best way to approach neighbours and council re fence & knotweed

[JickieC]

Does anyone have experience of this?

Our back fence needs to be replaced on all three sides. Our landlord put up the fence originally but feels he shouldn't have to foot the bill for all of it again. Which sounds fair enough. To the left of us (as you face away from the house) is council owned and to the right is privately rented. How do we even know who is responsible for what? It seems well murky...

Also the council owned property was riddled with knotweed which the council treated and it seems to be gone from them but has now emerged in our garden! There is also an enormous tree on that property blocking a lot of our light. Does anyone know if it would even be worth contacting the council about these issues and know which area to contact?

I'm know i'm asking a lot but i'm going round in circles trying to figure it out so a tip in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[peterstorm1985]

With regard to the fence, it's worth being aware that there is no legal requirement to even have a fence unless there is a covenant that requires it, or if you have something that needs to be held back (e.g. livestock,pets,children). That means that if your landlord kindly provided a fence then it is his responsibility to maintain it, on the basis of H&S or if it retains your livestock etc. That said, ignorance is a useful tool sometimes so I'd just politely ask the neighbours if they were intending to maintain 'their' fence and see what happens. Obviously if your landlord made any agreement with the neighbours at the time he put the fence up, i.e. that he was only paying for the fence but they still owned it, then the H&S aspect would stay with them, and if it retains any of their livestock you can insist they prevent escape onto your property.

You can apply to the land registry for the title deed (only a few ?s) and it may show which fence belonged to which house in the past (by a 'T'), but it may not. If you are in a row of identical houses it's worth asking the neighbours which of their fences they think they own as that may establish a pattern in the street, if they were built at the same time, but they do change as new owners take on responsibilities by putting up fences and maintaining them regardless of who originally owned the boundary fence.

With regard to the knotweed, if you have evidence that it came from the council property then you could pursue them for allowing it to escape but it raises the question as to where it came from in the first place and I would be very surprised if they did anything unless you went to court, so I wouldn't even bother with that. I'd just try and kill the knotweed yourself. You can eat the new shoots like rhubarb, so they say - never tried it myself.

As to the blocking the light issue - that's just as tough. There are some rights to light inside your property, but they are very limited and you must be able to demonstrate that the light has changed. Again, best to try ignorance and just write to the council. If you can see any 'dangerous' overhanging branches that might be helpful.

[Pugwash]

The left hand side of out house back and front - fences belong to Southwark Council who are the freeholders. Many years ago the back left hand fence rotted and since we had very young children who could access the neighbours garden and escape down the side entrance (onto a main road), we contacted Southwark to replace the fence on grounds of safety. Took many phone calls, letters, over several months before they would put up chain link fencing. I needed to prove that my children's safety was compromised by the lack of a fence and I believe I had to resort to our local MP in the end to get help. We are talking about 50 feet of fencing to be replaced.

[JickieC]

Thanks Peterstorm and Pugwash for taking the time - really helpful! it sounds like try and sort it all out without involving the council - except for possibly that 'dangerous' branch...