Page 7 | If we put a 6ft fence up next to our neighbours .... Can they do anything?

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 16:52

tanstaafl · 15/05/2025 16:27

What makes a fence subject to height restrictions?
serious question!

Is it that it’s specifically on the boundary ?
Is it a continuous line of posts and panels ?

In a few episodes of Garden Rescue over the years they put up posts with say a dozen 4” by 1” planks horizontal between the posts as a screen from neighbours windows. The planks start about 5 foot off the ground and go up to say 8 foot.
I don’t recall them ever mentioning planning permission.

On the boundary it’s 2metres
If they create a screen within the garden then it depends how far away from the boundary but basically if you draw a 45deg line from the top of your screen to the boundary and it doesn’t rise above then you’re OK.
However
Its only a phone call to the planners to make sure there isn’t a further local restriction.

ps. A fence as a boundary doesn’t have to be a fence. It can be mesh, wire, hedge anything.

GlidingSquirrels · 15/05/2025 16:53

mathanxiety · 15/05/2025 15:24

I'd be tempted to turn around and wave very ostentatiously every time. Blow kisses. Shout 'Yoohoo! Howdy neighbour!'...

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But that's not relaxing having to deal with that level of conflict in the garden.

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:02

Anyotherdude · 15/05/2025 12:19

Could you compromise, OP? I have seen many properties where the 1st fence panel closest to the house is high, the second slopes down away from the house to a lower level, which continues for the rest of the garden…. Just tell neighbour you’d like a little more privacy when you’re in your kitchen/dining room/on your patio Etc.

what???? hell no!!!

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:05

Horticula · 15/05/2025 13:44

That's an interesting one. The t does show who owns the boundary but there's no obligation to put or maintain anything on the boundary. If a neighbour who didn't own the boundary put a fence on it, presumably they own the fence but if the boundary owner didn't like it they could presumably remove it and give it back to the one who'd paid for it.
The owner would have to give permission for the non owner to erect a fence on it.

I'd lived happily next door to my neighbours for 20 years when a fence between us blew down. I checked my deeds and they owned the boundary so went to ask what was happening about repairs. They said that the previous owner to me had put up the fence so it was my responsibility to repair. I pointed out it wasn't and they were absolutely livid, started talking about seeing their solicitor etc, I said fine. They then stopped talking to me or acknowledging me if we saw each other. Nothing happened till a few months later when they repaired the fence. The man came over and said their solicitor had confirmed I was right all along so they were now mending the fence. The wife still hasn't talked to or acknowledged me ten years later!

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nobody owns a boundary! its not a material thing. The boundary may be marked by a real thing and that is owned by somebody but you can't own a boundary,

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:07

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 13:47

The car is different, that’s trespass but can be moved
if the deeds show who owns the boundary then that owner owns the boundary fence. Irrespective of who owns it unless there’s a written agreement.
So if you don’t own the boundary to retain ownership of a fence you want on it always put it on your own land

and again, no one owns a boundary. You might own whatever has been used to mark the boundary but a boundary itself has no material existence.

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:08

AngelicKaty · 15/05/2025 13:49

@ButteredRadishes @Renabrook This is the third time I've posted this. In the UK you can erect a fence in your back garden up to a maximum of 2m (6.5ft) high without planning permission (up to 1m for front gardens). Any fence taller than this, however, would require planning permission. So OP, you can't change the height of the existing boundary because you say it's not yours (and I presume you've checked this) but you can erect a 2m fence on your side of the boundary and there's nothing your neighbour can do about this.

and again, a boundary has no material existence, The boundary marker does

purpleme12 · 15/05/2025 17:18

@ButteredRadishes we put a 6ft fence up in our garden. So we lost a bit of our garden because we made sure it wasn't touching theirs. Course you can do this this.

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 17:23

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:07

and again, no one owns a boundary. You might own whatever has been used to mark the boundary but a boundary itself has no material existence.

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Land registry use the term when outlining boundary ownership whether there’s a physical presence
or not ( because there doesn’t have to be )

So, I’m fine with it if they are and we’ve always used the legal definition for planning.

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 17:25

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:08

and again, a boundary has no material existence, The boundary marker does

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There doesn’t have to be a boundary marker of any sort on the ground though

If there’s a dispute about the boundary location boundary surveyors can make an assessment. No one has to lay out exactly where it is though
Including landregistry

godmum56 · 15/05/2025 17:56

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 17:25

There doesn’t have to be a boundary marker of any sort on the ground though

If there’s a dispute about the boundary location boundary surveyors can make an assessment. No one has to lay out exactly where it is though
Including landregistry

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absolutely correct. Unless there is a covenant or by law that says that the land must be fenced and the fence maintained, then you don't have to fence or mark the boundary.....but people on here are talking about eg "the height of the boundary" as though the boundary and the fence are the same thing which as you and I know its not.

Seeline · 15/05/2025 18:04

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 16:52

On the boundary it’s 2metres
If they create a screen within the garden then it depends how far away from the boundary but basically if you draw a 45deg line from the top of your screen to the boundary and it doesn’t rise above then you’re OK.
However
Its only a phone call to the planners to make sure there isn’t a further local restriction.

ps. A fence as a boundary doesn’t have to be a fence. It can be mesh, wire, hedge anything.

Edited

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The landing regs relate to any fence, wall or other means of enclosure. They all have a max height of 2m, unless adjacent to a highway where it's 1m. They can be located anywhere, not necessarily on a boundary.

