Who is responsible for a garden fence or boundary?

Boundary responsibility is a matter of the deeds for that specific property, not of a general rule. Getting this right before doing any work avoids the most common and most avoidable neighbour dispute there is.

What you'll need

• Property deeds or title plan
• A tape measure (optional)
• A camera (optional)

Step by step

1. Check your title deeds or plan.Boundaries you are responsible for are often marked with a T on your side. It is the definitive source, not local convention.
2. Ignore the left-or-right rule.There is no such general rule. It varies entirely by property and is a common source of confusion and argument.
3. Talk to your neighbour before doing anything.Almost every boundary dispute could have been avoided by a conversation first. It costs nothing and it sets the tone.
4. Do not alter, paint or attach things to a fence that is not yours.Even the side facing you. Attaching a trellis or hanging baskets to a neighbour's fence without permission is not permitted.
5. Know your rights over overhanging branches.In most jurisdictions you may cut back growth overhanging your boundary, to the boundary line only. The cuttings legally belong to the tree owner, so offer them back.
6. Check for protections before cutting anything substantial.Trees may have preservation orders and hedges may be protected. Cutting a protected tree can carry a substantial fine.
7. Keep records of everything.Photographs, dates, written messages. If it does become a dispute, contemporaneous records matter a great deal.
8. Get professional advice for genuine disputes.Boundary disputes escalate expensively. Mediation is far cheaper than litigation and resolves most cases.

Tips

• A fence built entirely within your own boundary is yours to do as you like with, and it avoids the shared-responsibility question altogether.
• Boundary disputes must be declared when selling a property and they reduce value and deter buyers. That alone is a reason to resolve them.
• Hedges that block light may be covered by specific high-hedge legislation in some countries, with a formal complaints process.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the left-hand fence is yours — There is no such general rule. Responsibility is set by the deeds for each individual property.
• Painting or attaching things to a neighbour's fence — It is their property even on the side facing you, and doing so without permission is a common trigger for disputes.
• Cutting overhanging branches beyond the boundary line — You may cut only to the boundary. Going further is trespass and damage, and can be expensive.

Questions people ask