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?

True. But if you want a proper featheredge fence you lose at least 4.5" all along your garden.

Christ on a fucking unicycle - do people really obsess about 4.5" of garden?

I've just replaced my fencing and as I've paid for it, I've got the nice side all the way round.
There's no law, it's a 'nice' thing to do, but when it's cost me thousands to do it, I'll have it how I want it. I get on with my neighbours as well.

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.
THE HORROR!!

All fence side is nice side if you're a decent gardener, just smother it all in jasmine and climbing roses, espalier a tree or two, etc.

I actually quite like the "bad" side, plus if you put trellis on it there's decent airflow behind for the plants so you don't have to baton as well, the posts do the work for you.

Can't bear the concrete post sort, it looks meant for prisons, not gardens.

But then again I'm about to refence both sides of my garden and I'm doing whole stretches of just trellis to make it feel bigger and airier; no bad or good side then!

Courtesy.

The "nice" side faces outwards. Its to make the boundary of the house look nice (whether there is an adjoining garden or not).

For closeboard fence (built from the individual boards not from pre-made panels) you need to build it from the face side, so if you have it facing the neighbours you'll be on their land when you're building it. Doesn't make much sense to me. Though I concede it might make some maintenance tasks easier.

With panels it doesn't matter, and anyway a lot of panels are the same on both sides.

We put our own fences up, at either side of the house, on the inside of the neighbours fences purely to eliminate this problem. We’ll see to our fence either side and they can see to theirs. Everyone can crack on without falling out over fences then (v difficult neighbours on one side) and it means that our fence will always be uniform on both sides.

I'm not a solicitor but my dad was & a right pernickerty bugger at that. Lawyers are the ones that would obsess over 4 inches of garden when it comes to selling when the border does match the land registry plans. My info may well be out of date but if you let your neighbour use those 4inches for x number of years it becomes theirs I think?