Do I have to pay for a new fence?

Questioner

We have been living in a rental house for quite some time, private sector, with conifers as a boundary. The new neighbors who bought the house want to remove these conifers and put up a new fence and more or less expect us to help pay, but we are going to move again in a few years. Can they force us to do this?

Lawyer

Consult your landlord, because by placing a fence on the property boundary that you help pay for, the landlord becomes co-owner of that fence through vertical accession, if nothing is arranged, and not you.