Fence height

[Formysister1]

My sister is having problems with the council over her fence so I thought I would ask you helpful m'netters for advice! Her neighbours are an elderly couple who they have not had much to do with but always say hello etc. my two nieces often talk to the lady over the wall as she has a few cats and dogs however the wall has always been a cause for concern as the neighbours property is lower than my sisters and she is concerned that the girls might fall over the wall. My bil wanted to make the garden more private and safe for the children so he put up a 1.8m fence on his side of the wall. He never gave the height of the fence much thought as he knew a fence under 2m was acceptable and 1.8m would give not only them but the neighbour some privacy. As it was as soon as my sister stepped out of her back door she could look straight into the neighbours conservatory (which they use all day).

The neighbour has decided he doesn't like this fence being there as it blocks out light (it is no where near their windows) and has called the council. The council have said there is no issue regarding light and they completely agree with the need for a solid fence for privacy and most importantly safety for the children however they have measured the ground level from the other side which drops considerably lower than my sisters and have said planning permission is needed for the fence. My sister lives in the north west so I am not sure if different councils have different views or they all follow the same legislation but l have looked on planning portal which is a government website and there is no mention of the height being measured from a neighbours property.

Has anyone been through similar or can offer any advice? My sister is on holiday at the moment so I am hoping to have some good news for her when she returns!

Thanks

We had this issue in a previous house, we were the higher neighbour, the fence was on the neighbour's side on their ground level so it was 1.8m tall but on our side it was only 1.2.

It is all to do with the ground level that the fence is on.

Is the wall on your sister's land or is it on the neighbours? If it is on the neighbour's land is it a retaining wall? ie does it hold your sister's garden back from falling into their garden?

Where is the fence? Is it on your sister's land?

If the fence base is on your sister's land which is higher up then I can't see the council having a problem with it.

It is part of the reason we moved from the area we lived in because every house was on a flipping hill making this kind of thing problematic.

If it did go through for planning permission, apart from having to stump up £150 I can't see why it wouldn't be passed if the fence is on the higher level as long as it is on unaltered ground.

Otherwise if there was a vast difference between the heights of the gardens then technically you could have a 80cm wall on one side but it is 1.8m on the other.

Hi pickledgerkin thanks for replying. The wall is a retaining wall and as far as i am aware it is my sisters wall as their house was built before the neighbours. The fence is sitting on my sisters side of the wall and onto her soil. From a common sense approach I personally cannot see why the fence wouldn't be passed but I think it is the principle of the matter. They don't have much spare cash and can't see why they should have to pay for permission for a fence which they believe is perfectly within the guidelines.

Then they shouldn't have to apply for planning.

Personally I would take a few photos of the fence and send them in with a letter to the planning department explaining that from the soil level on their side the fence is below the maximum height and therefore lawful and wait to see what happens.

Like I said, we were the higher house too, and when we looked into moving the house we liked was lower than the neighbour so we booked to see a planning officer and asked about fence heights because the whole area was hilly. He explained that they take it from the ground that it is built on. As long as the garden hasn't been landscaped to push up the boundary to accommodate a new fence then it was fine.

What your sister did is perfectly legal. My PIL live on a 1970's estate and all have 4ft fences separating their gardens. The next door but one neighbour has built, perfectly legally, a 2 storey extension and erected a 1.8m fence that everyone is complaining about.

The only reason for the complaint was that everyone previously had an extended view over all the neighbours gardens when you sat out on the patio now they don't!