The general height rules
Under permitted development, the right that lets householders make changes without a planning application, a fence at the back or side of a house can generally be up to two metres high. Above that, planning permission is normally needed. Two metres covers almost every standard garden fence, which is why most replacements never touch the planning system.
The measurement is taken from the ground on your side, and where the ground levels differ between two gardens, the height can effectively be greater on the lower side. That is worth remembering on sloping plots.
Front gardens and boundaries next to a road
The rules tighten where a fence fronts a highway, which includes a road or a footpath. Beside a highway, the permitted height is generally lower, around one metre. This catches people out when they replace a low front wall with a tall fence for privacy: what was fine at the back of the house can need permission at the front.
If your front boundary needs more height, the answer is sometimes planting behind a lower fence rather than a taller fence itself, but your council can confirm what your own boundary allows.
When the usual rules do not apply
Some situations remove or restrict permitted development rights. Listed buildings, conservation areas and some newer estates with conditions attached to the original planning permission can all have different rules. Flats and maisonettes have fewer rights than houses. If any of these apply to your home, check with the council before work starts.
The Planning Portal website explains the national rules, and your local council's planning team can confirm how they apply to your address.
Fencing
- Secure posts and solid installation
- Old fencing removed where agreed
- Styles to suit traditional and modern gardens
Who owns the fence?
There is no general rule that you own the fence on a particular side of your garden. Ownership comes from the property deeds, which may mark boundaries with a T mark on the plan: the T points into the land of the owner responsible. Some deeds make a boundary a shared responsibility, and some say nothing useful at all.
If the deeds are silent, the practical route is to look at how the boundary has been treated over the years and, above all, to talk to your neighbour before replacing anything. A fence built on the wrong side of the line, or one that removes a neighbour's fence, causes disputes that cost far more than the fence.
Talking to neighbours before work starts
Whatever the deeds say, telling your neighbour before a boundary fence comes down is the single best way to keep the job simple. Agreeing the line, the height and the style in advance avoids the classic problems: a fence an inch over the boundary, or a height one side did not expect. Where you are paying for the whole fence, you can usually build it just inside your own boundary so ownership is never in doubt.
Where a new fence fits in
Once the rules and the boundary are settled, the practical choices begin: panels or close board, concrete or timber posts, and whether gravel boards are worth having. The fencing page covers how Ashley builds fences, and the close board page covers the built on site option. When you are ready, a site visit sorts the line, the height and the price in one go.