Erecting Fence over boundary wall ?

[Rake722]

I’m not sure if in the garden is the right place for this post, so please advise if not.

I’ve been having some problems with neighbours after moving into a new house. The house next door is a rental comprising of five flats and I’ve had problems with two of the residents already so I’d like to build a fence over the wall that the divides the properties as it is quite low and does not offer any privacy.

I know that total height cannot exceed 2 m but my question is more about the construction of the fence and whether I should bolt posts to the wall directly and hang the fence of the posts or if there is a better way of doing it I’ve attached some pictures of the wall. It’s 17 1/2 m long so needs to be cost-effective as well. I’d like to know how to put up the fence what materials are required and how to fix the posts to the wall if that method is applicable the location is about a mile away from the coast so we do see some strong winds in the winter and autumn.

Any advice gratefully received

 

[foxhole]

Privacy for a frontage ? Are you serious ?

 

[Rake722]

Privacy for a frontage ? Are you serious ?

Thanks for the really helpful comment. We want to use the space to the front as it’s south facing - I don’t see a problem.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

@Rake722 It was pretty obvious to me what you meant, anyway who owns the wall? How tall are you wanting to make it?

 

[Rake722]

@Rake722 It was pretty obvious to me what you meant, anyway who owns the wall? How tall are you wanting to make it?

Thanks for the reply. That’s a good point about ownership of the wall. I am not sure regarding height. Total height of the fence shouldn’t exceed. 2 m.

Regarding ownership of the wall, if the fence is erected on my side of the wall, does it make any difference?

Thank you

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If you don't know who owns it then you have to assume it is theirs, in which case you cannot touch it let alone fix posts to it, which is probably not a good idea anyway. So your posts ought to be concreted into holes in the ground.

 

[Rake722]

If you don't know who owns it then you have to assume it is theirs, in which case you cannot touch it let alone fix posts to it, which is probably not a good idea anyway. So your posts ought to be concreted into holes in the ground.

I’ll find out who has ownership of the wall from the deeds.

Have a look around the area and there seems to be many houses that have wooden posts drilled and bolted or screwed into the walls and fences attached to the posts and some horizontals. It’s not practical to concrete posts into the ground because it comprises part of the driveway which is particularly narrow in some locations.

I think the only way is with timber posts….

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Regarding ownership of the wall, if the fence is erected on my side of the wall, does it make any difference?

Most certainly it does! You cannot attach anything to a wall not owned by you, except with the express permission of the owner.

The wall is quite a low one, adding brackets and wind-load to it, will likely see it all topple with the extra leverage.

 

[Rake722]

Most certainly it does! You cannot attach anything to a wall not owned by you, except with the express permission of the owner.

The wall is quite a low one, adding brackets and wind-load to it, will likely see it all topple with the extra leverage.

I’ve just downloaded the title plan and no indication of ownership is present. Furthermore the land registry states that it does not record the exact boundary between 2 properties and there is usually no record of who owns the hedge, wall tree or fence between 2 properties.

Wind load is another thing altogether and must be taken into consideration of course. Whilst the wall is quite short, it is rather thick and solid. I think that wind load will be less dependent on the style of fence chosen

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If you built the fence as hit and miss it will still provide good privacy but the wind loading will only be about 15% less. Obviously the more open the fence is the less private it becomes. Ownership aside, fix a fence to a wall at your peril it might be fine it might not.

 

[aveatry]

Are there local regs about the height of the dividing boundaries as I think the rear 2m does not necessarily apply to the front. It may be lower.

 

[Rake722]

Are there local regs about the height of the dividing boundaries as I think the rear 2m does not necessarily apply to the front. It may be lower.

Between properties 2m
Front 1m

 

[aveatry]

Between properties 2m
Front 1m

Well it already looks like 1m

 

[Rake722]

Well it already looks like 1m

That location is between so can be 2m

 

[Charlie George]

Are you in a conservation area? i know there is one nearby.
And allow for the 2m fence to drop lower as it approaches the footpath, otherwise you will not see pedestrians walking past as you drive out.