Fencing payment for rented field - should I pay this?

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rosiekelso

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Hello,
I'm in a bit of a dilema as I rent a field from a lovely family however recently I seem to keep getting texts regarding additional payments for things....
At first it was the water bill for the fields, which I was fine about paying and willing did so....however now its about broken fence panels...
I've never had to pay these before and I pay a month amount to rent the field so I'm wondering why I am now being asked to pay for these additional costs??
Also should I be paying for them?
The owner sent me a message yesterday telling me the costs of the posts and stated he had ordered them which I'm extremely annoyed about as I could of sourced them for a cheaper amount else where and I'm also annoyed I'm being pushed into a position where I may have to pay for these!!

Surely like a house you are renting, the owner pays for maintaince not the person renting??

Is this right??
 
Janovich said:
Echo the above.
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Sorry,...we posted at the same time!!

Well if there's nothing down in writing, it's a case of a chat with the owners bringing this subject up and coming to some agreement between yourselves then. I'd also want anything that you do agree in 'down in writing' and to be honest a formal contract drawn up as to what EXACTLY you are responsible for financially, maintenance wise and so on.
 
I would expect to pay for damage I or my horses caused and to leave the area as I found it except for general wear over the year/s.
If you didn't damage the fencing I wouldn't pay.
 
Agree with the above,...but I would expect the fencing to be of a decent standard before moving on and would have brought up any issues with them beforehand.

Hope you sort it all out OP.

If they're looking for you to pay for fencing that hasn't been damaged by your horses since you've arrived, I would say that that's the responsibility of the owners to keep in good repair and not for you to be forking out for...and especially not by just receiving a text saying they've orderered this that and the other and give us your money!!!

A good talk needs to be had between both parties me thinks to resolves matters.
 
Well there is nothing in my contract saying this and tbh I could be charged for alsorts so its got to stop somewhere....at the end of the day if you are paying for a field I would expect the owners to maintain it and part of the rent I pay each month goes towards that maintaince rather then in back pockets...thats what I would expect to do if I was renting my own fields out to owners.
Also on livery yards you dont pay for additional maintance charges as its usually in with the main monthly costs....I think owners would be up in arms if they were being charged tons of extra costs...no one could afford to own a horse....
 
If you are responsible for fencing then surely it should be up to you to source materials and labour (this is how it works with the place I rent) I would be having a word and also asking for reciepts, why do they assume you have enough money at the drop of a hat to replace fencing you didnt know you needed to budget for, many wouldn't.
 
rosiekelso said:
Well there is nothing in my contract saying this and tbh I could be charged for alsorts so its got to stop somewhere....at the end of the day if you are paying for a field I would expect the owners to maintain it and part of the rent I pay each month goes towards that maintaince rather then in back pockets...thats what I would expect to do if I was renting my own fields out to owners.
Also on livery yards you dont pay for additional maintance charges as its usually in with the main monthly costs....I think owners would be up in arms if they were being charged tons of extra costs...no one could afford to own a horse....
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I suppose what it boils down to is how much your monthly rent us a d whether this is a realistic sum for you to consider it an all inclusive rate. The field owners do not have to subsidise your expensive hobby.

I suggest you sit down with them and ask for a more explicit contract to include such things as:
Ground rent
Insurance
What is wear and tear and who pays
What is damage that you should pay
Routine rolling/harrowing/spraying/topping/fertilising
Water useage
Electricity
Etc
 
I pay for anything like that in my field. There was no fencing when i moved in (or when i took it on!) and no stables/yard etc, Maybe that makes it different as i put it all in in the first place yes i have to pay for any repairs wether its damage done by my horse or not.
Id be really annoyed if my landlady started buying stuff then billing me though! Either your responsible which means you purchase and do the work or your not and its up to the LL surely!
 
poiuytrewq said:
Id be really annoyed if my landlady started buying stuff then billing me though! Either your responsible which means you purchase and do the work or your not and its up to the LL surely!
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This, either you are responsible and your sort it yourself or they are, not halfway. was it even mentioned before it was ordered? If my horse damages something on livery I expect to probably have to pay for replacement, if it is wear and tear/rotten posts etc, nope.
 
It depends on your agreement and how much you are paying.

It you get a good deal then paying for extras should be expected.
If you pay average rate then you shouldn't have to pay extras.
Unless your horse keep damaging things then contributing would be fair.

You need to have a serious talk and decide on the details, they can't keep alexia ting you to pay extras you haven't Planned for.
 
Well apparently my horse has damaged 6 panels and 2 posts which will be an additional £30 to my month bill as the owner mentioned he had ordered the replacements...my husband was due to fix any damaged posts at the weekend however I received the text today from the field owner stating this and confirming he didnt want my horse in the main field and hes currently been moved into a small paddock.
There is a footpath running through the field and I can't help but think maybe someone has damaged these rails rather then my horse because he's so lazy and more interested in eating his head bearly comes off the ground so can't imagine he would damage the fence to this extent....
It seems I'm being billed for more and more things recently and I don't have a huge budget to keep just paying out for things at a drop of a hat....especially when I don't even know if its my horse who's caused the damage - its just been judged he has!!

I want to reply in a nice but confident manner as I feel my pockets are going to keep being tugged if I don't make a stand now....all the fencing was in place when I first arrived and some of it was old....there was no mention about additional costs being made regarding fencing if it was damaged and the owner also has his horses usually grazing in the field with mine however he has sent them away to be broken in and they've been away for 3 months....so Im also wondering if some of the damage is old as the posts have fallen in the past due to wear and tear....
 
