Allowed height of boundary fences

50Twuncle

What is the allowed height of a wooden boundary fence between neighbouring properties ?
I always thought that it was 6 feet / 2 metres ?

nickcc

I always thought 6' but our gardens are tiered so on our side it's 6' but on the other side it's more like 8', so after that I wouldn't like to say. We're putting a new fence on one side and our neighbour wants it as high as possible which also suits us therefore it will be close on 7'.

EssexExile

From Google (it's good):

Fence height: How high a fence can I put on my boundary?

The height of fences is a matter of planning policy. To find out what is allowed in your area contact the local authority planning office. As a general rule, fences in rear gardens are allowed to be up to 2 metres high.

stator

If it's next to a highway (foot or car) it's 1m. If it's not next to a highway it's 2m. (next to is open to interpretation but generally a few metres from the road).
The bottom of the 2m starts from the natural ground level, rather than the actual ground level. If there is no natural ground level any more then it is estimated. So If your neighbours gardens are different heights generally you assume the 2m starts from a point halfway between the level of your two gardens

martinsurrey

stator wrote: »

If it's next to a highway (foot or car) it's 1m. If it's not next to a highway it's 2m. (next to is open to interpretation but generally a few metres from the road).
The bottom of the 2m starts from the natural ground level, rather than the actual ground level. If there is no natural ground level any more then it is estimated. So If your neighbours gardens are different heights generally you assume the 2m starts from a point halfway between the level of your two gardens

the ground level starts from the highest natural point next to the fence, so on tiered boundaries you can get some crazy results.

From the permitted developments technical guidance document

“Height” - references to height (for example, the heights of the eaves on a house extension) is the height measured from ground level. Ground level is the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building in question. Where ground level is not uniform (eg if the ground is sloping), then the ground level is the highest part of the surface of the ground next to the building.

document

its a slightly old document, but the first one I found, and nothing has changed

martinsurrey

martinsurrey wrote: »

the ground level starts from the highest natural point next to the fence, so on tiered boundaries you can get some crazy results.

From the permitted developments technical guidance document



document

its a slightly old document, but the first one I found, and nothing has changed

My bad, this is for buildings only. Fences are not defined, and inspectors have usually taken the mid point.

one of the quirks of the system, you can build a 4m tall building on a boundary without planning, next to a 2m drop, giving an effective 6m boundary drop, but a 10cm fence would need planning!

PasturesNew

Height's a funny old thing - if I lived next door to Greg Davies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Davies - he could just stroll up to the fence, look down on me and say "Morning missus".

If I want to look into his garden and say "Oi!" I'd need to climb a ladder!

Davies is noted for his stature, standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall

Grenage

PasturesNew wrote: »

Height's a funny old thing - if I lived next door to Greg Davies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Davies - he could just stroll up to the fence, look down on me and say "Morning missus".

If I want to look into his garden and say "Oi!" I'd need to climb a ladder!

At 6'6", I can confirm that it is so with our neighbours.