Yes, you can build a fence on either side of your garden next to your neighbour’s fence.
If the fence is in your boundary then you are allowed to build a 2-metre high brick or wooden fence/wall.
A lot of homeowners do this because they are fed up of having to ask neighbours permission to paint or attach things thing to their fence.
There are many other reasons why people resort to building their own fences next to their neighbours:
- Nosey or over-talkative neighbours (5ft fence)
- Denied access to screw or paint neighbours fence
- Bad kept fence or brick wall (derelict)
- 5 feet fence and no privacy
- General privacy when in the garden
What Type Of Fence ?
A wooden sturdy fence will suffice, it costs much less when compared to a brick wall.
A panel and concrete kickers will last 20/30 years, but you might have to replace the wooden panels every 10 years.
- Make sure you can slide fence panel out for staining
- Concrete posts and concrete kickers
- Wooden fence panels
It’s a very easy process and a fence company will have your fence up within the day or two.
You do not have to ask your neighbours because you a well within your rights to build a fence next to your neighbour’s fence.
Tips To Building A Fence Next To Another Fence
If you are building aa fence next to our neighbour’s fence for whatever reason, then here are some tips to help it go as smoothly as possible.
- Leave enough room for posts and footings
- Stagger your fence posts so you are not digging up your neighbours
- Concrete posts are much stronger and will last a lot longer
- Kickers or plinths work great for flower beds and raised gardens
- Concrete plinths will not rot like a wooden fence
Conclusion
If you are doing the fence or you hire a fence company to put up the fence, be sure not to damage the neighbours because guaranteed they will be watching like a hawk!
Apart from putting up a fence next to theirs, make sure there is nothing they can say when it comes to their fence stability ETC.
I have a fence erected inside the boundary line and have left the original post/chicken wire boundary marker. Can I now erect trellis up to 2.5 m? Is it the same ruling as the eaves of a shed if it’s within 2m of the boundary?
Many thanks
Hey Jackie,
No, you can only go 2-metres, you cannot add the trellis on top because trellis is classed as fencing. So with the trellis, the overall height can only be 2 metres. Hope this helps!
Hi I’m hoping to get some advice, our neighbours on the left have have an old brick wall (partly comes onto our side) and an old piece of fence then joining on to another crumbling wall. Last summer we decided to leave all of there’s and put our own fence up completely on our land, fast forward to this year, the neighbour has decided she’ll take her rotten piece of wood out and stand a shed near by. Behind our new fence we left about a foot’ish gap all the way down for space for the posts to go in straight. Now I have her grandkids squeezing down bashing along the side of it throwing over anything we left behind it. Am I within reason to lift one of the pallets out and put something behind them to stop them squeezing through on to our left over space or am I been petty. I did explain to her when we put it up there would be a slight amount left due to her wall been angled, and that this wasn’t us donating the left over space to her incase we sold the house and new owners wanted it back, plus at the time she already had a divide in place but now she’s obviously taken part of it out. Thank you
Hi Claire,
It sounds like you have given away a strip of your garden, the kids should not go beyond their boundary. You could put something up to stop them from running down the strip of land. Just go right up to your neighbour’s boundary line.
The line is as thin as a piece of string so going tight up to your boundary would have been best.
Hope this helps
Hi,
What is the maximum height I can have my boundary fence in the front garden?
I keep reading about a 1m restriction if the fence is next to a highway/public pathway, however I assume this refers to the front fence facing the road.
Does this also apply to the fence between my front garden and my neighbours? I am unsure.
Thanks
Hey Adam,
The height for the front garden is 1 metre all around, even between neighbours properties. Although you can grow shrubs and bushes with no limit.
Hope this helps
I own the boundary between myself & my neighbours which I had a 6’ fencing on. 10 years or so back my neighbour decided they did not like my fence & asked for mine to be removed, I declined & told them to erect a fence inside their own property. They erected 6’ fence panels on their side, their garden is higher than mine, every panel & post was higher than mine with their house number painted on every panel & post, over the years most of their fencing has broken & rotted causing damage to some of my ornamental trees.
