Garden advice regarding neighbour

[k4ti3-x]

Hello, sorry - long back story below before I get to the point...

We've lived in our house for a year and are planning on doing up the garden (nothing major or fancy.) Now i'm feeling a bit wary as we have since learned that the young couple who I purchased the property from had bought it, renovated it and had originally intended for it to be an Air BNB but they ended up selling it due to this neighbour causing problems for them throughout the renovation project - phoning the council regarding numerous silly things.
She's an older lady who lives with her mum as from conversations we have had they have always lived in that house. She has been fine with us so far but when we have mentioned doing up the garden she's made a few comments as to the fact we are daft to want to waste money when it's perfectly ok as it is and she doesn't understand why we don't keep it the way it is.
She is quite chatty and at the moment it's a very low wall between us and as she's always out in the garden we don't have any privacy - simple things like my other half wanting to sunbathe without a t-shirt on but doesn't feel comfortable.

Our plan is to put up a fence on our side of the already existing wall to give us some privacy from them but also from the main road (see pic) and then some decking and astroturf at the other side of the garden.

The gate is technically to allow us access through her garden into ours with a car, but we don't wish to do that and are happy to block it off.

I'm just a bit unsure how to approach it with her, as I don't want to just erect a 6ft fence without saying anything but I fear if I tell her she's going to ask us not to. There is also a drain from her shed going into our garden that will interfere with the fence posts. How would you approach it if it was you or how would you feel if you were the neighbour? We do not want to have problems with anyone - just a happy, quite life please.

[123]

I can see a couple of issues with your plan (if your neighbour wants to cause problems).

Firstly you say a fence on top of the existing wall, if the wall is shared you would need her permission to do this, the other option is a fence entirely on your side butting up to the existing wall.

The second is the gate, you might want to check with the conveyancer who did your house purchase, as most of these access rigths are required to be kept open for emergancy service access (as well as your own access)

The simplest way is to talk to her about what you are going to do and ask her if there are any things she doesn't like about it and if there are see if you can come to a compromise

Ultimatley if you leave the access open (you could put a further gate in next to the current one that is 6 foot high) and put the fences on your side she can;t do anything other than phone call. If you really do hit an impasse maybe highlight this to her, as then she may prefer the less ugly version of just a single boundary

[excitedbunny79]

I think an AirbnB is a lot different to what you'd like to do, I'd give your neighbour a chance and speak to her with an open mind, rather than pre-judging what her reaction might be based on what the old owners have told you.

[lovedisney]

Make sure any fences you put up are of the correct height and no higher and the decking is no higher off the ground than it should be just to make sure you have no problems further down the line, but as others have said an air b &b is a lot different from what you want to do

[snowbelle]

I would discuss a fence with her and put it inside your boundary ,also dont block off the gate as this may interfere with a prospective sale further down the line we had to do the fence as our neighbours could see right into our garden and the man of the couple used to stand and stare at us in the garden and not say a word .

They were very unhappy we did this, we do speak briefly now, the man is in fact nice, but his wife is a whole new animal, apparently as they have lived there since the houses were built she has a say so in everyones business

Whatever you decide it is best to keep on the neighbours good side but it doesnt always work out like that !

[Floridarules]

My suggestion, I would make more of the area at the bottom of the garden at the side of the neighbours shed/garage.
Could you make that a little more private with a covered shelter maybe?- that way the neighbour would not mind as it’s next to their building anyway?
I would definitely under no circumstances block the gate access. That is key for future sale/value of your property or what if they lady decides to sell. If you have blocked this off, no-one would know until you decided to unblock it.
Quite handy too to get your car thorough should you need to👍

[k4ti3-x]

Originally Posted by 123

I can see a couple of issues with your plan (if your neighbour wants to cause problems).

Firstly you say a fence on top of the existing wall, if the wall is shared you would need her permission to do this, the other option is a fence entirely on your side butting up to the existing wall.

The second is the gate, you might want to check with the conveyancer who did your house purchase, as most of these access rigths are required to be kept open for emergancy service access (as well as your own access)

The simplest way is to talk to her about what you are going to do and ask her if there are any things she doesn't like about it and if there are see if you can come to a compromise

Ultimatley if you leave the access open (you could put a further gate in next to the current one that is 6 foot high) and put the fences on your side she can;t do anything other than phone call. If you really do hit an impasse maybe highlight this to her, as then she may prefer the less ugly version of just a single boundary

See more...

Sorry i've edited it - the plan is to put in on our side on the ground. I will check regarding access, we have a section at the other side of our house for access to garden but worth checking out so thank you.

Originally Posted by excitedbunny79

I think an AirbnB is a lot different to what you'd like to do, I'd give your neighbour a chance and speak to her with an open mind, rather than pre-judging what her reaction might be based on what the old owners have told you.

See more...

No I agree, I don't think i'd like living next to an air bnb either. A few other neighbours have been saying a few things regarding her as well so them all added together has got us a bit cautious but we don't want any trouble.

Originally Posted by lovedisney

Make sure any fences you put up are of the correct height and no higher and the decking is no higher off the ground than it should be just to make sure you have no problems further down the line, but as others have said an air b &b is a lot different from what you want to do

See more...

Thanks, I will double check to make sure

Originally Posted by snowbelle

I would discuss a fence with her and put it inside your boundary ,also dont block off the gate as this may interfere with a prospective sale further down the line we had to do the fence as our neighbours could see right into our garden and the man of the couple used to stand and stare at us in the garden and not say a word .

They were very unhappy we did this, we do speak briefly now, the man is in fact nice, but his wife is a whole new animal, apparently as they have lived there since the houses were built she has a say so in everyones business

Whatever you decide it is best to keep on the neighbours good side but it doesnt always work out like that !

See more...

I can see her being unhappy as she likes to talk to us and that would make a bit like we are shutting her out but at the same time it's our garden we want to be able to enjoy it. I'll let her know our plans and fingers crossed she isn't fussed.

[k4ti3-x]

Originally Posted by Floridarules

My suggestion, I would make more of the area at the bottom of the garden at the side of the neighbours shed/garage.
Could you make that a little more private with a covered shelter maybe?- that way the neighbour would not mind as it’s next to their building anyway?
I would definitely under no circumstances block the gate access. That is key for future sale/value of your property or what if they lady decides to sell. If you have blocked this off, no-one would know until you decided to unblock it.
Quite handy too to get your car thorough should you need to👍

See more...

That's there the decking will be going, she can still see us quite clearly as thats where we are sitting just now so with a fence up it should give us a bit of privacy. Thank, never thought about her selling, looks like a gate in front of hers will be the best option.

[JLH]

I don’t blame you for wanting something higher - one of the first things we did in our garden was to make the fences higher as they were four ft - they wouldn’t have wanted my kids looking over just as much as I wouldn’t want them too either. I hope she doesn’t cause a fuss for you.

[Island mamma]

How about telling her you need a bit higher fence for shade and so you can put some climbers up it. You could also make gates the same height of the fence so long as not too high and tell her it just looks better with the new fence at your side. You and she can always talk over the gates, or open it if you want to talk. You don't want to fall out with your neighbour but what you want to do is reasonable