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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

They’ve attached a GIANT fence… to MY fence !!

322 replies

Finetoday · 15/05/2025 19:42

Exactly that !

Neighbour behind has a 6 foot old wooden fence.
I have a 6 foot fairly new 6 foot fence of the concrete posts and board variety.
There is a 2 foot ‘No man’s land’ in between that the builders of my house/estate left when they erected this perimeter fence (we are on edge of development).

Came home today to find neighbours erecting a fence with 12 foot posts and 10 foot panels ! It’s flipping huge !

On Inspection, I can see he’s attached said monstrosity to my nice fence by drilling holes in my concrete posts, and attaching wooden battens which form a framework with metal brackets that bridge the 2 foot gap !

I asked him to take it off my nice fence - he turned his drill on and turned his back to me and carried on. It’s now fully installed.

I’ll try and upload photos for you all to appreciate his workmanship.

AIBU to contact Council ?
AIBU to saw the metal brackets half way ?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
BatchCookBabe · 15/05/2025 22:31

Finetoday · 15/05/2025 19:55

Photo of monster fence !

WOW. Speechless. That is a horrific giant ass fence @Finetoday I would also wonder if they would need planning permission!

Justhere65 · 15/05/2025 22:31

I am pretty positive he is not allowed to attach anything to your fence. We had a similar issue (thankfully resolved easily) but my husband looked into the legalities of it. I would speak to your council?

BurntBroccoli · 15/05/2025 22:33

I also noticed that instead of removing his original fence they’ve left it instead of doing a proper job and removing and adding new secure posts. I bet the long posts are actually screwed onto that older fence! Must have realised it was slightly wobbly so thought hey I’ll use the handy concrete posts to fix it to.

So 2 fences worth of weight tethered to your posts!

Pure CF bodge merchant!

ApolloandDaphne · 15/05/2025 22:37

Blimey, that is one monster fence.

Namechange6578 · 15/05/2025 22:38

Vineman · 15/05/2025 22:30

It looks like he has a standard 6ft fence to be honest given the shot of him and his garden most likely being raised. Judging by the size of your shed your fence looks like 4 maybe 5ft.

The real issue is him attaching to your fence posts without permission. I hate neighbours that don't communicate. There is nearly always a easy resolution.

I'm sure OP knows how tall her own fence is!

A lot of sheds are 7.5 to 8 foot tall (think legal limit is 2.5m / 8 ft if they are close to the boundary) so the fence would look smaller

ConstantlyFuriosa · 15/05/2025 22:38

BurntBroccoli · 15/05/2025 22:01

Have other people on the street added really high fences (and perhaps decking)? Noticed the red fence further along is also really high.

I wonder if they are also going to add trellis on top as the grey side fence matches the post height.

The way he has drilled into your concrete post means that you cannot remove the panel as the back of the bolt is stopping you lifting it.

I know this isn’t at all funny and I’d be absolutely furious, but after seeing this picture with the grey fences built all around, it’s starting to remind me of the Steptoe episode, Divided We Stand, where Harold erects a heinous partition in order to get some space from Albert.

edit. Oh boo, the picture didn’t repost!

Pepperpotladles · 15/05/2025 22:43

I'd rather look at that fence than look at his house.
It looks like his house was overlooking your garden?
I'd have an issue with his fence if it was blocking a nice view. But to me it looks like it's blocking your view of his house. Is that right? If it is then I'd view this as a positive!
Get some planters, stand them at the base of your fence, and grow Russian vine or bamboo in them; they will grow wildly and will climb up and cover your fence and his fence. You'll end up with a green screen instead of looking at his house!
Have to say though, the way he's gone about it is wanker-ish to the extreme.

Original poster
Finetoday · 15/05/2025 22:45

Hahahah I remember that episode !!!

And he’s definitely got decking - I’ve just zoomed in on one of my videos of him scowling at me and you can see it through his old wonky panels !
Cant see how high it is though - it’s that plastic shiny stuff with artificial grass.

And no, no retaining wall.

OP posts:
Namechange6578 · 15/05/2025 22:48

Pepperpotladles · 15/05/2025 22:43

I'd rather look at that fence than look at his house.
It looks like his house was overlooking your garden?
I'd have an issue with his fence if it was blocking a nice view. But to me it looks like it's blocking your view of his house. Is that right? If it is then I'd view this as a positive!
Get some planters, stand them at the base of your fence, and grow Russian vine or bamboo in them; they will grow wildly and will climb up and cover your fence and his fence. You'll end up with a green screen instead of looking at his house!
Have to say though, the way he's gone about it is wanker-ish to the extreme.

Edited

But he should be fixing them to his existing fences, not the OPs

Wackadaywideawake · 15/05/2025 22:50

Apologies if you’ve addressed this earlier in the thread, but who owns the strip of land between the original two fences?

Ottersmith · 15/05/2025 22:52

It's not legal to build a fence any higher than 6ft I don't think.

