Laws on garden boundaries, fences etc

[Thulsa Doom]

Last week, a small herd of cattle decided my grass was greener and ventured over/through a fence at the bottom of my garden.

They ate quite a bit of my hedge and made a nice mess of the lawn at the bottom part of the garden.  Luckily they were spotted and never made it up to the main part.

The livestock owner is renting the field from another farmer.

Who would you say is responsible for fixing the fence?
The livestock owner thinks it is between me and the field owner :blink:!

Bits and pieces I've read say it is up to the renter and tennant to ensure the perimeter of the field is adequate to contain livestock, which to me sounds about right.

I'm not too bothered about the lawn (I can fill in the holes and re-seed) and the hedge will recover, but the fence is knackered and I'm not convinced I should have to stump up for all/part of it's repair.

[Penfold]

I owuld agree with the livestock owner that it's the responsibility of the landowner - be it the farmer or you. tennants, as a rule, are not responsible for the infrastructure (I think).

Knowing who is responsible boundaries is a tough one. Sometimes it can be show on the land registry but often not. for instance a row of houses it tend to be the left hand side that you take responsibilty for.

Having a look back through your deeds (and associated covenants) may well  give you the information relating to who is responsible for what boundary.

However I think you'll have a hard time claiming as even if the boundary is not your responsibility I'm not sure how enforceable it is to make others make their boundaries secure.

Also, no doubt, Scottish Law is very different (as it is with house-buying) than it is in England so all this may well be moot anyway :blink:

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/mainboundaries.htm

PEN

[Penfold]

more stuff:

                                     Whose fence is it ?                                                                          
                                   
                                                                           The only sure                                     way of knowing who owns the physical                                     feature used as a property boundary is                                     if its ownership is stated in your                                     title certificate or deeds of                                     conveyance. It may be expressed in                                     writing, but it is sometimes shown on                                     the plan instead by a T-mark:                                     this takes the form of a letter "T",                                     repeated around the edge of the                                     property, with the base of the "T"                                     against the boundary and the whole of                                     the "T" inside the property that owns                                     the fence. If neither owner can find                                     such evidence, then you cannot tell                                     who owns the fence or is liable for                                     its repair.
                                   
                                     If the deeds                                     are silent on the question of                                     ownership of the boundary then you                                     may have to work on the basis of the                                     information given in the seller's                                     property information form by the                                     vendor at the time you bought your                                     property.
                                   
                                     It is                                     sometimes possible to infer who is                                     responsible for a fence by                                     establishing the pattern of fence                                     ownership along the same side of the                                     street.
                               

           

                                   The principle                                     that "the tidy side of the                                     fence faces the outside world                                     whilst the structural or less                                     attractive side faces its owner"                                     cannot be relied upon to identify the                                     owner.                                     There is                                     no law that I am aware of that says                                     the structural side of the fence must                                     face the fence's owner. In fact, for                                     close-boarded fences it is more                                     appropriate for the supporting rails                                     to face the neighbour. This is because                                     when it comes to maintenance, the                                     boards will be prised onto the fence                                     owner's land rather than pushed onto                                     the neighbour's land with implications                                     of encroachment and issues of                                     safety.
                                   
                                                                          What you should do
                                     When the time comes to replace a                                     decaying fence whose owner cannot be                                     definitely identified, he who is                                     willing to pay for the repairs is the                                     one who dictates what the new fence                                     will look like (within any constraints                                     of planning regulations or restrictive                                     covenants).


edit: Do you still have your conveyancing paperwork relating to your property purchase?.... You probably won't have the deeds (unless you don't have a mortgage or have a pvt one) but the paperwork and especially the sellers information form may well be the easiest recourse for you. Have a look through that and it may well tell you.

[DuVeL]

Have to post this, copy the boundarysigns we have on MH and so and instead of a CT or T add a sheep. All trespasers will be slayed. :norty:
 
For the rest what Pen is on also counts for the NL quit a bit.
A phonecall towards your local counsil (from the mayorsoffice) or so might help out?

[T-Bag]

Since his livestock damaged your property ask him to repair any damage that he has caused. If it were his childeren destroying your fence that would be reasonable so I don't feel that he should be held any less responsible for his livestock.
As for general boundary maintainance the land owner would most likely be accountable. So if he is renting a field to a farmer he should make sure the land is suitable for the purpose for which it is sold. If you rent a house the landlord is responcible for maintainance so this should follow for a field too.
Try not to escalate the trouble too quickly, demands and threats will do little to resolve this. Show that you are unhappy and that you've been inconvenienced, hopefully that should be enough to resolve things. When people go on the defensive they become very uncooperative about boundaries.

[delanvital]

Damaged was caused by the livestock. Whoever is responsible for the livestock would have to remedy. Land ownership is not an issue. If sheep owner thinks this issue is with the land owner, perhaps because fencing of the land is the land owners issue, he the owner of the live stock would STILL have to settle damages with you first - and can then regres (don't know English word) towards land owner if case seems viable. And that is not your problem. If he stalls, charge him. My 2 cents.

[sheepy]

imo, it is the responsibility of either of the person leasing the land or the owner, not u. simply put tell them that u are not responsible to any harm comming to the animals when they are on ur land.

this is fact according to the law as far as i know.

i may be talking b*****ks, it is my birthday and ive been on the ****!

[Jamoe]

When ever I've seen farm fields joining onto private gardens, there have usually been 2 fences, 1 that belongs to private owner and a second that the farmer puts up (usually electrified or barbed). I assume farmers do that for a reason, but it might be worth talking to a solicitor to get the best advice.


I take it the fence is yours, if so pull it up, if the cows wonder onto you property shoot them and bring steak to the LAN. :norty:

[Thulsa Doom]

I take it the fence is yours, if so pull it up, if the cows wonder onto you property shoot them and bring steak to the LAN. :norty:

I'm going to ask the farmer for half of the profit(hah) when he sells the animals, they've got plumper with my grass .

[Penfold]

I missed the bit about the animals pushing through the fence - I agree with t'others in that if his livestock cause the damage then he's liable.

PEN