Fence dilemma

[Poseidon]

Looking for a bit of advice, I want to put a fence up along the boundary between my neighbour's and my driveway, but not sure on the legality (or moral) aspect.

Here is a poor drawing to give an idea;



I'm in green, neighbour is in orange. Boundary in yellow. Our drives start level however theirs rises to around 3ft higher at the end. There is a stone wall that runs the length of their drive that covers the height difference + a few inches. I assume this means its not classed as a shared drive?

They've extended their house in such a way that they've been left with a narrow driveway. This means that to leave walking space up one side they park against the boundary then get out onto my drive. They have a valeter that comes and washes their cars every fortnight, obviously he doesn't have enough space so ends up standing on our drive half the time to work. Their son is also a bit of a pig and lets rubbish fall out of his car which then finds its way onto our property. Does he pick it up? Does he fk.

I've just ignored the above because its not really putting us out but they seem to be taking the piss lately. Today they have workmen round who I see have setup trestles on our drive to work on, along with various bits of timber. The neighbours have passed them multiple times and said nothing to the workmen. I find this quite rude - I would never allow this to happen the other way around.

So I'd like to put up a nice 6ft fence between us, following on from the existing fence in purple. I assume legally I can just stick this up? It'll mean its more difficult for them to get out of their car without parking it in the middle of the drive and thus having to squeeze past it, but surely this is nothing to do with me? Do they have a 'right to space'? If I ask them beforehand they'll likely object. I'm not too worried about burning bridges with them.

Thoughts please!

Edited by Poseidon on Wednesday 28th May 17:31

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I would give them your plans and tell them what you intend to do ... Don't ask for their comments , you're just informing them out of politeness .

But first check your deeds and make sure you are allowed to put up a fence.

[Torquey]

6ft?
I thought front gardens could only have 1 meter fences - i could well be wrong about that.

Even so - a 30cm fence would probably be enough to stop them opening their car door on your drive and be clearly obvious where the boundary is. May look s lit nicer than 6ft too!

Edited by Torquey on Wednesday 28th May 17:37

[GasEngineer]

Poseidon said:

Looking for a bit of advice, I want to put a fence up along the boundary between my neighbour's and my driveway, but not sure on the legality (or moral) aspect.

Here is a poor drawing to give an idea;



I'm in green, neighbour is in orange. Boundary in yellow. Our drives start level however theirs rises to around 3ft higher at the end. There is a stone wall that runs the length of their drive that covers the height difference + a few inches. I assume this means its not classed as a shared drive?

They've extended their house in such a way that they've been left with a narrow driveway. This means that to leave walking space up one side they park against the boundary then get out onto my drive. They have a valeter that comes and washes their cars every fortnight, obviously he doesn't have enough space so ends up standing on our drive half the time to work. Their son is also a bit of a pig and lets rubbish fall out of his car which then finds its way onto our property. Does he pick it up? Does he fk.

I've just ignored the above because its not really putting us out but they seem to be taking the piss lately. Today they have workmen round who I see have setup trestles on our drive to work on, along with various bits of timber. The neighbours have passed them multiple times and said nothing to the workmen. I find this quite rude - I would never allow this to happen the other way around.

So I'd like to put up a nice 6ft fence between us, following on from the existing fence in purple. I assume legally I can just stick this up? It'll mean its more difficult for them to get out of their car without parking it in the middle of the drive and thus having to squeeze past it, but surely this is nothing to do with me? Do they have a 'right to space'? If I ask them beforehand they'll likely object. I'm not too worried about burning bridges with them.

Thoughts please!

Edited by Poseidon on Wednesday 28th May 17:31

I think I would do the same but does it have to be a 6ft fence? Could you put up a low fence or chain link or something to make the point that it is your driveway - not shared with the neighbour?

[fourstardan]

Good luck with this OP. As said just put a note over. Probably better to pay someone to avoid confrontation.

A neighbour on my cul de sac put in a metal fence to stop there neighbour thinking they could get four cars on the drive not 3.5.

Arrsoles everywhere now days pushing boundaries.

[A500leroy]

Chain link fence?

[Byker28i]

Is the existing bit of fence 6 foot?

I'd go with a low fence along the boundary, maybe start with a post at the end and string along the boundary line tied to the existing fence post, so he knows where you're going to put it.

Low, decorative, rather than a huge fence. Pretty, friendly, subtle, but defines your land.

