Who is responsible for fencing, gates or posts that are damaged or broken?
Generally, the boundary fence on the left-hand side when looking at the property on both your back and front gardens belongs to your property and is your responsibility. The fence running across the bottom of your garden is your responsibility, unless it is backing onto a road or path.
If there is a farmer’s field at the bottom of your garden, it may be the responsibility of the farmer to provide adequate fencing if there are livestock there. Futures is only responsible for a fence at the back of your house if there is a public footpath running next to your property on the field.
Futures does not repair gates unless they are on communal land owned by us. All other gates are your responsibility to repair or replace. This includes gates that back onto communal or public land.
Some property complexes, such as bungalows, were built and designed with gates forming access to rear gardens or shared areas, and these remain Futures’ responsibility. A good way to tell is if the posts and gates are painted black. This will indicate that we are responsible. This will only ever be on specific complexes such as sheltered bungalows.
My fence backs on to a communal area, public road, footpath, or land
Futures are responsible for fencing that backs on to any of these areas.
If the fence is dangerous, or anyone might be at risk of harm, then call us to report it so we can make the situation safe as soon as possible.
The gate is broken
We don’t repair gates unless they are on communal land owned by us. All other gates are your responsibility to repair or replace. This includes gates that back onto communal or public land.
The gate post is damaged
Futures will only repair or replace a gate post when it's on the front boundary, either next to a boundary wall or if it's the end fence post where the fence has been built by us to form a boundary between the property and public land, footpath, or road. The gate will still be your responsibility.
The same applies to concrete posts. If the fence doesn’t back on to a communal area, then it is your responsibility.
I would like to mark out my boundary with wire fence
You can make a request, but we will need to do some checks on the boundaries first. Please include the approximate length of the boundary in your request. It may be necessary for the operative to attend initially to inspect the area first, so you might have two visits before it’s completed.
The post and wire marker won’t be a fence - its purpose is to purely mark the boundary. If you want to build a fence, it will be your responsibility to do this on a boundary between neighbouring or adjoining properties and at your own cost.
It is your responsibility to repair any existing fencing and if you want to take down the old fence, you’ll need to do this before we come out to fit the new marker.
How do I report a repair?
You can report a repair to us at anytime, anywhere using My Account or contact us via Live Chat. Let us know when reporting that you’ve followed the advice and what you’ve tried to get it working, this helps us to assess what to do next to get the right person for the job.