I have recently replaced 30’ of my fencing placing it at the same height as my neighbours around 7’ as I expected there has been disapproval from the other side, my new fencing is well inside my property & level with my neighbours (to cover the numbers).
After that long story, as my new fence is the permitted height on my neighbours side & not above theirs could I be asked to put in planning &/or asked to reduce my fence height?
No, your fence is under 2 metres, planning will not take action unless you are obviously over the stated height. If you have fence panels fitted with no trellis you will be fine, there is nothing that can be done now.
Hope this helps
Can increase the size of my back garden by using some of the ‘front’ garden (which is actually at the side of the house)? The house is on a corner so the front and side are next to a pavement and road. It would mean putting in higher fencing at the side to incorporate it into the back garden?
If not possible, what If I put the higher fencing a metre inside the boundary, thus retaining a little bit of ‘front’ garden at the side?
Hey Han,
I would double-check with the local council because they vary, but you would have to separate your back garden to the front garden with a gate, then a smaller fence around the front of your property.
You should also check the local area and see what other properties have done with their boundary walls.
Hope this helps and good luck.
Hello, my neighbour (directly behind us) has built a large single storey extension with bi-folding doors spanning the front. This is uncomfortably close to the boundary. We are situated on lower ground and we are now significantly overlooked. We are the view. The new building provides our neighbours with eye-level view directly into the second floor bedrooms and bathroom of our house, which is hugely distressing particularly for my eldest daughter who has taken to keeping her curtains closed. The extension also gives a clear view into our downstairs rooms and garden.
The plan for the building was originally rejected by the Council. We’d objected, as had others, on privacy grounds. Subsequently the plan was resubmitted (without change) and passed – despite further objections being made. The Council in passing the plans stipulated that a 2 metre fence must be installed in order to give privacy, and this was to be erected in the neighbour’s garden before bringing the extension into use.
We already had a fence, erected at ground level at the boundary partition in our garden. So, we now have an additional fence erected behind it and on higher ground. As my neighbour’s garden slopes to the boundary, on their side, this new fence does not provide privacy as intended by the Council. The fence is not tall enough for that purpose. It provides some privacy for them. For example, if they are seated in their extension we cannot see up and over the fence from our downstairs rooms but when they are standing (inside the extension or on the slither of grass outside of it) they can see into our dining room, into our kitchen and garden – and they can look across directly into our bedrooms, as mentioned.
The Council’s fence requirement, which was apparently intended to preserve our privacy, was never more than a tickbox execercise, as far as I can see.
At the same time, as well as the view of this huge extension which dominates the view from every window at the back of our house, we now also have the additional spectacle of the double fencing to look at. The fence installed sits at more than 3 metres high from ground level in our garden (due to the fact we are on lower ground).
My question really is this: was the Council acting fairly and in accordance with the law when planning officers requested fencing be installed by my neighbour that would stand at over three metres high from ground level in my garden?
I query the suitability, efficacy and legality of this fence as a prerequisite to approving the extension plans.
The Council will likely not retrospectively change their decision re the extension but I am seeking accountability and potentially financial redress. I’d welcome any perspective on this (with thanks from an exhausted NHS manager, who has worked tirelessly at home throughout the pandemic whist watching daily as this irreversible and invasive building project has unfolded).
Hey N.Sullivan,
This setup seems extremely bizarre, how did the planning application get approved? It only takes one neighbour to dispute the planning application and it would be declined. Especially due to the picture-perfect view they have of your property.
That is the whole point of planning permission, to avoid privacy issues and those building regulations are adhered to. The three-metre fence solution is non heard of. Which council does your property come under?
The 3-metre fence idea seems like a band-aid idea to keep you happy. Sounds like you have been brushed under the carpet in preference to your neighbour. A three-metre fence in a domestic property should never have been the solution.
