Article by Jane Denton, This Is Money, 1 August 2026
I want to put up a high fence between my house and my neighbour’s: Who should pay?
I recently purchased a house and the boundaries between all the properties on the road are not defined on the title deeds.
I contacted the Land Registry and it told me that, should all the neighbours wish the boundaries to be defined, we could hire a solicitor to do this – but not everyone agreed.
The brick walls between the houses are about 70 centimetres high. As a result, there is no privacy. I want to install two 6ft high fences in my garden instead.
The neighbours to the right of me have also recently moved in and are in favour of this. They have agreed to pay half the cost of the fence. However, the neighbours to the left who have lived there for 15 years said they don’t mind the low walls and will only contribute a small amount.
I also want to know who gets the nice side of the fence, given there is no boundary.
Finally, if the fence was blown over in the wind, who would be responsible for paying for it to be replaced? Would the cost be split fifty fifty?
Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: A title plan is the official map of the land a house is built on, while the title deeds or title register are the written record of ownership, rights and obligations relating to the land.
Both documents are produced by the Land Registry in England and Wales, and are typically obtained together when a house is bought.
If you see a ‘T’ on one side of the border on the title plan, the homeowner on that side is responsible for any fence or wall maintenance that may need to take place.
A title plan shows general boundaries only, however. Title deeds and the title register usually carry greater legal weight on property ownership, mortgages, easements and restrictions.
Neither document alone proves the exact legal boundary, which matters in boundary disputes involving adjoining land. It is a common misconception that title deeds always dictate who is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of a boundary.
It seems likely that the fence will be built on your side, meaning you alone would be responsible for the cost of buying it and getting it installed. Your neighbours don’t have to contribute a penny if they don’t want to, and you will need to agree between yourselves who gets the nice side of the fence.
If you installed the fence in the first place or have maintained it, the chances are high that you will be legally liable for any future upkeep or for replacing it if it blows down in the wind.
Joseph A. Jones Solicitor and Partner, Olivia Egdell-Page
Olivia Egdell-Page, a partner and head of property at Joseph A. Jones & Co. says: Boundaries can be a real sticking point, and do have the potential to result in disputes arising between neighbours.
In practice, there are two separate issues here: who is legally responsible for the existing boundary feature, and who should pay for a new fence that you would like to install for privacy.
Those questions are related, but they are not the same.
The Land Registry will sometimes record responsibility for boundary features on a property’s title.
Where the title is silent, however, there is no general legal presumption that one neighbour is responsible because the boundary is on the left, on the right, or shared.
As you have been advised, the only way to define a boundary and confirm responsibility is to apply to the Land Registry for this to be formally determined.
The owners of two or more properties may come to an agreement about the boundary between their properties. The agreement can deal with the position of the legal boundary, or the maintenance of a boundary feature, or both.
In the absence of this, neighbours can agree informally that they will share the costs of replacing a fence, and this works well so long as all parties are in agreement.
There is therefore no mechanism to require your neighbour to contribute 50 per cent of the cost of the fence replacement, or indeed make any contribution.
Another consideration is that there may be restrictions contained within the title to your property as to the height of the fences you can erect around your property.
There could also be potential planning concerns should fences exceed 2 metres, or if they are adjacent to a public highway or footpath where the maximum height is 1 metre.
I don’t believe that this is the case here from your description of your property and those adjacent, however it is another factor to bear in mind.
Should the matter remain unresolved and escalate to more formal legal discussions, there is the scope for the costs to increase significantly.
It is worth keeping an open discourse with your neighbours on both sides to resolve matters amicably.
Joanne Ellis, a partner and land dispute specialist at Stephensons, says: In most cases, boundaries are not defined at the Land Registry.
The boundaries shown on title plans indicate a general boundary only and cannot be relied on to identify the true boundary position.
A defined boundary is usually only needed where there is a dispute about its precise location.
The title deeds are different and are the starting point when considering any boundary. They are often mistaken for Land Registry plans, as those plans are usually all that is used to buy and sell registered land.
The original sale of the land out of a larger plot is the deed that sets the boundaries and is called the root conveyance. You should have been given this when you purchased the property or, at least, have a copy.
Before being certain there are no boundary provisions, you should find that document and review the plan and wording carefully to check nothing has been missed.
Defining a boundary at the Land Registry is technical and generally an unnecessary cost. However, you can still agree with your neighbours who should maintain the boundaries.
Whilst the root conveyance may, or may not, set out maintenance provisions, other factors should be considered, such as who put the walls up and any historic agreement.
Who should pay for the fence?
Joanne Ellis says: I note that the neighbours to the right of you have agreed to your suggestion and will pay half the costs of the fence. My first advice would always be to try to reach an amicable agreement, so it is helpful you have this.
You are looking to build a fence on your side of the existing brick wall. The true boundary position is most likely either the far side of the wall or directly down the middle.
As the fence is most likely to be on your side, it will be yours and any contribution from your neighbour would be optional.
Your neighbour would also technically be unable to do anything to their side of the fence, such as paint it or attach anything to it.
Even if the wall was a party wall and you wanted to build a fence on the centre line, unless there are very specific provisions in your deeds, you cannot compel a neighbour to alter the boundary structure.
Who gets the nice side of the fence will depend entirely on your agreement, or lack of agreement, with your current neighbours.
It would be highly unusual for your deeds to set this out, and there are no true and complete presumptions the court would use.
As the fence will be new and not an original boundary feature, you can make any agreement you wish.
Responsibility for future issues technically accords with ownership. That said, there will be no obligation to replace the fence on either side, and your neighbours could refuse to contribute towards reinstatement costs.
