First time owner of a terraced house... Questions

[Millenialblamegame]

We moved into our house in the summer, and what with one thing or another, are only getting round to the wildly overgrown garden now.

Am i right in thinking we are responsible for the boundary to the left? (if standing looking up the garden from the house)

What is the etiquette around replacing fencing/cutting hedges? On one side the hedges are wildly overgrown and blocking our light, on the other there is two foot high rickety and rotten fencing which is the only thing between us and a 20 foot drop onto the neighbour's patio(the terrace is sort of stepped up a hill)

Can you paint a wall if it is part of the neighbor's house or shed but is acting as a boundary line, if that makes sense?

Trying to work out the etiquette of all this...

It's not about etiquette so much as the law! Look at your deeds: there should be diagrams etc pointing out the boundaries and, maybe, who owns the fences. More often than not, though, people don't know, especially if houses have changed hands a few times and the fences are old – I would talk to your neighbours first to try to establish which fences and hedges are theirs. Though if there's a 20ft drop sounds as though the fence is yours!

If the hedge is planted on your side of the boundary, you can remove it. If it's planted on your neighbour's side, you can remove the parts that encroach over the boundary into your garden. But wise to mention it first as removing it may cause your neighbour's garden grief.

You can't paint someone else's wall, fence, etc. Can't attach trellis or gardening wire either. But ask your neighbour – they may not mind!

Don't assume - you need to check your deeds. Being responsible for one side is pretty common, but in our case we're jointly responsible for all sides.

This is not as cut and dry as people assume, you don't have to have a fence you have a boundary line but maintainance responsibilities aren't what people think they are and it's not always on your deeds unless previously agreed.
Worth checking your deeds but more on here:

www.inbrief.co.uk/neighbour-disputes/ownership-of-fences/

Sometimes the title register - we don't have deeds anymore if there has been a sale and the property is registered - will state that a fence or wall must be erected and maintained along the boundary. Make no assumptions and check before you do anything that could affect one of your neighbours.

I'm not sure what it says on the deeds, I can't remember seeing anything about boundaries when we bought the house, but I'll have a look - the house was last sold in the 1960s and has been neglected for years, so everything is a bit all over the show

And thank you for the advice!