Clearer and simpler fence laws on the way

The Victorian Coalition Government is today bringing legislation into Parliament to make the law on fences clearer, simpler and fairer.

“The new laws will, for the first time in Victoria, establish clear rules and procedures that neighbours can follow when negotiating the type and location of their boundary fence,” Attorney-General Robert Clark said.

“The new laws will also clearly set out the obligations of adjoining owners, make it easier to find out the address details of absentee neighbouring owners, and give clearer procedures for resolving disputes and recovering contributions from neighbours.”

Under the legislation:
•where adjoining owners are both required to contribute to the cost of a dividing fence, the owners will generally be required to contribute equally to a sufficient dividing fence;
•criteria are set out to determine what sort of fence will be considered sufficient based on factors such as any existing fence, the type of fence usual in the neighbourhood and the purposes for which the neighbours are using their land;
•if an owner wants a more expensive fence than a sufficient fence that owner must pay the extra cost;
•an owner will be required to first seek the agreement of their neighbour before building a fence, even if they don’t want the neighbour to share the cost;
•rules are set out for carrying out and paying for urgent fencing works;
•local councils will be authorised to provide the name and address of an absentee owner so a neighbour can serve a fencing notice;
•if a neighbouring owner can’t be found or doesn’t respond to a fencing notice, the other neighbour can proceed with the fence and obtain a court order for the first neighbour’s share of the costs;
•clear rules are included to answer questions such as which side of the fence the rails and framing should be built on; and
•procedures are set out for doing a boundary survey if neighbours cannot agree where the common boundary is located.

If parties cannot agree informally about a new or replacement fence, a neighbour will be able to give a specified notice to the other neighbour setting out details of a proposed fence type and location, estimated cost and proposed cost-sharing basis.

If the neighbours then can’t reach agreement, either owner will be able seek an order from the Magistrates’ Court specifying what fence should be built and how the costs should be shared.

“Unfortunately, fencing disputes have been common in Victoria and complaints about neighbourhood fencing disputes are increasing”, Mr Clark said.

“This Bill seeks to reverse the trend by providing a clearer framework for settling fencing arrangements privately and, if disputes arise, resolving them quickly.”

In 2012-13 fencing disputes represented the greatest number of calls to the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria, with 6,611 inquiries.

The new laws follow public consultation on a discussion paper released in late 2012, and build on a 1998 report by the Parliamentary Law Reform Committee, which recommended a range of changes to the Fences Act 1968.