The Essential Guide To A New Fence Part 1

A fence around your property serves two purposes, STYLE and FUNCTION. Your house is not just a collection of bricks and mortar, it is your home, something to be proud of, enjoyed and cherished. Adding a new fence to you property can not only add a stylish look, increase the property value and also have great added security to your home and property.

FIRST THOUGHTS

The first thought should be, what is the reason for a new fence? Is it to give your property a new look, keep kids or dogs in or out, replace an old existing fence, determine a border or boundary line, added security or simply for a bit more privacy?

The next step you should look at is, where is the new fence going to go?

Something you should give some thought to, which can be very important, depending on your relationship with your neighbours, is do you want to share the fence with the property next door, although you or they may not want them to pay for some of the installation cost, having a fence exactly on the boundary means that they will be responsible for the upkeep i.e. painting of their ‘side’ of the fence. The other option is for you to own the whole fence. This means that you draw the fence back slightly until the entire structure is within your property, thus making you the sole owner and responsible for the whole fence, whatever choice you make, sometimes it is worth loosing a couple of inches to avoid lengthy disputes. Another factor you will need to consider is a gate. If you wish to enclose your property entirely, you may need a gate to access refuse bins, garden shed etc.Gates can be blended in as to look like the rest of the fence and be fitted with locks for security.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

For around A�8 you can receive a copy of your boundary deeds from H.M. Land Registry, and also importantly, you can receive of copy of other peoples for the same price. When erecting a new fence custom dictates you to put the entire posts within your property and direct the ‘finished’ face towards your neighbour. This is not a law by any means, but as the title says, it’s about doing the right thing. Usually the law permits you to replace an existing fence to the original height, as long as it was legal in the first place!

It is most common that you are permitted to have a fence up to 2m around the back of your property and up the side until the corner of the building, height between two properties can differ, sometimes a reduction is required down to as low as 1.2m for the side and front of properties with pavement sides again requiring further reduction down to 0.9m. Local and regional laws and unique situations make it impossible to generalize the exact height you are permitted but sometimes a simple bit of research helps, like looking at the properties in the surrounding area, contacting your local council etc.