Who is responsible for fences in a community or neighbourhood scheme?

Fences cause more polite disagreements between neighbours than almost anything else in community living. Who pays? Who organises it? Can the association tell you what colour it has to be? In an estate where you own your own house and land but share the roads, parks and pool, the answer sits across two sets of rules — and it is easy to assume the wrong one applies.

This guide breaks it down by scenario, in the order the question usually comes up. Community, precinct and neighbourhood schemes are governed by the Community Land Management Act 2021 (NSW) and the Community Land Development Act 2021 (NSW), while the fence itself is still dealt with under the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) — the same Act that applies to any home in the state.

Start here: whose land is the fence on?

Every fencing question in a community scheme starts with one distinction:

• Association property is the shared land the association owns and looks after on everyone’s behalf — the estate entry, roads, parks, the pool surrounds, the perimeter.
• Your lot is your own house and land. In most community and neighbourhood schemes this is ordinary Torrens-title land, so you own your yard and the fences around it, just like a standalone house.

Once you know which side of that line the fence sits on, the rest follows. Your managing agent can confirm it from the plan for your scheme if you are not sure — it is worth checking before anyone spends money.

Fences between two homes.

A fence between two lots — your backyard and your neighbour’s — is the shared responsibility of the two of you. The association is not involved and does not pay. In practice:

• Costs: the cost of repairing or replacing the fence is split evenly between the two owners (Dividing Fences Act 1991, ss 6–7).
• Obligations: both owners are responsible for keeping the fence in reasonable condition.
• Standard: you are each up for a “sufficient” fence (s 4) — one that reflects the existing fence, how the land is used, privacy, and what is normal for the area. In an estate, the fencing standard in your management statement is a strong guide to what counts as sufficient.
• Disputes: if you cannot agree, there is a formal process — see below.

Key points to note.

• If one owner damages the fence, whether deliberately or through carelessness, that owner can be liable for the whole cost of putting it right (s 8).
• If one owner wants something better than a sufficient fence — a taller fence for privacy, or a more expensive material — that owner pays the difference (s 7).
• If the fence is a pool safety barrier, the cost sits with the pool owner (Swimming Pools Act 1992, s 33).

Fences between your home and shared land.

Where your boundary backs onto association property — a walkway, a park, the pool area — the association steps into the shoes of the “other owner”. Section 229 of the Community Land Management Act 2021 says that for fencing purposes the association is treated as the owner of that land. So the cost is shared the same way it would be with any neighbour: half to you, half to the association.

Example. Your courtyard backs onto the estate’s central park. The fence needs replacing. You and the association each contribute half, and the association’s share is funded by the scheme.

One difference worth knowing: where the fence sits on association property, the association is not just sharing a cost — it has a legal duty to keep it in good repair. Section 109 of the Community Land Management Act 2021 requires associations to properly maintain association property and keep it in a good and serviceable state. That duty is strict, and an owner who suffers a foreseeable loss because it was not met can claim damages. It works the same way as the equivalent duty for apartment blocks (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, s 106).

The estate’s outside boundary.

The perimeter fence — between the estate and whatever is next door — is the association’s responsibility, not any individual owner’s, even if it runs along the back of your yard. The association is the “owner” for fencing purposes and shares the cost evenly with the neighbouring landholder under the Dividing Fences Act 1991.

One common exception. Councils and public authorities are not required to contribute (s 25). If your estate backs onto a public reserve, park, road or Crown land, the scheme generally wears the full cost. It is worth planning for that in the capital works fund rather than discovering it when the fence fails.

What your management statement can require.

This is the part that surprises people, and it has no equivalent in an apartment block. Under the Community Land Development Act 2021, your community management statement can include by-laws setting the architectural and landscaping style of the estate, including fencing — a set height, material, colour or type, so the estate keeps a consistent look.

The practical effect: check the management statement before you order anything. A fence you pay for entirely still has to comply with the estate’s standard. Building one that does not can mean taking it down again. Changing those style by-laws is possible, but usually needs a special resolution at a general meeting.

Retaining walls are a separate question.

Retaining walls cause a lot of confusion, especially in sloping estates where they are everywhere. The short version: a retaining wall is not a fence. The Dividing Fences Act 1991 does not treat it as a dividing fence, so the even cost-sharing rules simply do not apply.

Responsibility usually turns on who benefits from the wall and what caused it to be needed:

1. If the wall supports or protects association property, the association is generally responsible.
2. If it benefits only one lot — holding up that owner’s yard, for instance — that owner is typically responsible.
3. If someone changed the natural ground level and that is why the wall exists, that history matters. Survey reports, the plan for the scheme and an engineer’s assessment are often needed to work it out.

Where a wall and a fence sit together — a common arrangement — they can have two different owners. Getting advice early is cheaper than arguing about it later.

How to raise a fencing issue.

If you need a neighbour or the association to contribute, there is a set process. Following it protects you if the matter ever goes further.

4. Check the management statement for the fencing standard and any approval you need.
5. Talk to the other side first — your neighbour, or your managing agent for association-property fences — and get a quote you both agree is reasonable.
6. Serve a fencing notice (s 11). It needs to set out the boundary, the work proposed and the estimated cost, with the quote attached. Serve the owner, not a tenant.
7. Allow one month (s 12). If you reach agreement, put it in writing.
8. Apply to NCAT or the Local Court (ss 12–13) if you cannot agree.

Urgent damage. If a fence is damaged and it is not practical to serve a notice first — a tree comes down, a car goes through it — s 9 lets you carry out urgent work and recover the other owner’s share afterwards.

If you cannot agree.

Which path you take depends on who the disagreement is with.

• Between two owners: the Dividing Fences Act process applies — negotiate, then apply to NCAT or the Local Court. Note that the free Community Justice Centre mediation service closed on 30 June 2025, so the options now are direct negotiation, private mediation, or going straight to the tribunal or court.
• With the association: the Community Land Management Act path applies — start with your scheme’s internal dispute resolution process (s 178), then compulsory NSW Fair Trading mediation, which for most matters you have to complete before you can apply to NCAT (s 188).

For committees: four things that prevent most disputes.

• Know your parcels. Map which fences sit on association property and which are lot-to-lot before any money is committed.
• Lead with the management statement. Point owners to the fencing standard early. It heads off non-compliant fences and the awkward conversations that follow.
• Get the resolution right. Routine repair of association-property fences under the s 109 duty is generally a committee decision within spending limits. Improvements or new structures on association property engage the change-of-property procedures and need a general meeting resolution. Get multiple quotes for anything significant and fund from the capital works fund.
• Work through your managing agent for owner searches, notices and coordinating the work.

Quick reference.