Some of these look nice.
https://www.charlesandivy.co.uk/products/aspen-dec...

https://www.gardentimberonline.co.uk/product-categ...

Or straight white picket fence?

One of my neighbours used Timber Knee fencing to stop people / delivery lorries driving onto their garden
https://www.jacksons-security.co.uk/timber-fencing...

[Nick_MSM]

Some estate fencing might look nice and would do the trick. But agree, check deeds first as it would be a right PITA to have to remove something.

[ATG]

How about discussing it with them first so that you can end up with a fence that works for both of you and a neighbour who is on side?

[The Three D Mucketeer]

ATG said:

How about discussing it with them first so that you can end up with a fence that works for both of you and a neighbour who is on side?

How woke I wonder if they discussed their extension ?
Pretty obvious they're just interested in themselves and don't give a fig about anyone else .

PS .. Even if your deeds say you can't erect a fence , if you're freehold and the builders have gone ... without the expense of taking it to court , in my experience no one wants to support the implementation covenants in deeds ... planning and police don't want to know .

Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Wednesday 28th May 18:31

[Poseidon]

Byker28i said:

Is the existing bit of fence 6 foot

It is yes - and it’s on their property, so stands at 9ft on my side, which I’m more than happy with. The continuation of the 6ft may look nicer than a drop to say 3ft? Hard to visualise.

We also have a 6ft fence running along the left side in green.

Edited by Poseidon on Wednesday 28th May 19:45

[Poseidon]

The Three D Mucketeer said:

ATG said:

How about discussing it with them first so that you can end up with a fence that works for both of you and a neighbour who is on side?

How woke I wonder if they discussed their extension ?
Pretty obvious they're just interested in themselves and don't give a fig about anyone else .

PS .. Even if your deeds say you can't erect a fence , if you're freehold and the builders have gone ... without the expense of taking it to court , in my experience no one wants to support the implementation covenants in deeds ... planning and police don't want to know .

Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Wednesday 28th May 18:31

Ha, the extension was before our time! They’re almost universally disliked in our little cul de sac though. We’ve tried to keep on good terms with them but they put no effort into maintaining a relationship.

Of course I can’t be certain but I imagine the best fence for them is no fence, so if I open discussions and they say no it’ll be awkward to go ahead and build one anyway. Tricky.

[TA14]

This was a neat solution for a narrow fence. Available in black or brown plastic coated. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[fourstardan]

Poseidon said:

Ha, the extension was before our time! They re almost universally disliked in our little cul de sac though. We ve tried to keep on good terms with them but they put no effort into maintaining a relationship.

Of course I can t be certain but I imagine the best fence for them is no fence, so if I open discussions and they say no it ll be awkward to go ahead and build one anyway. Tricky.

There are always universally disliked people on a close/CDS.

Fk them, get a fence up.

[M1AGM]

If the end of both of your driveways is the public highway then I dont think you can put up a fence that would impact the visual splay?

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Poseidon said:

Ha, the extension was before our time! They re almost universally disliked in our little cul de sac though. We ve tried to keep on good terms with them but they put no effort into maintaining a relationship.

Of course I can t be certain but I imagine the best fence for them is no fence, so if I open discussions and they say no it ll be awkward to go ahead and build one anyway. Tricky.

JFDI

[richhead]

They dont sound like the best neighbors, i would check and double check the boundary and just built a fence.

[leef44]

How about barbed wire

[Richard-D]

richhead said:

They dont sound like the best neighbors, i would check and double check the boundary and just built a fence.

That would be my approach too. Realistically by talking to them about it you're just going to end up building it despite their objections. If you just do it then you've not done that but have just built it on the property line. They'll sulk either way so may as well go for the version that causes you the least grief.

[ATG]

The Three D Mucketeer said:

ATG said:

How about discussing it with them first so that you can end up with a fence that works for both of you and a neighbour who is on side?

How woke I wonder if they discussed their extension ?
Pretty obvious they're just interested in themselves and don't give a fig about anyone else .

PS .. Even if your deeds say you can't erect a fence , if you're freehold and the builders have gone ... without the expense of taking it to court , in my experience no one wants to support the implementation covenants in deeds ... planning and police don't want to know .

Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Wednesday 28th May 18:31

It's not woke, it's behaving like an adult and trying to get what you want by using persuasion. Funnily enough, people who get what they want don't do it by causing conflicts. They do it by persuading the "opposition" that they went the same outcome.