Good fences make good neighbours.

[Windypants21]

I would like to raise a small portion of the fence between my neighbour and I, but my neighbour is telling me what i can and cannot do. I want to get a dog and she is telling me what height I can build it up to and that I have to have her approval as such. She rents the house out to a man but she is a friend of his and calls up to see him regularly.

To picture it .....down the left side of my property, from the front low level wall I have a 6 foot high hedge which is about 10 metres long but stops just before it gets in line with the front of the house. It then drops to a short 'fence' that is about 1/2 metre high which is made up of 2 wood posts and a couple of pieces of wood across. This then adjoins a 6 foot high wooden plank fence that continues to the end of the house on my side and the beginning of their garage at the end of their drive on their side. The fence does continue on further back but it is a fence between their garage and my garden. The fence carries on round the circumference of my garden.
My understanding is that the builder erected the fence between the houses around 1997 when they were built. So I'm not sure who 'owns ' them. The nice bit of the fence is facing my side.
My attempt at securing my garden for when I get a dog and getting more privacy by building this up in line with the rest of the fence has had my neighbour over at my door 3 times in the last 5 days. I thought we had come to an agreement the other day ( i agreed a lower fence ) but she was back today at my door practically wanting architectural 'plans' for the fence. Omg

What are the rules for fences, ownership etc. Can someone tell me please. Not so I can bulldoze her just so that I know what I'm talking about when she comes back....this weekend apparently. She has told me her lodger isn't well and when he passes away she will likely move into this house. If she is like this a 10 foot fence won't be high enough to keep her out never mind keep the dog in ! Help please.

Who owns the fence?

If you own the fence, put up whatever you like and tell her she can do what she wants with her own fence, but this one is staying. She can bitch all she wants, but just stick to your guns with whatever you want.

We're having ours redone at the mo, and it's a full 6ft fence for exactly those kinds of reasons - protects us from them, and them from us so we all have privacy if we want it!

It depends entirely on whether it's your fence or her fence. Look at your deeds in the first instance. Traditionally, when you look out onto your back garden the fence you're responsible for is on your right. But this is not the case everywhere.

If it's not your fence you can't do anything to it, but you can put up your own fence adjacent to it on your land, up to 6 feet high, along the full length of the boundary.

Yes, you'll need to check the deeds.

If it transpires it's her fence, there's nothing stopping you putting something up on the inside of your own boundary that's higher.....

I've had 3 visits since last Sunday and another promised this Sunday with a friend who is a health and safety person who is going to take pictures. God knows why. She has agreed on 2 occasions what is to happen, nothing changed in these few days due to work commitments and getting appropriate wood and she complains again. Now h&s man.

I told her im retiring september and will get a dog after that. Then the questions ensue....Am I really getting a dog, is that really the reason I'm putting the fence up, what kind of dog, how big will it be that it needs a high fence, what am I going to do on the other side of my property, I can't let the dog run loose otherwise the dog warden will be up ( I haven't got a gate yet) .

She owns a dog.

Said dog rambled into my house a week or so ago while the builder was in. I didn't care, I love dogs, only as I was caught up doing something I would have been ruffling his ears but heard the builder shushing him out. He came through the gap after the hedge.

She is now complaining about my hedge , I had it cut both sides last year to keep it neat but previous owner hasn't thinned it out in a while. I told her 2 days ago it was going to be topped and thinned. Still complaining about it today. I asked her are you saying you want me to remove my hedge now? she denied it but was still complaining.

We had started work on the fence it will now be put back to how it was and I'll do something else to contain the dog, thinking i might get a Rottweiller/Doberman/Bulldog mix (lol) can't listen to this anymore... now having to negotiate with someone else ... she says I'm hemming her in and stopping her from seeing oncoming traffic, which makes no sense at all given there's a huge 10 metre wide hedge after the gap and it's obviously been there for some considerable time and she never had an issue before now.

Unbelievable.

Diagram needed come on you know the rules

What dog are you going to get?

Find the boundary line. Put up a 6 foot fence along your entire property...
Oh and next time you see her tell her you have reserved 2 rottweiler dpuppies ready September.. And refuse to discuss your fence or your ddogs again...

You need to stop discussing your business with your neighbour.

Find out who owns the fence. If it's yours, replace it as you see fit. If it isn't, put a higher fence in front of it on your own property.

But stop behaving as if she has a right to a say in it!

