Driveway between properties

[Misty9]

We live in a 30s semi and our non-attached neighbour and our driveways are currently not separated by any boundary/fence. Apparently the previous owners of our house negotiated to have it removed due to parking issues (they had 2cars).

However, the property next door is rented out and the front garden is a state. This, plus the fact that having such open fronts to the houses looks a bit council-estatey (and stands out on our road), means we want to put up a fence. We've asked the agents whether the garden can be tidied up but nothing doing there.

The problem is if we erect a fence all the way to the pavement then both entrances will be quite tight (the neighbour's more so though). We've been in email contact with the overseas landlord and he's expressed this concern and doesn't want a fence all the way along. New tenants moved in yesterday and they appear to have a car and a works van.

Any alternatives to a solid fence? Would a fence going three quarters of the way to the pavement look odd? Any ideas in general?! We're unlikely to ever meet the owner of next door but obviously also don't want to piss off the tenants (having rented for many years ourselves).

What the owner doesn't want can be inconsequential. If you build a partition on your boundary that's come telly within your rights. Those style house do have narrow entrances on driveways (I'm always to scared to try and go on my grandmother's. Then again, I'm a shit driver). Anyway, if the front garden has household waste festering you should Environmental health as it could attract vermin. If it doesn't and the landlord doesn't care, how people choose to live, no matter how revoltingly isn't anyone's business.
I would suggest you erect a fence/dwarf wall etc on your boundary and as the drive width is wide enough for cars to pull up on that should separate you a bit.

If new tenants moved in yesterday they might keep it tidy?

We have a five foot fence that separates the two driveways alongside the house and an open boundary from the front of the houses to the road. This serves two purposes, firstly to provide some privacy alongside the houses and up into the gardens and secondly makes opening the car doors easier without a fence so close (we have children in corsets). We however can place a low fencing if we wish right up to the pavement. When we purchased the house there was an agreement between the neighbours which we weren't to happy with. When next door block paved their driveway and some of ours as well we decided to reinstate the fence alongside the house to avoid any claim over our land.

Lol not children in corsets but in car seats!

2plus that sounds similar to what we have - a fence (badly in need of repair) alongside the houses, then nothing to the pavement. The previous owners of our place (we moved in last oct) also block paved the whole front area and drive and it looks really harsh and open. We want to eventually re-landscape the front to have a bit of a garden and a driveway, but both properties have access to the whole front area for parking, so narrow drives aren't necessarily the issue, just narrow entrance ways.

We've just been out in the car and I practised staying in our drive - it was easy, so we'd be fine; it's the neighbours who'd struggle I think...

Annoyingly, the boundary responsibility seems to fall to the landlord but he's obviously in no hurry to repair the fence so we shall have to if we're bothered. We will try to chat to the new tenants though.

If the fence is erected on your property, I don't think they can do much about it. Obviously it would always be yours to maintain and repair, but I guess you accept this.

Do have a word with the tenants and explain what you propose and have been thinking about it for a little time, not because you have new neighbours.

Will definitely talk to the neighbours, and good point about saying we've been thinking about it for a while! Saying that, dh scraped the car as he turned too tightly into our drive today and hit the wooden post! so fence plans may be on the back burner...