Well for the sake of peace I would say something along the lines of

' no problem for the £30 although it does remind me that Id like to get our contract a little clearer in who is responsible for additional costs. Could we meet on X to discuss'

Then discuss per my post above. To be fair if you are sharing grazing it sounds more like a grass livery than a rental.

It's generally pretty clear what fencing damage is horse related, and if yours is the only one in the field then you should pay the damaged. It gets trickier if you start sharing grazing - you might want that clarified much more clearly.

Unfortunately horses are expensive creatures and they don't always read the contracts and stick to your budget!
 
Your in a business arrangement .
You need to speak to the owner and as you don't have a contract you will need to come to an agreement about what repair costs you have to meet or whether he raises the rent and covers more costs himself .
If you can't reach an agreement , you move and buy the service from someone else .
I would start looking .
 
I'd also start looking. You need to clear up the issue of your horse not being in the main field. A small paddock won't sustain a horse for any length of time so in the near future you'll be subsidising him with hay. Sounds like an expensive field if you can't use it.
 
what sort of panels are they OP? I'm trying to think of a sort that would add up to £30.

I would agree with saying that it is fine you will pay this time but in future please could you be notified so you can either arrange to share the cost/contribute materials/labour as required now his horses aren't there. But yes if his horses are out there too that is definitely more a livery than field rent and unless direct damage shown I don't think you should be paying.
 
I'm a YO running a very small yard with one livery (DIY).

OP I think you need to clarify ASAP with the owner of this set-up EXACTLY what you as a livery are deemed responsible for paying for.

As someone else has suggested, there are various headings under which you need to clearly establish what YOU are responsible for, and what the owner is responsible for.

Here, if someone's horse damages the fencing that is already there, then I would expect them to at least contribute towards the fencing, BUT it would appear, yes?, that you are being expected to pay for fencing to be erected!!! And this without your being consulted and/or given the opportunity to get the job done cheaper. And if you leave, and have paid for stuff to be done, you're not exactly going to be able to take it with you, are you????

To be perfectly frank I think you are being taken for a fool here. A good YO would have fixed up a contract before you'd moved in, stating what you, and they, are responsible for. Normally the YO is responsible for stuff like fencing - because that is a FIXED thing that the livery can't take with them when they leave.

Just a suggestion: for what its worth. Fix up your own electric fence so that the wooden panel fencing isn't necessary, and tell the YO this is what you're doing. At least you can take that when you leave (or sell it).

And talking of leaving................... personally I think this sounds like a very seedy little set-up, and the owners attitude IMO stinks as much as a dead mackerel.

Start looking around for somewhere else, if you haven't already, and if words are not sufficient give them the timely two-fingered gesture. Think they're taking the P!ss out of you big-time TBH.
 
When you rent a property you are liable for keeping the house as you found it less 'reasonable wear and tear'. As for the water bill I would expect that to be included in the monthly fee unless otherwise stated.
 
LadyRascasse said:
When you rent a property you are liable for keeping the house as you found it less 'reasonable wear and tear'. As for the water bill I would expect that to be included in the monthly fee unless otherwise stated.
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which is true if the landlord isn't living with there with you ;)
 
LadyRascasse said:
When you rent a property you are liable for keeping the house as you found it less 'reasonable wear and tear'. As for the water bill I would expect that to be included in the monthly fee unless otherwise stated.
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Precisely! If OP moved her horse onto the property....... that was as she "found it"; i.e. fencing, etc. and presumably a "rent" was agreed on that basis. Now OP is being asked to stump up cash because YO has decided upon some fencing!

Gosh, set-ups like this annoy me! Because stuff like this gives ALL YO's an extremely bad name, unfortunately we're all tarred with the same brush :(
 
Well I get my husband to fix broken fencing at our rented field but TBH it sounds like the problems with your field run a little deeper than that.

I think you need to have a chat with the owners to clear a few things up starting with - are you renting a field from them and if so, which one or are you a grass livery?
 
rosiekelso said:
Also on livery yards you dont pay for additional maintance charges as its usually in with the main monthly costs....I think owners would be up in arms if they were being charged tons of extra costs...no one could afford to own a horse....
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But you are not on a livery yard, you rent a field - and with that comes associated charges, such as field and fence maintenance.
 
I agree with MiJodhsR2BlinkinTite I think the owner is taking you for a mug. It's clear from what you've posted here that you are a grass livery paying a monthly fee. You shouldn't be paying extras. If you rented the land as a whole then yes you should pay water and fences but you'd also be in charge of all decisions, it would be upto you which fields you use when, upto you to do the work on land/fences and the owners horses wouldn't be there. I would move the horse and refuse to pay the extras.

IMO horses only damage fencing in the course of their everyday living (excluding vices like cribbing) if those fences were already very old and rotten anyway. I've been on many yards with awful fencing rotten posts loose wire etc and horses haven't knocked it over by scratching bottoms or leaning through for better grass.
 
Based on the fact that your horses usually share with the owner of the fields horses, you are a grass livery and don't rent a field. As a grass livery you should not be liable for fencing costs.
In the past I rented a field from a farmer. The original fence went round 3 sides, and the 4th side was put up to stop ours getting into the bit with the machinery. If anything went wrong with the outer fence, he fixed it (not that it did in 4 years) if anything was wrong with the other bit it was out problem. My current field rent situation, the farmer has said she is happy to fix whatever needs doing, but she also does this for the cattle farmers that rent from her too.
I would be saying that I was a bit surprised they have suddenly started giving you bills for things, and ask for clarification as to what they view you as, a livery or a renter, and ask for a more specific contract.
 
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