Ugly summerhouse

[LilSebastianMiniHorse]

Hello,
Our neighbours have had a giant shipping container looking "summer house" built right along our boundary fence. It's 2.5 metres high and is an absolute eyesore looking at it from our garden.
I've seen that fences can only be 2m high so wouldn't cover it all from our side, but is there anything we can do to cover it?
They've put all of their drainage on the side along our garden and it's so ugly!

Are you my near neighbour? One of the people who backs into my neighbour has built an absolute monstrosity of a summer house. All black and corrugated and huge. Looks like a bunker! Thankfully it's obviously a few houses removed from us so doesn't directly impact us at all, but I'm fascinated by it.

I don't know much about building regs so I might be completely wrong but isn't there a rule about buildings near a boundary over a certain height needing to have planning permission even if they are "temporary" like sheds?

Who has told you that fences can only be 6 ft high, it certainly isn't the law? Various people near me have much higher fences.
You could put higher fences up, attach trellis to existing fence, or plant tall shrubs or trees. The difficulty with that is the time it takes for them to get tall enough to disguise it.
I have seen in garden centres various trees that are almost ready pleached, they look a bit strange because they have their branches supported by a bamboo cane frame, but in time they will form a framework, they are already tall so would definitely disguise the building.

Plant a few trees. They won’t completely hide it, but they will bring the eye forward so you don’t notice it so much.

Instant hedging is probably best. We used this when we had some work done at the front of our house and lost some privacy. We used Best4Hedging but there are lots of others out there. You can buy individual plants or troughs of 1m ready to plant in. Look for plants that are 6ft, they can be delivered on a pallet, anything over that might need a special delivery. Talk to the suppliers.

@Geneticsbunny here is the details for outbuildings and they can be next to a boundary and 2.5m eaves, specifics are listed here

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/outbuildings/planning-permission

@NotThisOldChestnutAgain fences can only be a certain height unless you ask for planning permission. Sometimes fences can look higher if the property is on a hill as a the measurements go from ground height. I live in a very hilly area so my neighbour's fence was 6ft for them from their ground level but only 4ft on my side meaning I could literally look over into their garden. We discussed if they wanted an 8ft fence as had been granted for other houses opposite, same hilly road. They said it would feel like a prison as the gardens were small.

In England and Wales, fences and walls above 2m in height require planning permission (1m adjacent to a highway), and that includes trellis etc.

There are restrictions on height for buildings but if it is a container I assume it has a flat roof, so 2.5 m is OK.

Quick growing shrubs are your best bet for screening.

That's interesting about the height regulations, I had no idea. There are quite a few fences higher than 2m round me, on flat ground, so they presumably obtained permission, or maybe they didn't but no one has complained!

@DanceTheDevilBackIntoHisHole I could be- it is a corrugated black monstrosity! We live on a new build estate so the garden are only tiny. It looks absolutely ridiculous!

If you live on a new estate, it's worth checking whether the original planning permission removed the permitted development rights for extensions and/or outbuildings etc.
Give the Planning department a call.

Yes, but it’s more than 2.5m. Itks not Biuilding Regs, it’s Planning regs.

There isn’t a height restriction, nor for deciduous hedges. Evergreen hedges don’t have a height restriction as such but they come under the High Hedges Act, and you may need to trim them if the neighbour objects. Hedge with standards is another option, say a 2m hedge with a taller tree in it, like you see on farms in the W Midlands.