Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Neighbours and fencing 2Mar 11, 2012 6:30 am Landscape Design & Construction http://cherub.squarespace.com/ Re: Neighbours and fencing 3Mar 11, 2012 7:43 am In would say tough to them, they had the grand plan to build a house and with that comes the fact you have to put fencing on it. If they didn't have the money then they shouldn't have started the process. What state are you in? In NSW the law is quite clear. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/LawAccess/ll_lawassist.nsf/pages/lawassist_cantagree Unfortunately the process can be extremely slow. If it was me, and I think I will have the same problem soon when I need to erect fencing around my newly built house, I would just put the fence in then take them to the Local Court to recover costs. Re: Neighbours and fencing 4Mar 11, 2012 8:40 am They do have the right to only contribute 50% of what is considered to be a reasonable quote for the shared fence (ie. the cheapest quote you can get for a fence that satisfies the estate covenant imposed by the developer or council). If you have gone for a more expensive quote or a higher spec fence then you will need to cover the full amount over and above the cheapest quote you and/or your neighbour can source - if you have any cheaper quotes handy from your own search from a fencer then that can give you a baseline figure to work from, otherwise you can try to source a few cheaper quotes yourself. (They will need to be quotes which exactly match the developer's or council's minimum requirements and don't include any "upgraded" or additional materials - if you've gone for an "upgraded" spec for your fence then as mentioned above you will have to foot 100% of the additional cost over and above the cost of the minimum acceptable fence) Having said that your neighbours (50%) contribution towards the cost of the fence is not "optional" or "negotiable" no matter what they might think - one way or another they will be paying their share for the fence eventually (whether it be voluntarily or via court order). However if you are not desperate for the money now then you could just seek an in-principle agreement on paper for them to contribute their share of the cost for now and thrash out the actual payment later on when their finances are sorted out. I think they do have a valid point in that they are just beginning the process and seeking finance (not every home buyer is flush with cash when they enter into the process) so they might very well be strapped for cash at the moment - giving them a little bit of slack now and allowing them to pay their contribution later might lead to a more cordial relationship with them in the future (after all they are going to be your neighbours and it would be nice to be on good terms with all of your neighbours when everybody has moved into their new homes). If you decide to take this more moderate path as opposed to the punitive option of sending a notice to fence and taking it to the courts straight away to compel them to pay now then make sure you follow the guidelines set out in the fencing act for your state to the letter, just in case they renege on the agreement later on. Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: Neighbours and fencing 5Mar 11, 2012 9:54 am You are usually required to contact neighbours before any fencing goes up and enter into negotiations about what fencing etc. and to get something agreed upon. ( get it in writing) if you fence without doing so you could legally ( though not morally) be liable for the entire cost. A lot depends on what state you are in. in WA for example according to teh fencing Act you don't have to fence until you are plate height ( bricking finished) and while you can ask you have no redress to demand half costs from neighbours before they are at this stage of building although most people will give you the money for half the fencing costs as soon as they can, once you give them an invoice. When we built last time we contacted all neighbours, agreed upon a fence. We paid upfront for the lot( yes it was exxy) But we needed a fence because we had a dog. We never got payment from one lot( they elected to rush and put up a fence themselves as well after telling us we could have our fence if we got it up first. It was a company paying for a lot of fencing and they called their fencer and got him to hurry over and just do the fence between us , then return to where he was working on the other side of the estate) so we had a double fence there and we waited for 3 years for payment from one neighbour in the form of a retaining wall he wanted in a certain style. The other 4 neighbours paid us before they had reached plate height which was great. Yes we had 6 neighbours. Fun! As others have said you can only expect half the cost of the cheapest allowable fencing. Anything more is 100% your cost. Re: Neighbours and fencing 6Mar 11, 2012 5:37 pm Thanks guys for all your info and advice. We have come up with a proposal (basically a compromise) which we have put to our neighbour. Basically we said that if he agrees we can get the fencing done now, he can pay us at the commecment of his build (this is when he'd have the loan approved and would of had to supply temp fencing). We still have a high risk of being out of pocket but we just want the fence up ad also don't want a bad relationship with our neighbour. Fingers crossed he agrees (and pays up eventually). Re: Neighbours and fencing 7Mar 11, 2012 5:41 pm kdgirl Thanks guys for all your info and advice. We have come up with a proposal (basically a compromise) which we have put to our neighbour. Basically we said that if he agrees we can get the fencing done now, he can pay us at the commecment of his build (this is when he'd have the loan approved and would of had to supply temp fencing). We still have a high risk of being out of pocket but we just want the fence up ad also don't want a bad relationship with our neighbour. Fingers crossed he agrees (and pays up eventually). Make sure you get it in writing - there are provisions for pursuing legal action if such an agreement is reneged upon by the other party after the fence has been put up. It may very well be that the neighbour in question has a fencing allowance as part of their build contract, so you'll just have to wait and see. Make sure you get everything signed and witnessed though if you can. Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: Neighbours and fencing 8Mar 11, 2012 5:46 pm Good luck with your neighbours. We will have the problem soon and after some of the hassles with our build sometimes you wish it was all a bad dream and you wake up and we are in our new place and all is well. A bank is a place that will lend you money only if you can prove that you don't need it... it depends on the natural ground level, if they excavated their boundary wall needed to be built as a retaining wall. 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