Shared Boundary fence with trellis, can i cover up the trellis?

Sammo69

Hi all
Sorry if this is a stupid question but i've only just bought my first house and do not know the ins and outs of everything yet.

In my back garden there all 3 shared boundries each with a shared fence. On the left hand there is a 5ft fence with 18 inches of trellis on top. the whole fence is made up of 6 sections. 1 section has the neighbours shed behind it and 3 have the neighbours hedge up level with the top of the trellis. However the 2 sections nearest the house are open and if the neighbour is in his garden can see through the trellis directly into my lounge.

I want to cover up the trellis in the 2 sections using featherboard and attach it to my side of the fence. I do plan on discussing it with the neighbour before commencing but just wanted to know if im within my rights to do this?

Thanks to anyone who replies.

Sam

Mojisola

Which of you has responsibility for that boundary?

If it is your neighbour and he put the fence up then, no, you can't attach anything to it - unless you ask him and he gives you permission.

Sammo69

O right, i'll have to check the deeds again but i'm sure it said all 3 boundaries in the back garden are shared? So if it is a shared boundary and shared responsibility of fence upkeep can i make alterations to my side?

Mojisola

Sammo69 wrote: »

O right, i'll have to check the deeds again but i'm sure it said all 3 boundaries in the back garden are shared? So if it is a shared boundary and shared responsibility of fence upkeep can i make alterations to my side?

If it's shared, both people are supposed to agree to any changes.

keystone

Having a shared responsibility for the boundary is absolutely not teh same as having a shared responsibility for a fence.

No you can't just cover the trellis because that would take the height over 2 metres which requires PP.

Cheers

krlyr

Boundaries are just that - the boundary. You need to find out who owns the fence itself. If all the neighbours chipped in then you need them all to agree to any modifications. If the vendor of your house bought it, it's your fence to do as you like (within reason - e.g. not over maximum height allowed)
You might find an easier solution is to leave the fence alone and just put some kind of screening on your side. We need to extend the height of the fence that the neighbour owns because of our dogs so our plan is to simply put bamboo screening along the length, at 6' tall. Attached to posts on our side, so we're not making nail/staple holes in the neighbour's fence, and voila, problem solved without having to get anyone's permission.