How high can a garden fence be? I need some advice before talking to neighours.

Soldato
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My new neighbours took down the old fence a while back and have now fitted a new one while I've been at work.

The fence is a full height 6ft job along with ballast boards underneath making it about 2 meters high which I understand is the maximum height a garden fence can be. This isn't a problem. They want their privacy and we value ours.

The problem is about half way down the gardens 20m length it slopes downwards making the end of the garden lower than the begining. They have done the entire length of their new fence with a spirit level and have it running straight as a die from begining to end.

As a result by the end of the garden in our BBQ area, the bottom of their new fence is about a foot off the ground leaving a sizeable gap and the top is about a foot higher than the 2m maximum height. Not only will this restrict the light entering the back of the garden in summer, it doesn't look right. You really cannot see over it to other houses.

This is how it looks at the front, i.e. this is fine and I'm happy with this.
FenceStart.jpg


This is the problem appearing by the middle.
FenceMiddle.jpg


And this is what it looks like by the end in the BBQ area.
FenceEnd.jpg



Now before I go and have a word I would like to know I'm right about the height of fencing. It is a maximum of 2m high isn't it? And should the measurement be taken from his side or mine because not only are the gardens sloping down at the ends, they are also staggered by about half a foot in height due to the houses being on a slight hill like this.

GardenHeight.jpg
 
Soldato
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It doesn't look like a big deal to me from the photos, and unless South is on that side of your property, i.e. coming from the neighbour's direction, it shouldn't be a problem - sun not that low in the sky until sunset. But, it may look better stepped down in 1 or 2 steps over a meter or so.
 
Soldato
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It's a really nice top quality fence, and they've nailed it in place which doesn't lead me to believe they are going to stagger the panels down with the garden slope any time soon.

The annoying thing is they took down the old fence back in May last year. All this time there has been no fence at all. Now they've done it and we can finally have some privacy they've done it like this, and now we still have a problem when it looked like it was being taken care of.
 
Soldato
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It does look like a work in progress. Maybe you could offer to pay for the last bit to be fixed :).

Edit; The supporting framework, it's a bit ugly.. Why is it on your side of the fence?.
 
Soldato
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It does look like a work in progress. Maybe you could offer to pay for the last bit to be fixed :).

Edit; The supporting framework, it's a bit ugly.. Why is it on your side of the fence?.

Agree with the first comment, and to the second, nothing, some hanging flower baskets or something viny won't improve.
 
Associate
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I don't think the height is really going to be a major problem it just looks like it needs finishing off.

I'd ask them whether they they are going to add in more gravel boards to fill in the gap because you are not happy with it how it is and also it needs some more paneling to finish off past the last post.
 
Permabanned
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From a lot of previous experience, it the height etc. depends on a lot of things. I have come across differing regulations with different authorities and also these can vary on some housing estates. One estate I deal with doesn't allow garden fences above about waist height on the sides, but 1.8m at the back.

As to whose side the arris rails are this can vary too. Whose side were they on to start with and to whom does the fence belong?

Call your local council in the morning and talk to someone who knows what the regulations are in your immediate area.
 
Caporegime
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were the suporting beams on your side before?

i dont see how you can complain if they were, you got a nice new fence for free even though you benefit just as much as your neighbour.

if they paid for it all and the suporting beams were orignaly on your side then you would be a tight arse if you didnt buy a few bags of sand or some such to level out the corner of the garden :p
 
Soldato
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I would say to him "get the bottom sorted and Its fine, if you dont, It will be phone call to the council and they will drag it down with in the week"
 
Soldato
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OK basically it is their fence. My fence is on the left hand side.

They didn't ask me about the support beams, but to be honest I'm not worried about those. As said I can hang some garden hanging baskets and we're planning on putting up some garden lights along there anyhow so it's going to look better in time.

On reflection I'm not going to complain about the height because it will cause bad blood if I ask him to take them down, and my GF doesn't mind it saying it just gives us more privacy.

What I will do is to ask him to fit additional gravel boards to fill in that bottom gap because apart from looking rubbish, as you can see our BBQ area at the back is filled in with loose stones and we cannot go up to our edge without something to go up too.
 

UFX

UFX

Associate
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if they paid for it all and the suporting beams were orignaly on your side then you would be a tight arse if you didnt buy a few bags of sand or some such to level out the corner of the garden :p

probably the best idea, I wouldn't have anything to do with the fence, just let them get on with it, if it needs altered or repairs in the future you may be roped into paying half.

if they leave it like that. I'd speak to them about building up the bottom from their side or adding more boards so you can add more soil/gravel to hide the gap.

Mabe you could offset the extra height with a little decking area around your bbq ?
 
Soldato
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The maximum height for a fence without the need for planning permission is 2M.

However, the accepted convention on a sloping site is to measure height from the highest ground level, so technically the fence can be higher than 2M above ground level.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to make good the end bit, but there isn't much you can do to force them to do anything if they don't agree.
 
Associate
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I don't think the fence looks that ugly even though the support beams are your side. It would look better though if it was an even colour but overall it's a good quality fence with a good finish to it.

Whilst your speaking to them you should also ask if they are going to paint/stain the fence and if they are then try an agree on the same colour so you can do your side with the same product they use.

You don't want to annoy each other by them painting their side green and you paint yours blue and colour bleeds through.
 
Soldato
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If you're happy with the beams being on your side you might just be aswell asking them what they plan to do about the gap at the bottom end of the garden, and if nothing offer to pay to have that bit finished off by the same people that did the fence.
 
Soldato
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Just looks like it needs 2 gravel Boards along the bottom between the last 3 posts. Not really a big deal, if it doesn't look like they are going to do it I would just do it myself.
 
Soldato
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Talk about mountains and mole-hills; you have already said it is pretty much ok with you and your gf, just get some boards and fill the space underneath so that your stones won't go walkabout.

As you said, it really isn't worth the bad feeling that it might cause; wait until you really do have a problem before you jump in with two feet.
 
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