Retaining wall
We have a retaining wall which perished long before we purchased. The wall sits on the boundary and originally supported the fence, we are the high side. NSW
We did plan to replace it as soon as we moved in but soon discovered the neighbours are aggressive/awful and it was put in the too hard basket and we moved onto other things.
The neighbours have since asked us to replace the wall at full cost to us (including refusal to pay for fencing). We have been reluctant due to concerns
- full cost on us
- accessing their property to do the work (they gave permission but given their behaviour in past we don’t feel comfortable). However we usually do this kind of work ourselves to make costs manageable
- They have a lot of trees right on the boundary and they will impede working access, we don’t want to be responsible for damaging roots or allow their trees to damage the wall we have paid for. There is also a giant white bird of paradise which currently protrudes through the boundary with limbs cascading about 5m into our property and touching the ground
Yesterday he changed his tune and agreed to pay half for fencing and when I said the retaining wall was a shared responsibility he carried on and said I’ll hear from his solicitor.
My ultimate goal would be 50% cost share on everything.
The reason I think he has responsibility is because he originally sub divided and sold off land.(70s/80s) When he did this he modified the landscape which created the need for the retaining wall. He has also told us that he built the original retaining wall.
Where do we stand in this and how do we address this? We can’t afford to go down a costly legal path and it seems impractical given that money could be used to do the work.