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The retaining wall on next doors property is made of sleepers and after 26 years is rotting in sections. The rotting sections have given way and in doing so have caused the erosion of soil from our strata property which sits about 1.2 metres above theirs.
I have emailed the owner (rented property) about the problem but the reply is that we are liable for half the costs.
I’m of the opinion that as the land on the next door property has been dug out to give the builders a flat block to build on, that the wall is therefore built on their land/property and they are liable for total costs.
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If it is effectively the fence on the boundary, then I would say it is a shared responsibility. It sounds like it is retaining your property as much as it is protecting their property.
surfbroker – it appears that you are in NSW, where as you state that the retaining wall was necessary due to the original building works on the adjoining property, in the absence of any formal agreement to the contrary, the owner who altered the natural state of that land and subsequent owners of it are entirely responsible for on-going repairs and maintenance of the retaining wall that Council would have likely required under the terms of their Development Consent, unless it acts as the foundation for a dividing fence when as Peter C stated (post #2), costs are then shared under the provisions of the NSW Dividing Fences Act (DFA).
Ref: Sect 3 of the DFA and in particular the definition of a “fence”.
That’s the legal position as I understand it (I’m not a lawyer), but as your Owners Corporation and its neighbour have a mutual interest in ensuring that the land on and around the common boundary is stable, it would be advisable in my opinion to attempt an amicable solution.