New "Have a Look at This" thread

[Deleted User]

ProDave said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

General_Grant said:

lea_uk said:

Pattern and stuff everywhere https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117218315#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Odd area - many people (like these) seem to hide their front gardens as well as the back.

We have a relative that used to live in a house very much like that.  The back garden is a tiny little yard, very uninviting and accessed from "the back lane"  Whereas the front garden is very long, and a much nicer space.  So most of the people treated the front garden as the main garden and so plant hedges or put up tall fences if they can get away with it, to make the front garden more private.

Is there some limit on having a high fence at the front?

Planning would not usually allow it, but plenty did it and if nobody complained they got away with it, then after a certain number of years it could not be enforced.

I did some research and it seems that 1m is the limit if next to the driveway or a road. Well my house has had part of the wall there much higher for decades, at least 35 years.

How about plants? If you can't have the wall over 1m, can you just grow a hedge or put some small trees in?

Seems very bizarre, in many countries the front fence is high to provide privacy so people can't look into your front room. But now you mention it, UK houses are almost always viewable from the front.

FreeBear

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

General_Grant said:

lea_uk said:

Pattern and stuff everywhere https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117218315#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Odd area - many people (like these) seem to hide their front gardens as well as the back.

We have a relative that used to live in a house very much like that.  The back garden is a tiny little yard, very uninviting and accessed from "the back lane"  Whereas the front garden is very long, and a much nicer space.  So most of the people treated the front garden as the main garden and so plant hedges or put up tall fences if they can get away with it, to make the front garden more private.

Is there some limit on having a high fence at the front?

Planning would not usually allow it, but plenty did it and if nobody complained they got away with it, then after a certain number of years it could not be enforced.

How about plants? If you can't have the wall over 1m, can you just grow a hedge or put some small trees in?

Nope. Hedges fall under the same rules as fences. Whilst a single tree isn't classed as a hedge, three or more would be if planted close to each other. If you don't mind the wait, you could always plant a single white pine or cypress and practice Daisugi.

TBagpuss

GDB2222 said:

TBagpuss said:

[Deleted User] said:

https://twitter.com/PlanningShit/status/1465203651836887040

One heck of snag.

looking at the colour of the bricks it looks as though there might have been a porch or double door originally that has been moved / narrowed

Somebody decided that a downstairs loo was more important than having the door line up?  

Maybe. And I suppose, in fairness, that if you are living in the house that might well be the case, as you aren't looking at the outside much whereas you probably need to use the facilities fairly frequently...! 

lea_uk

Spot the ‘dog’ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/82881432#/?channel=RES_BUY

[Deleted User]

FreeBear said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

General_Grant said:

lea_uk said:

Pattern and stuff everywhere https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117218315#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Odd area - many people (like these) seem to hide their front gardens as well as the back.

We have a relative that used to live in a house very much like that.  The back garden is a tiny little yard, very uninviting and accessed from "the back lane"  Whereas the front garden is very long, and a much nicer space.  So most of the people treated the front garden as the main garden and so plant hedges or put up tall fences if they can get away with it, to make the front garden more private.

Is there some limit on having a high fence at the front?

Planning would not usually allow it, but plenty did it and if nobody complained they got away with it, then after a certain number of years it could not be enforced.

How about plants? If you can't have the wall over 1m, can you just grow a hedge or put some small trees in?

Nope. Hedges fall under the same rules as fences. Whilst a single tree isn't classed as a hedge, three or more would be if planted close to each other. If you don't mind the wait, you could always plant a single white pine or cypress and practice Daisugi.

Not sure if that's a serious suggestion... As someone who prefers privacy, I've been looking at options that let some light in but keep prying eyes out. One way mirror film can be seen through at night. Maybe frost but it would be nice to be able to see my own garden.

Then again I've seen a lot of houses that do use plants to create privacy, so apparently it's not well enforced.

I suppose the privacy trees could be set back a bit from the border. How far back is enough to avoid boundary wall height limits?

FreeBear

[Deleted User] said:

FreeBear said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

General_Grant said:

lea_uk said:

Pattern and stuff everywhere https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117218315#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Odd area - many people (like these) seem to hide their front gardens as well as the back.

We have a relative that used to live in a house very much like that.  The back garden is a tiny little yard, very uninviting and accessed from "the back lane"  Whereas the front garden is very long, and a much nicer space.  So most of the people treated the front garden as the main garden and so plant hedges or put up tall fences if they can get away with it, to make the front garden more private.

Is there some limit on having a high fence at the front?

Planning would not usually allow it, but plenty did it and if nobody complained they got away with it, then after a certain number of years it could not be enforced.

How about plants? If you can't have the wall over 1m, can you just grow a hedge or put some small trees in?

Nope. Hedges fall under the same rules as fences. Whilst a single tree isn't classed as a hedge, three or more would be if planted close to each other. If you don't mind the wait, you could always plant a single white pine or cypress and practice Daisugi.

Then again I've seen a lot of houses that do use plants to create privacy, so apparently it's not well enforced.

A neighbour has planted bamboo along the front of his boundary. It has grown to quite a nice height, and being a (technically) grass, shouldn't fall foul of the 1m limit.

anotheruser

Contessa said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/82663344#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Nice views

What is going on with the extra sink?
The Waste waste goes into a bottle and the fresh water comes out of some sort of white base thing?

ProDave

anotheruser said:

Contessa said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/82663344#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Nice views

What is going on with the extra sink?
The Waste waste goes into a bottle and the fresh water comes out of some sort of white base thing?

Yes that is odd.

I would guess someone has been existing there without mains services, note all the bottles of water in the kitchen.  Could this be a cobbled together off grid basin draining to what looks awfully like a caravan waste folding tank?

Ocelot

FreeBear said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

[Deleted User] said:

ProDave said:

General_Grant said:

lea_uk said:

Pattern and stuff everywhere https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117218315#/media?id=media0&ref=photoCollage&channel=RES_BUY

Odd area - many people (like these) seem to hide their front gardens as well as the back.

We have a relative that used to live in a house very much like that.  The back garden is a tiny little yard, very uninviting and accessed from "the back lane"  Whereas the front garden is very long, and a much nicer space.  So most of the people treated the front garden as the main garden and so plant hedges or put up tall fences if they can get away with it, to make the front garden more private.

Is there some limit on having a high fence at the front?

Planning would not usually allow it, but plenty did it and if nobody complained they got away with it, then after a certain number of years it could not be enforced.

How about plants? If you can't have the wall over 1m, can you just grow a hedge or put some small trees in?

Nope. Hedges fall under the same rules as fences. Whilst a single tree isn't classed as a hedge, three or more would be if planted close to each other. If you don't mind the wait, you could always plant a single white pine or cypress and practice Daisugi.

My hedge is about 8 foot tall and is next to a pavement and road.

YellowCarBlueCar

According to...

https://prettys.co.uk/newsletters/issues-consider-if-you-are-replacing-your-front-garden-fence-wall-or-gates

...the height restriction does not apply to hedges.  The only restriction is as per the high hedges part of the antisocial behaviours act, i.e. primarily 2m evergreen on a boundary.

If it were the case, then an awful lot of people would be on the wrong side of the rules.