Weird & confusing boundary wall question...

Albermarle

I think if I had 3 dogs ( or less) in this situation, I would be nervous about letting them roam free in a front garden, even with a decent fence and gate. Presume it is by a road, probably cats roaming about .....

Although maybe the OP Is only thinking about them getting out of the car and into the house without putting leads on.
In which case maybe a 1 m fence would be sufficient.

Huskymumma

Albermarle said:

I think if I had 3 dogs ( or less) in this situation, I would be nervous about letting them roam free in a front garden, even with a decent fence and gate. Presume it is by a road, probably cats roaming about .....

Although maybe the OP Is only thinking about them getting out of the car and into the house without putting leads on.
In which case maybe a 1 m fence would be sufficient.

Hi my dogs live with two cats and the road is well away from main roads on a cul de sac at the top of a hill.  They like to play a lot but they are not aggressive in the slightest even to cats.  They are just loud sometimes.  We intend to have a post box fitted on the gatepost so the posty doesn't need to come in.

They already know the local evri courier and love him so he's safe lol.  Bonus of living in a v small town

Section62

Huskymumma said:

Thanks for that detailed reply I really appreciate it, I could probably put a 1.2 meter fence on and then trellis it to make it slightly tall - climbing plants and tall grasses in the longer term.

Any trellis has to be within the 1m (or 2m) maximum height, it can't be in addition to.

Huskymumma said:

Dreading going through the garage conversion process to thats going to be stressful.

At this property?  If so, and if the conversion is essential, you need to check the planning situation carefully before buying.

Unless you have a sliding-type gate then your gates would have to open inwards which would mean the white car in the picture would have to park further back.  It isn't clear from the picture whether there's enough room for two cars if they do have to be further back, but if you convert the garage as well and lose that parking space then you may run into problems with the planners.

This is when you may need to be on very good terms with the neighbours - the fence and garage conversion could be of relatively minor concern in planning terms, but if the neighbour has taken offence at your plans they could make life more difficult than it needs to be.  E.g. the neighbour complaining that your 1.2m + trellis fence makes it impossible to get in and out of their driveway safely is something the planning authority would find it difficult to ignore.

ThisIsWeird

Husky, where is the front door? Is it down the side towards the garage - yellow arrow - or facing the front - orange?

For the latter, wouldn't it make more sense to fence in that immediate area, and keep the driveway open and clear?

As for converting the garage, as said above - do check planning on that before you buy, if it's an essential point for you.

FlorayG

Some incorrect advice being given here- the fence can be 2m between you and the neighbour. The 1m rule applies for a fence next to a highway i.e. between your garden and the road

Section62

FlorayG said:

Some incorrect advice being given here- the fence can be 2m between you and the neighbour. The 1m rule applies for a fence next to a highway i.e. between your garden and the road

No, the actual words used in the GPDO are "adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic".

The meaning of "adjacent" isn't defined in the GPDO, but appeal cases have taken a much wider interpretation of "adjacent" than strictly on the boundary between the land and the highway (aka - between your garden and the road).

How far back from the road is 'safe' to start a >1m high fence depends on the specifics of each case, but putting up a high fence on the common boundary right up to the boundary with the highway is risky if it means neither you nor the neighbour would be able to see pedestrians using the footway as you drive in/out of the driveway.  If the planners decide the fence is "adjacent" and serve an enforcement notice then the onus is on the landowner to demonstrate that it isn't adjacent, with both the planning authority and the inspector having to remember that allowing a high fence to obstruct the sightline potentially places road users in danger.

All the above assumes PD rights exist, and that there aren't other restrictions (covenants/planning conditions/Article 4 directions etc) which might limit the fence height forward of the principal elevation of the property.

And from a practical perspective - if the dogs might be able to jump a 1m fence then there's little point having a 2m fence along the side boundary if they can just go over the 1m high gates/fence/wall at the 'front'.

Huskymumma

ThisIsWeird said:

Husky, where is the front door? Is it down the side towards the garage - yellow arrow - or facing the front - orange?

For the latter, wouldn't it make more sense to fence in that immediate area, and keep the driveway open and clear?

As for converting the garage, as said above - do check planning on that before you buy, if it's an essential point for you.

Hi, the front door is to the side - orange arrow.  we only have one car so there will always be room for it on the drive. Its a small cul de sac with only 12 houses, all have drives, and the area isn't built up at all, surrounded by fields and farmland - its semi rural so we don't really have parking disputes or nose to nose cars at this end of the town.

When I said conversion, its just fresh doors, insulation and plastering the bare brick walls, the current owner already has power points put in and its used as storage and a utility. My husband need it as a workshop as he makes custom gaming PCs as a side hussle.It will look largely the same from the outside and we don't have customers to the property so I can't see it being anything other than permitted development.  We have a surveyor who also advises on building regs so I will double check

Regarding fencing just the door and wall to the right of the drive, yeah my hubby suggested that to keep the costs down but I reallt don't like the way that scruffy odd little wall looks - its neither use nor ornament

ThisIsWeird

Huskymumma said:

Hi, the front door is to the side - orange arrow.  we only have one car so there will always be room for it on the drive. Its a small cul de sac with only 12 houses, all have drives, and the area isn't built up at all, surrounded by fields and farmland - its semi rural so we don't really have parking disputes or nose to nose cars at this end of the town.

When I said conversion, its just fresh doors, insulation and plastering the bare brick walls, the current owner already has power points put in and its used as storage and a utility. My husband need it as a workshop as he makes custom gaming PCs as a side hussle.It will look largely the same from the outside and we don't have customers to the property so I can't see it being anything other than permitted development.  We have a surveyor who also advises on building regs so I will double check

Regarding fencing just the door and wall to the right of the drive, yeah my hubby suggested that to keep the costs down but I reallt don't like the way that scruffy odd little wall looks - its neither use nor ornament

Ok, that's not so bad - a secure area with lovely trellis-like fencing would add to the kerb appeal too, I think.

I agree - that's an ugly wall! I'm guessing there's an initial steeper slope coming off the road, which levels off a bit towards the garage? That would explain the strange steps.

Anyhoo, check your deeds.

Section62

Huskymumma said:

Hi, the front door is to the side - orange arrow.  we only have one car so there will always be room for it on the drive. Its a small cul de sac with only 12 houses, all have drives, and the area isn't built up at all, surrounded by fields and farmland - its semi rural so we don't really have parking disputes or nose to nose cars at this end of the town.

If parking is a planning issue then it doesn't matter how many cars you own, it is what number of parking spaces the council thinks a property like yours needs - e.g. for a 3-bed it is common for the council to require at least 2 spaces.  4-beds often need 3 spaces.

But to be clear, this only matters if there is already some kind of planning condition and/or you need to do certain types of work for which planning consent is required.

Huskymumma said:

When I said conversion, its just fresh doors, insulation and plastering the bare brick walls, the current owner already has power points put in and its used as storage and a utility. My husband need it as a workshop as he makes custom gaming PCs as a side hussle.It will look largely the same from the outside and we don't have customers to the property so I can't see it being anything other than permitted development.  We have a surveyor who also advises on building regs so I will double check

Changing the external appearance probably won't be the issue - it will be the use the space is put to which matters.  If the garage is counted as one of your parking spaces then converting it for some other use could be problematic.

Someone being really officious (perhaps prompted by an annoyed neighbour) could start questioning whether your husband's use of the garage is a business activity which requires a change of use consent.

Surveyors (like builders) generally aren't that much use when it comes to the detail of planning rules.  Again to be clear, there may be no problem doing what you want to do, it is just a good idea to be sure before you commit to buy.