Us or neighbours side 6'6"/ 2m boundary fence ??

nyck

Our garden slopes left to right . I have a 6ft fence ( panels ) on the right which im responsible for which im about to renew  , so it 6ft my side but nearer 8ft his side due to the step/slope .

They requested lowering the fence as im renewing it ,but I prefer to keep it as it is . Ive always just replaced the 6ft panels like for like and hes never mentioned it before being as an issue.

How do i stand  ..

thanks

TELLIT01

It's 6' in your garden.  No problem.  I can understand the neighbour wanting it lower but you don't have to.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Nyck.

I presume you are asking for reasons of privacy, which is fair enough.

What is the lowest it could go without compromising this? 5'? 5'5"?

If there is a lower-than-6' level that would do the job, then it would show good faith from you to agree to that - whilst explaining you don't actually need to...

I had a very similar situation when I moved in to my current home. It's on a sloping road, and the front garden also sloped. One of the first jobs I did was to level it, and so did the neighb to my 'lower' side. That meant a ~1.5' step where the boundaries met, so when I replaced the fence along that side, I made sure it shielded the window-level part of their house from our garden - as much as i don't like being overlooked, I equally don't like overlooking. On my side it's 6', but on theirs more like 7.5'. He made a comment that it was a 'bit like the Berlin Wall', so I stood in my garden and told him I could see the top sections of his connie's windows, and if I lowered the fence down to 6' as measured from his side, I'd be looking right in. He accepted that.

I get on well with him, but he's very much always looking out for being 'wrong done by'. I notice that on his other boundary, he's allowed his trees to grow to around 10', despite complaints from his neighbs on that side...

rach_k

Could you use a lower fence with trellis along the top to bring it up to 6 foot in your garden?  That would still provide you privacy but might allow them a bit more light and it would be a decent compromise.

twopenny

Thinking the same as Rach. That's what I have and it's also better for letting wind through with winter gales, less likely to come down.

I grow plants up it in the summer for a bit of privacy where needed. It does let in more light in too which helps my garden

nyck

TELLIT01 said:

It's 6' in your garden.  No problem.  I can understand the neighbour wanting it lower but you don't have to.

Where can i find this information to show them , obviously saying someone said on a forum might not cut it ??

@Jeepers_Creepers .... Think We have the same neighbour, they like to make digs and comments but seem to do as they please . I wish i had known there was a issue as ive bought most of the materials .They only said something as i asked them today to remove any plant holders / solar lights they might have up before i rip out the old  panels. 

@rach_k ,@twopenny.... Thats the silly thing at present they attached trellis and let clematis grow up it so what was a 8ft fence is now 9-10ft in places with the plants growing over the top . I said its that height due to privacy for us and them as i could see straight into their patio and dinning room with a lower fence .They later suggested they put up some trellis with plants for privacy .

But if they are going to do that they might as well stick with the original size fence ??? 

thanks  

MRB

nyck said:

TELLIT01 said:

It's 6' in your garden.  No problem.  I can understand the neighbour wanting it lower but you don't have to.

Where can i find this information to show them , obviously saying someone said on a forum might not cut it ??

Check your local planning department website online, or just google 'Planning permission garden fence UK' and everything shouts back '2m max without planning permission.'

Remember, anything coming in to your half of your garden is your property and you can do with as you please - though any cuts must, bizarrely, be put back into their garden.

Don't lower it - it's your fence, it's your 6ft, they should've bought a higher up house.

twopenny

"Thats the silly thing at present they attached trellis and let clematis grow up it so what was a 8ft fence is now 9-10ft in places with the plants growing over the top ."

Wonder if they're related to my neighbour?

Jeepers_Creepers

I don't think it's incumbent on you to prove it, Nyck, but by all means check out your local Planning portal.

It's really a statement of the bleedin' obvious, such as the max permitted height of a raised decking being something like 300mm without PP,  but this is taken as being from the highest part of the ground surrounding it.

If your neighb erected that fence on their side so that they had a 6' height but it only therefore came to an effective 4.5' height for you, you could build a second fence on your side the full 6' height.

If you want it 6' tall, then do it. If they complain, tell them to take it up with Planning at your LA if they really think it's wrong - "you'll totally understand if they wish to do this to clarify the matter, and you won't be upset if they do". They'll soon be given the answer they don't want.

Take it to its logical conclusion - say there wasn't a 1.5' height difference between your two properties, but more like 4' (a bit like my sis has at her terrace). You'd therefore only be allowed to put up a 2' fence?! Of course not.

(In my sis's place, the retaining wall and the fence above it are both the responsibility of her neighb; the retainer is over 3' high, and the fence 6' further above that - and my sis wouldn't want it any other way...)

Mojisola

nyck said:

at present they attached trellis and let clematis grow up it so what was a 8ft fence is now 9-10ft in places with the plants growing over the top .

In that case, I'd just replace like for like.

You don't really have to prove anything to them - let them research it if they want to.