Hello everyone,
We have attached our semi-detached house in Fulda (Hessen) to an existing, already completed semi-detached house. We are currently at the shell construction stage, and the windows are scheduled to be installed in three weeks. Until now, our plot was undeveloped.
Our soon-to-be neighbor recently approached us, saying that he would like to install a fence between the two semi-detached houses and has already spoken with a local landscaping contractor. He intends to fence his entire property and wants to start soon so that the garden can be used in the summer.
He approached me and said it is common for neighbors of semi-detached houses to share the cost of the fence placed in the middle and would like to have a joint discussion with me and his landscaper regarding the type and implementation of the fence. I honestly can hardly imagine that he would want anything different in the middle than what he chooses for the rest of his property.
To be honest, I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am already occupied with the shell construction, and garden planning is still quite far off. Frankly, I don’t currently have the time or financial capacity to also deal with garden planning. It should be noted that his house is slightly elevated compared to ours, so the terrace and garden level come into play.
Apparently, in Hessen, there is an obligation to enclose the property at the neighbor’s request...
"According to the Hessian Neighbor Law, the owner of a developed or commercially used property is obliged, upon request by the owner of the neighboring property, to enclose their property as long as the border to the neighboring property is not occupied by a building. If both properties are developed or commercially used, the owners of both properties are mutually obliged to cooperate in the construction of the enclosure (§ 14 HNRG)."
However, the fact is that we do not want a fence at all, and if anything, we would prefer a hedge or something similar, but not a conventional fence (which is also a permitted enclosure in Hessen). I also wonder if the neighbor can really put us under such pressure just because he wants to start NOW. He should be free to do what he wants on his own property, and I would never have thought of asking him to cover costs for a privacy screen or hedge that I might prefer.
Has anyone in Hessen experienced something similar?
Thanks
We have attached our semi-detached house in Fulda (Hessen) to an existing, already completed semi-detached house. We are currently at the shell construction stage, and the windows are scheduled to be installed in three weeks. Until now, our plot was undeveloped.
Our soon-to-be neighbor recently approached us, saying that he would like to install a fence between the two semi-detached houses and has already spoken with a local landscaping contractor. He intends to fence his entire property and wants to start soon so that the garden can be used in the summer.
He approached me and said it is common for neighbors of semi-detached houses to share the cost of the fence placed in the middle and would like to have a joint discussion with me and his landscaper regarding the type and implementation of the fence. I honestly can hardly imagine that he would want anything different in the middle than what he chooses for the rest of his property.
To be honest, I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am already occupied with the shell construction, and garden planning is still quite far off. Frankly, I don’t currently have the time or financial capacity to also deal with garden planning. It should be noted that his house is slightly elevated compared to ours, so the terrace and garden level come into play.
Apparently, in Hessen, there is an obligation to enclose the property at the neighbor’s request...
"According to the Hessian Neighbor Law, the owner of a developed or commercially used property is obliged, upon request by the owner of the neighboring property, to enclose their property as long as the border to the neighboring property is not occupied by a building. If both properties are developed or commercially used, the owners of both properties are mutually obliged to cooperate in the construction of the enclosure (§ 14 HNRG)."
However, the fact is that we do not want a fence at all, and if anything, we would prefer a hedge or something similar, but not a conventional fence (which is also a permitted enclosure in Hessen). I also wonder if the neighbor can really put us under such pressure just because he wants to start NOW. He should be free to do what he wants on his own property, and I would never have thought of asking him to cover costs for a privacy screen or hedge that I might prefer.
Has anyone in Hessen experienced something similar?
Thanks
Arauki11 schrieb:
Interesting, keep us updated.After a few days, it turned out that the fence has actually already been commissioned and the landscape gardener is just starting to install it. It will be an RAL 7016 wire mesh panel fence matching his windows (not ours, by the way). The entire property is commissioned to be fenced all around. I told the landscape gardener to please install the fence also on the neighbor’s property, as that was not my order.
