Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Fencing Act 1978

Liability for work on a fence

18: Person taking advantage of fence

You could also call this:

“When you use someone else's fence, you might have to pay for it”

If you use a fence that separates someone’s land from a road, and you’re not the owner or occupier of that land, you might have to pay for it. The owner of the land can ask you to pay 10% interest each year on half the fence’s value. This applies if you’re using the fence to your advantage in any way. You’ll need to keep paying this interest as long as you keep using the fence. You’ll also need to help pay for repairs to the fence, just like you would if you owned the land next door.

If the fence becomes more valuable over time, the land owner can ask you to pay interest on the new, higher value. They can do this by sending you another notice, and the same rules will apply to this new notice.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM21868.

Topics:
Housing and property > Land use
Housing and property > Home safety and repairs
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17: Liability for damage caused by occupier, or

“If you break a fence while living on the land, you have to pay to fix it”

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19: Fence erected when occupier of adjoining land exempt from liability therefor, or

“Rules for sharing fence costs when your neighbour wasn't originally responsible”

Part 3 Liability for work on a fence

18Person taking advantage of fence

  1. In any case where there is a fence along the boundary between any land and a road, if a person (other than the owner or occupier or some other person lawfully in possession of that land) adopts or takes advantage of any means by which the fence is rendered of beneficial use to himself, or avails himself of the fence, the occupier of that land may serve on that other person a notice in writing requiring him to pay interest at the rate of 10% per annum on half the value of the fence at the time of the serving of the notice; and, so long as that other person continues to take advantage or avail himself of the fence, he shall be liable to pay that interest to the giver of the notice or his successor in title, and he shall also be liable for repairs to the fence as if he were an adjoining occupier.

  2. In any case where a notice in respect of a fence has been served under subsection (1) and the value of the fence subsequently increases, a further notice in respect of the fence may be served under that subsection and the provisions of that subsection shall apply accordingly in respect of that further notice.

Compare
  • 1908 No 61 s 25