.8m and it was the best money spent.

We can’t see them. I love it
Diana

Post by Diana »

My fence is over 120 years old. Heritage.
Google Dividing Fences Act in your LGA.
But try to maintain civility, it’s so good to avoid bad feelings.
Anna

Post by Anna »

I’d just ask them and mention upfront that you’re not necessarily looking to do it immediately. We spoke with our neighbours when we moved in and they were very keen. We did say we had other higher priorities, but wanted to do it within a year or two and they were on board.


Last bumped by Anonymous on Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:27 am.
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