What does this tell us? Interest in a joint solution? Unfortunately not. Make the new neighbors pay directly for their own fence and request? Gladly! I will let it run for now. Let’s see when he contacts me next, and then I will unfortunately have to tell him that I will not contribute to his desired fence without having discussed the execution beforehand. At most, half a chain-link fence. Maybe that settles the issue and he pays for it completely on his own. We will see.
I’d say this: consciously matching the color to the existing window frames seems rather unusual to me, especially since the standard colors are usually limited to 2-3 options; I personally wouldn’t have any issues with that.
I also wouldn’t accept or participate in the approach you described. According to my own preferences, I would contribute to the common boundary with planting (in a way that makes sense and looks nice to you) and let him know that—neither in a spiteful nor angry way.
Basically, there’s an advantage: the fence belongs to him, and the plants belong to you. Everyone is responsible for their own things—that’s what I would tell him.
Getting into deeper discussions with him probably won’t help. Over time, however, things can settle into a reasonably tolerable coexistence if you don’t open a can of worms now but remain calm and factual about your decision, just as he is doing. Eventually, the anger or lack of understanding will fade, and you’ll live side by side.
We had a few annoying experiences as well—not serious, but things that really made you shake your head. Such intrusions ended when the buildings and surrounding areas were finished.
It’s strange, indeed. I wouldn’t pay anything because it’s on his side and belongs to him alone—so why should I? I would have done it differently, but he did it his way, so the consequence is that he pays for it alone. Giving him anything won’t make him feel any better, so that should be clearly settled now.
I also wouldn’t accept or participate in the approach you described. According to my own preferences, I would contribute to the common boundary with planting (in a way that makes sense and looks nice to you) and let him know that—neither in a spiteful nor angry way.
Basically, there’s an advantage: the fence belongs to him, and the plants belong to you. Everyone is responsible for their own things—that’s what I would tell him.
Getting into deeper discussions with him probably won’t help. Over time, however, things can settle into a reasonably tolerable coexistence if you don’t open a can of worms now but remain calm and factual about your decision, just as he is doing. Eventually, the anger or lack of understanding will fade, and you’ll live side by side.
We had a few annoying experiences as well—not serious, but things that really made you shake your head. Such intrusions ended when the buildings and surrounding areas were finished.
It’s strange, indeed. I wouldn’t pay anything because it’s on his side and belongs to him alone—so why should I? I would have done it differently, but he did it his way, so the consequence is that he pays for it alone. Giving him anything won’t make him feel any better, so that should be clearly settled now.
Nice-Nofret schrieb:
.... You don’t have to leave space behind the hedge for trimming; the neighbor is allowed to cut back anything that extends onto their property. But then that becomes the next point of conflict.
When we still had our old solid wooden fence, ivy and shoots from various plants regularly grew over to the neighbor’s side along a width of about 2 meters (6.5 feet). I trimmed it regularly but sometimes didn’t notice it pushing through the fence again. On the other side was an old, broken (according to the neighbors) section of picket fence. They kindly asked us to please cut back our ivy so their fence wouldn’t get any more damaged. That was a given for us, and the matter was settled.
Shortly after, we noticed small amounts of shrub cuttings left regularly exactly at that spot. Sometimes just a few leaves, sometimes individual shoots. Eventually, by chance, we saw that the neighbor was cutting the shoots from our plants on their side and throwing them back over the fence. And they kept doing this repeatedly. I once caught her in the act and confronted her, but only got a few sharp replies. Since I already knew she was moving out at that time, I didn’t want to start any more arguments. Later, we found out they had been doing the same to other neighbors….
Some people are just like that. Rather than letting a neighbor dispute escalate over this, I simply plant a little further away from the fence, and that solves the problem.
C
chand198625 Mar 2025 16:28HGZT2025 schrieb:
The entire property is to be fenced all around. I told the landscaping contractor to please install the fence on the neighbors’ property as well, since that is not part of my contract. Exactly. But make sure to also check that this is actually done.
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