Can I put up a low fence on my side?

[Melsy88]

I live in a semi-detached house. The owner of the other house is quite overbearing. The front garden at the moment is completely open - i.e. no fence between the gardens. Neighbour often walks onto my side to look at my plants, prune my roses (!) etc. I don't like it and would like to put up a small fence between us (thinking low picket fence type thing). Mentioned it to her and she doesn't want a fence.
The boundary is hers.
Can I just put a fence up anyway and put it slightly more on my side?

Yes you can but it must all be on your land.
You really do need to tell her to leave your plants alone.
Don’t make the fence too low so that she can step over it. However there are height limits for front gardens.

Check your local bylaws in case there are restrictions on fences in the front.

Do any neighbours have fences? That’s good sign if they do.

Make sure it’s 100% on your land.

if not plant a hedge

There may be a restrictive covenant or planning conditions about putting up a fence

I suggest you need to look at the document's you got when you bought the house and talk to the local planners

You can usually put up a fence, check your deeds. If not plant a hedge.

Have you talked to her about trespass and criminal damage?

if a fence is not permitted, a hedge may not be either. Checking the deeds is a good place to start. I am not sure what you mean by "the boundary is hers" ? Does she have dementia or is she just difficult? Have you tried telling her not to do it?

The boundary isn’t hers. It’s where one piece of land finishes and another begins.

I just mean that she's responsible for that boundary.
She doesn't have dementia. She's just too over familiar. Thinks we are best friends and she can come and go.on my property as she wishes. It's hard because she's not a bad person, but to me she's just a neighbour - not a friend

I still don't understand "responsible for that boundary" if there is no fence. Asking again, have you tried telling her not to do it?

oh! do you mean the "T" marks on your deeds plan?

Me neither. There is nothing there. Your property ends and hers begins, that’s the legal boundary. If there was a physical boundary then it could have been that she was responsible for it. But there isn’t one.

I'm perhaps getting confused. At the back of the house, the fence between the garden is hers in the sense of her being responsible for the upkeep of it.
I thought there may be issues with me putting a fence up in the front along the boundary that she is technically responsible for.
But I may be wrong..I've not lived somewhere with no front garden fence before so apologies if I'm getting muddled.

As others have said as long as there are no restrictions/convenents or similar then as long as it’s just in your side you can.
if you think she may be difficult about it you could instruct an RICS boundary surveyor to mark it out and agree it between the two of you. She then can’t argue about it.

The physical fence in the back garden may be a boundary marker but its not the boundary itself. From what you say, she owns the fence in the same way she owns her front door. Provided its not dangerous, she can do what she likes with it including not doing anything at all and letting it fall down.
You are completely entitled to put a fence between her front garden and yours provided it complies with any local by laws and any covenants on your deeds and the fence sits entirely on your land.
BUT to me she sounds a bit batshit. if its just a fence as dividing line...or actually even if you completely fence off your front and put a gate in it, there is zero to stop her wandering in anyway. I do think you need to tell her clearly not to do it because if you don't, there will be nothing to stop her just continuing to wander in.

If she is just a neighbour to you (as mine are, I don’t want to be friends with them), can you not just tell her to bugger off coming into your garden?

I know some will think it’s extreme, but she’ll hopefully get the message and well, bugger off.

We have one. It is a low picket fence about 2 feet high which the neighbours put up and is just on their side of the boundary.

Agree with others that you need to check local byelaws to see whether structures are allowed in your area, but if that's okay there is nothing stopping you.