Your 'health and safety' friend can come as many photos as you want but you need to check the deeds to see who owns the fence.

It's also up to her to trim on your hedge if it overlaps onto her land.

Lol...I saw the pic of the dog I'm going to get. A gent had a litter earlier this year, but I just couldn't take a pup and not have the time for it, so he said he was having another litter at the end of this year .....the floofiest wee Lakeland wire haired fox terrier mixes . I haven't had a dog for over 10 years so I can't wait. I'd love a bigger dog but I have a dodgy neck and a big dog would ruin me . So fingers crossed it all comes off and Mrs Meldrew next door doesn't cause anymore havoc.

Stop engaging her in chat. State your are putting up a fence. Either replacing the one that is there or if she owns it put your own fence up at your own boundary🤷🏻‍♀️Stop letting her dictate things to you. Get your dog and enjoy
your retirement.

My biggest mistake is I'm friendly and try to be upfront and open but this mini person who is literally about half my height is over pushing her tiny little weight around.

But she saw the other side of me today. I wasn't vile but I was no pushover. Ridiculous behaviour.

Why are you telling her so much? If it's your fence crack on if not do something on the boundary line.

Can't begin to understand why you are giving her any say on your fence or your pet. You are empowering her!
Act within the law and crack on.

I was with you until that one op.

As far as I'm aware, you can have a 6' fence without planning permission, as long as it isn't at the front of the house. I'm not sure if this depends on elevation. So, if your neighbours property is below yours, I don't know if it is a total of 6' from the ground level of their house? IYSWIM. I'd love to know the answer to that though.

No, your biggest mistake is not just finding out who owns the fence (given it’s a modern house it’s probably marked on your plans from the legal work done when you bought the house - usually it’ll have a “T” marked on boundaries you own) and then just acting accordingly.

If it’s yours then as long as you obey planning rules around the highway and heights then you certainly don’t need her permission or photos or “health and safety” man. If she owns it then you obviously need to come to an agreement or just put your own up inside boundary line.

I don’t understand how you hoped to have a sensible “upfront and open” conversation with her about it when you don’t even know who it belongs to! I mean if it’s hers then I have every sympathy with why she’s wanting plans and to “dictate”.

If it's unclear in the deeds who owns the fence you can always build a second fence on your property.
Generally the ugly side faces the owner, but not always.
Tell her if she is not amenable to the changes you will erect a second fence. There's nothing she can do about it.

www.blbsolicitors.co.uk/blog/boundary-fence-rules-uk/

@Windypants21 Try this linky. Might answer everything. Or at least some of the questions.

picture of ddog required!!

Thanks for the link Alphabetti.
As I wasnt sure who owned what, I approached my neighbour first. In conversation it appears she didnt know either. It was she who told me it was the builders of the houses who erected the boundary fences. I thought that if agreed between us then there wouldnt be an issue.
When she objected to what we started, we discussed it, mutually agreed a way forward, only for her to come back days later complaining again, discussed it , agreed a modified version of the previous agreement, but then she returns complaining telling me a h&s man is coming to take pictures. I'll just put it back the way it was and put a fence in front of it if it isnt 'my'fence. But now I'm def going to find out who owns it.

Your welcome! I think land registry is £3 for a download copy of your plot. If you’ve paid off the mortgage - you may have a physical copy of all the paperwork associated with your house. That may elicit more information regarding the boundary/fence.

Requested dog pic.

Stop discussing it with her. If you can't figure out who owns the fence have a new one put on your side of the fence up against the old fence and make nice and tall. You're being to nice about it all.

Spoke to my onveyancing solicitor informally. The boundary fence is shared ...so not hers or mine in entirety but there should be agreement if any changes are to be made. So I'll put it back as it was and then do my own thing my side. I am sure though that she will take issue with this...as that just seems like the kind of person she is.

I would look at your deeds - you can do so online. if your boundary is shared you’ll have a ‘T’ marked on both sides of the fence. If it has ‘T’ marked on one side only it belongs to the property showing the T mark. Fences can be 2mt high.

Your neighbour sounds unreasonable so, once ownership is established, it would be best to just get on with putting your fence up with no further interaction with her.

As for her H&S friend… well it’s just more evidence of her unreasonableness. If her friend does come taking photos I would take a video of him doing so in case of future ‘developments’.

Sorry just realised H&S guy isn’t her friend.