To ask if you pay for a fence why your neighbour should get the "nice" side?

[DeRigueurMortis]

Asking because I'm replacing some fencing...

To be frank I'm not really concerned about having the "nice" side given the position as it's largely hidden by the summerhouse and planting but I am interested if anyone knows why this is the etiquette?

It just seems odd that if it's your fence and your paying for it you should get the side that looks the best?

Khione

It's not a myth. A fence must be wholly on your land. The deeds will state, (hopefully) where the boundary is.

@Khione
It is not a myth.
Whether you own privately or rent from the council/ HA.

The reason the neighbour has the nice side of the fence is this... Imagine a detatched house stood on its own in an empty field. The owner of the house owns the whole fence that goes round it. The fence should look nice from the outside of the boundary as it is what people see.

My Granny always said it was partly to do with making people look after their fences. If your side is the side that looks the worst then you are more likely to keep it in good repair. Whereas if you had the nice side and the rubbish side was on your neighbours side then you'd be more likely to leave it, even though it was your responsibility

Why won't people believe BrightlightsSmallvillage? It comes from an era when fences were built as in the photo I posted above.

The vertical posts go into the ground on your boundary line, the horizontal batons nail to this and these support the slats. This means one side of the fence is 'nice' as it is all slats, the other side shows the supports. I have the 'nice' side of the fence all the way round because I paid for it. It used to be each neighbour would put up one side so you had one nice and one support but this was in the olden days

I believe

Also if I'm honest I think the bad side is a bit more interesting.

You could hang small pots on the horizontal slots etc.

Slats not slots!

Well my neighbours put up a fence between our front gardens recently and gave us the shit side. They've never had great manners though. Doesnt bother me as the bad side still looks better than what was there before.

I like the nice side so I don't feel guilty about not hanging pots that I will forget to water

Have the side you want as you’re paying for it!!

The "nice" side I've always viewed as the outside.

As it's a the sheer smooth side without hand or foot holds so it is harder to climb.

The ugly side let's you tipy toe up on t GB e bars and peek over.

Never give your neighbours the ugly side if they have kids or you get little headaches popping up

But for me yeah the ugly side feels like I'm inside my garden not outside my neighbours if that makes sense

It's a fence, I couldn't careless which side I have. Plants and things hide most of ours.

@Sin8e

The "nice" side I've always viewed as the outside.

As it's a the sheer smooth side without hand or foot holds so it is harder to climb.

The ugly side let's you tipy toe up on t GB e bars and peek over.

Never give your neighbours the ugly side if they have kids or you get little headaches popping up

But for me yeah the ugly side feels like I'm inside my garden not outside my neighbours if that makes sense

Me too

The 'ugly' side to me = ownership. If I had all 'nice' side ones it wouldn't feel like it was my garden, it would feel like it was my neighbours fences.

Why are people still using posts that have to sit behind the panel? Dont most people use the concrete posts where the panel sits down the middle anymore? Ie slots into grooves?

I paid for a new fence so I have the nice side. No complaints from the neighbours who were happy to have a new fence for free.

I don't live in UK. But if I was the one paying then I would give my self the nice side for s u r e

Actually despite saying I don't care if someone else is paying I do really dislike the cement post ones.

They are a very ugly combination of materials and you'd have to be a much more skilled gardener than me to hide it all!

I'd rather have a fully cement wall. If they exist.

@DeRigueurMortis
If you need (occasional) access to maintain your property then a neighbour has an obligation to provide it
Hmm no I don't have any such obligation for my neighbour! I maybe courteous but I don't have to for a fence or suchlike. Utility companies etc I am obligated to allow to gain access.

I live in a housing association house ,we had very low fencing ,which !y son kept climbing over ( he has severe autism and learning disabilities ) they replaced it last summer for us with 6ft fencing after an occupational therapy assessment recommended it ,I was,nt really bothered which side we got ,but they gave us the nice side as it's straight and he can't climb on it .

Surely fencing doesn't have a good side these days with the use of concrete posts?

None of the houses near me have concrete posts. Mine have wooden posts and have done since we moved in over 20 years ago

We have the nice side, our fence our rules? It didnt even cross my mind they get the nice side, they are the arseholes who annoy me

The advantage for me in having the cross membered side on my side is that I can use those cross members for fixing trellis to, and have climbers up the fence. We have our own fences on 2 sides of our garden and they have, mostly annual, climbers all over them, so you can barely see an expanse of wood at all at this time of year.

We moved into a brand new house, at the time of purchase we were told that we were responsible for the left-side fence and that we should give our neighbours the nice side.

We put a 6-ft high fence up shortly after moving in. Neighbours on our right hand side then put their fence up but giving themselves the nice side. So we ended up with no nice side at all. Neighbour to the right said he was paying for it so he'd have whatever fence he wanted.
It's actually a pain in the arse for us because our paving (next to the boundary) was laid in a straight line so we have gaps all the way along between the fence posts.