I hope this helps and thank you for all your hard work 😉
Hi, thanks for the reply. Helpful to know you also think that this situation seems totally wrong. I am progressing and have written a letter to the Council today, which will be copied to the local MP etc. I’m also going to go to the Ombudsman if the Council don’t acknowledge responsibility. The Council is Kirklees. Too late in relation to the building (its up) but let’s hope I can get accountability and some redress. We objected twice by the way, rejected first time and passed the second but with the fence requirement added as a condition. With thanks again for your response 😊 🙏
Hi, I would like to build my own fence next to neighbour’s fence. Is there a legal gap that I need to leave between the fences? How close can I get to neighbour’s fence?
Thank you.
Hi Gabriela,
You can go right up to your boundary line,1″ 2″ away from the fence, there is no rule just be sure it is within your boundary.
Hope this helps
I live next door to a grade 2 listed cottage. The cottage fronts onto the length of our driveway and there is varying height fencing from 5ft to 4 ft and a lot of higher shrubbery all the way down our drive, that they erected years ago. Can we erect our own fencing, within our boundary, of 5 or 6 foot, alongside their fence, or will we need planning because their house is Grade 2 listed.
Hey K Morgan,
Yes, you are within your rights to erect the fence within your boundary. You will not require planning to erect your fence even if the next property is a grade listed building.
Hope this helps
Our neighbours at the back have a garden higher than ours and last summer made a patchwork fence of old wood with nails sticking out our side that is about the legal height their side but towers above our garden to about 10 feet in places. We cannot put a fence or anything to cover it as the join is on their side and he’s refused to let us put a trellis up or anything to mask it. What can we do about this?
This is my problem, did you get a reply Jared?
Thanks
Julia
Hi can I erect a fence next to neighbours boundary fence and do i need to leave a gap… Thanks
Hey Louise,
You are well within your rights to erect a 2m fence within your boundary line. There is no gap requirement, just be sure to stagger the posts, so you are not digging up the neighbour’s posts.
Kindest
I’ve erected a 6ft fence about 6 years ago because of neighbourly disputes on the inside of my garden in front of the boundary. The neughbour took down the boundary party wall without permission and now dictates what I can and cant do to my own fences. Can I lift to check them, paint them and replace them? Shes a very difficult accusing neighbour, hence fencing. I need help and support. I feel threatened by my own belongings.
Hi.
Our neighbours have erected a wooden fence right within their boundary line but used the existing shared concrete posts to mount the fence. Is this allowed as it restricts access to mend/repair and replace the shared panels ready in situ
I live in a counsel property and my neighbor is private they have recently taken there fence down and are hacking away at our plants that are on a tresill then throwing them back into our garden ,can I put a fence up on my property.
Hi… the 2 meter restriction, is that from our side or the neighbours side? He has a high patio so with 2 meters he would still be able to look over into our garden. Some of his garden is the same level as ours but it’s the highest section where he has put a raised patio which is my conern.
i put a fence in front of the old one now the neighbour has taken the old one down and attached his side fence to mine so he can gain a bit extra to his garden
Hi we currently have 5ft fencing and this has been allowed by our council. It’s not exactly a puplic footpath our back gate links in with others it’s a narrow path with a dead end. Only 3 bungalows back gate connect. I was told the fencing I have now was fine
However we have really awful neighbours who constantly stare at myself and my children whilst in the garden. They stand and watch and listen to whoever enters the property whilst on the back garden. We have a huge garden and find we can’t enjoy it due to the neighbours. They regularly put there hand over the fence panels and lean on them. Which then encourages my dog to jump up. Ive been told I can apply for planning permission which I don’t mind but it’s costly! Can we put new fencing behind our current fencing. It will come around a ft into our garden the new fence which I don’t mind because the garden is so big. We would like to have 2metre fencing to put behind the 5ft one that’s currently there. Is this allowed?
Thank you
I am in Scotland. We recently paid to erect a 2m fence which is on our boundary line. However, we git it double slated and the double slightly hand over her driveway by about a centimetre. Our new neighbour refused to contribute to any costs.
However, she has painted the fence or her side.
She is an old woman and very difficult.always complaining etc.