I'm not sure where your 45 degree line comes from - never seen that in the planning regs.

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 18:10

Seeline · 15/05/2025 18:04

The landing regs relate to any fence, wall or other means of enclosure. They all have a max height of 2m, unless adjacent to a highway where it's 1m. They can be located anywhere, not necessarily on a boundary.

I'm not sure where your 45 degree line comes from - never seen that in the planning regs.

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It’s a means to stop people building huge monstrosities in the middle of your garden. Like a block of flats a metre from the boundary. You’d need planning for that

It’s part of planning and is how we assess whether the height is reasonable and likely to be given pperm.

Aligirlbear · 15/05/2025 18:19

They can’t stop you building the fence on your own land but check your deeds to make sure there isn’t a covenant about the maximum height a fence can be ( my DS house deeds say they can only have a maximum of 4 feet ) other than that no problem if it’s on your property

Vaxtable · 15/05/2025 18:34

This is just what I did when I moved in 30 years ago. Previously a 3ft chain l fence with a few bushes. I put a 6ft fence all round the garden my side. One side then took the chain link down ( it was theirs) and even paint the fence their side. The other side moaned because she could no longer shout across 4 gardens to her friend but never mind

had to replace a few panels over the years but it’s lovely and private

Seeline · 15/05/2025 18:38

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 18:10

It’s a means to stop people building huge monstrosities in the middle of your garden. Like a block of flats a metre from the boundary. You’d need planning for that

It’s part of planning and is how we assess whether the height is reasonable and likely to be given pperm.

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Been a planner for 35 years and never used that for assessing height! But if something is PD, it would still be PD even if higher than your rule of thumb.

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 18:56

Seeline · 15/05/2025 18:38

Been a planner for 35 years and never used that for assessing height! But if something is PD, it would still be PD even if higher than your rule of thumb.

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It’s just an Architects trick 🤣
we have many 🫣

lifeisacat · 15/05/2025 21:58

My neighbors have just done this. We had a set of 6ft ones by the back doors between the houses a little picket one the rest. She put a 6 ft one all the way along, with cat spikes ontop. Mentioned she wanted fences but nothing else before doing it.
nothing I can do, it’s ugly but not on my land, and she hasn’t touched my fence. 🤷‍♀️

GabriellaFaith · 17/05/2025 00:40

I'd be considering a metal fence in case they tried to damage it! You can get ones that look quite like wood or on different colours and they last forever with no maintenance like a wood one.

llizzie · 17/05/2025 00:59

ButteredRadishes · 15/05/2025 08:07

We offered to replace the old fence that is shared to Ur back gardens. They've got a 3 ft wires fence, rotting poles, leaning etc. is "their fence" as far as I can see.

We want to replace it (at our cost), they verbally agreed but are now kicking off, saying it will block their light, they don't want a 6ft, they want 3 ft.

We want 6ft, because she curtain twitches at the back window.

Any way, if they don't want to get theirs actually replaced, can we just build a fence next to theirs on our property? Like an inch or so away from theirs?

As far as I cans we, they'll be miffed,but couldn't actually stop us, right?

If you erect the fence WITHIN your own boundary, they cannot complain.

Try that. Falling to bits as it is, it is still their's. You could put the posts between their posts so as not to alter the boundary as it is wire.

Why not erect arches and grow climbing plants instead. Not only is that more attractive, but it could be much more private than a fence.

Do you own the property? If you have the deeds, so what it says in them about fencing.

Seamond · 17/05/2025 05:35

GabriellaFaith · 17/05/2025 00:40

I'd be considering a metal fence in case they tried to damage it! You can get ones that look quite like wood or on different colours and they last forever with no maintenance like a wood one.

Yes, they look really nice, our neighbour had one put up.

spoonbillstretford · 17/05/2025 05:37

Grow a ten foot hedge. Good fences make good neighbours.

Seamond · 17/05/2025 06:38

Hedges can be quite hard work, my mum had one which was quite tall in her front garden and DH had to go round and trim it for her as she found it hard to manage and can be a bit dangerous up on steps with a hedge trimmer. We have a small hedge in the front garden that needs trimming a lot in the summer

llizzie · 17/05/2025 17:06

spoonbillstretford · 17/05/2025 05:37

Grow a ten foot hedge. Good fences make good neighbours.

Not a good idea. The cost of pruning and controlling the hedge is prohibitive. The damage the roots can do to the drains and garden - they sap the moisture from the soil - is horrific.

I have never been able to understand why people do it. My next door neighbour did, and it is just so awful. They were planted after the disabled living extension was built and the gas boiler flue mounted on the roof. The branches kept blocking the gas flue and I eventually had to take out a loan to put a new boiler on the other side of the house.

The worse thing was when I complained the police rang me and said I had a legal right to cut back the branches to the boundary (the trunks of the trees)
AND
If I choose not to exercise that right, any DAMAGE to the roof and flue is MY FAULT.

ZMit · 17/05/2025 20:15

Our horrible neighbour next door went and erected a 6ft fence. Now we've lost the sun from a good chunk of our garden. The grass in this area is always moss filled and I have to plant shade loving plants only in my flower bed.

suburburban · 17/05/2025 20:42

It is upsetting. There used to be a chain link fence that worked fine with old neighbours and it was lighter but then new neighbours put up high fence but you get used to it and it feels more private as they are irritating

If we put a 6ft fence up next to our neighbours .... Can they do anything?

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