Original poster
Finetoday · 15/05/2025 22:54

Wackadaywideawake · 15/05/2025 22:50

Apologies if you’ve addressed this earlier in the thread, but who owns the strip of land between the original two fences?

Definitely not him. His original 6 foot fence is his boundary. I’m not sure of its mine or just classed as part of the developments open spaces - There’s a bit of that on the estate.
You literally couldn’t even walk through it, and it’s full of brambles anyway

OP posts:
Crispynoodle · 15/05/2025 22:54

I’d be growing a super fast climbing plant up that! Or you could grow some leylandi instead!!!!

AfraidToRun · 15/05/2025 23:01

Do you have legal protection included on your house insurance? If so, contact them and the may send your neighbour a solicitors letter...

Spectre8 · 15/05/2025 23:02

Finetoday · 15/05/2025 22:12

@BurntBroccoli Oh my word I never saw that ! ai can’t remove the panel now, and I can see the big lump of concrete that’s now missing by the bolt 😭

They have damaged your post and that is fucked now it will continue to deteriorate now as wayee, and any snow and ice have their way.

It's common sense to not seill into concrete posts.

My nieghbours gate was attached to my old concrete post, drilled in etc. and it just deteriorated so bad that the post cracked and the rebar inside was completely exposed after a huge chuck of the post fell off.

You should be getting leg advice via home insurance for trespassing and criminal damage. I could not sit back and allow thay, I'd want it taken off and my posts replaced.

StartEngineStop · 15/05/2025 23:03

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 21:33

So if you don’t have an issue with the height why are you contacting planning enforcement

Show quote history

Because he’s drilled through her property and attached his massive fence to her fence, damaging it and possibly compromising its integrity. I mean, that’s obvious right?

doodleZ1 · 15/05/2025 23:04

Re who owns it if you have a Factor that maintains the jointly owned grass spaces in your estate, I would contact them as well. They will know if it’s land owned by your housing estate. My son has a similar space at the bottom of his garden between his new estate and the older houses built many years ago, they called it an access strip. Worth a shot anyway. They can send him a letter stating the space belongs to their estate and he has to remove everything that he put there.,

BurntBroccoli · 15/05/2025 23:04

Finetoday · 15/05/2025 22:45

Hahahah I remember that episode !!!

And he’s definitely got decking - I’ve just zoomed in on one of my videos of him scowling at me and you can see it through his old wonky panels !
Cant see how high it is though - it’s that plastic shiny stuff with artificial grass.

And no, no retaining wall.

Oh dear - sounds like he’s going to have to remove the lot!

Please keep us informed!

Silvers11 · 15/05/2025 23:08

@Finetoday - I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty certain that the height of his fence would have to be measured from the natural ground level. So he can't measure his fence from the top of his decking, if that's what he has done. You need legal advice

Pppppoooch · 15/05/2025 23:14

Also apologies if this has been said, since I’ve only read the op’s posts, but the twat has actually also done his fence the wrong way round. The nice side should face the neighbour, and the posts side should face him. That’s how fences work. But then, no point him doing that since you already have a fence and he’s nicking land. What a twat.

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 23:18

StartEngineStop · 15/05/2025 23:03

Because he’s drilled through her property and attached his massive fence to her fence, damaging it and possibly compromising its integrity. I mean, that’s obvious right?

Show quote history

I’ve already responded to another re this

Drilling into someone’s property is not a planning issue.
Planning and their enforcement officers deal with breaches in planning. Not criminal damage to personal property

AgentLisbon · 15/05/2025 23:21

Pppppoooch · 15/05/2025 23:14

Also apologies if this has been said, since I’ve only read the op’s posts, but the twat has actually also done his fence the wrong way round. The nice side should face the neighbour, and the posts side should face him. That’s how fences work. But then, no point him doing that since you already have a fence and he’s nicking land. What a twat.

This is a courtesy not a requirement. And courtesy is something this guy clearly has none of…

DrPrunesqualer · 15/05/2025 23:21

BurntBroccoli · 15/05/2025 23:04

Oh dear - sounds like he’s going to have to remove the lot!

Please keep us informed!

Show quote history

@Finetoday it would definitely be worth getting a height on that decking from his own ground level, not yours.
Hes only allowed 300mm without planning. That’s just over a step high so nothing really.
Even if you can gage it’s just higher without an actual dimension you would then have grounds to report him to planning enforcement.

can you peak and reach through

Snazzysausage · 15/05/2025 23:22

I think if I was you I would also enquire at the council regarding the safety aspect.
In high winds that's going to be
positively dangerous, the instability of such high boards not being securely fixed means the resulting stress on your posts will be enormous. Our 2m fences have 2 ft of post concreted in the ground.

TheUsualChaos · 15/05/2025 23:26

Wow that is absurd! Do not let this go OP, how dare he! He thinks he can get away with this because you don't have a man living with you. He's wrong! Good luck!