When building a shed in your backyard, You may be wondering how far does the shed have to be from the fence. A shed to close to the property line will be in violation of city zoning codes. Before you start building your shed, you need to know the minimum distance between shed and fence, to keep your county happy.
Most municipalities require a shed to be at least 5 feet from side and rear property lines and at least 20 feet from a street property line. This typically applies to small sheds of 120 square feet or less and 10 feet high, or less.
Having an extra structure in your backyard is always a nice addition. You never know when you would need extra space for storing things. Sheds are even being repurposed into man caves, she sheds, and even office space these days! There’s a lot of things you can do with that extra space.
Even though sheds are easy to build, one of the hardest decisions relating to them is their placement. Should you build it under a tree? Or is it better to build it near the main house? Should you build it near a fence? What about next to a neighbor’s fence? Where is the right location to put your garden shed? Let’s find out.
Building a shed can be quite complicated when it comes to placements. Things can even get more complicated when the neighbor’s fences are involved. In this article, we will be talking about what affects your shed placement and what is the ideal thing to do to avoid any complications.
Can I Build A Shed Next To My Neighbours Fence?
Garden Sheds are structures that are considered as “permitted development”. These structures don’t need a permit to be constructed. As long as no other laws are broken, you can put your shed anywhere you want within your property. Here are some of the outbuilding limitations currently active in the UK:
- The building should be at least 2.5m away from your main house.
- Must not exceed 2.5m height
- Cannot take up more than 50% of the garden space
So yes, you can build a shed next to your neighbor’s fence, as long as the things above are still followed. If your build needs to be bigger than the specified details above, or if the build needs more customization, it’s time to consider taking the time to get planning permission from your local authority.
How Close Can I Build A Shed To My Neighbour’s Fence?
You can build a shed next to a fence as long as you follow the proper measurement (for permitted development) or have the proper permit (for larger plans). However, this might not end well for you and your neighbor’s relationship if you build without your neighbor’s permission.
You might find yourself dealing with property damages because your build had caused problems in your neighbor’s fence.
Besides privacy concerns and the possible blocking of view, one of the biggest concerns in building a shed close to a fence is property damage. If the shed is built too close to a fence, a damp layer build-up is likely to happen.
This occurs when the shed cannot breathe or if the humidity stays at one place. Placing a gap between the two objects would help avoid any damage.
You can build your shed close to your neighbor’s fence, but do ask for permission and remember to leave a gap between the fence and the shed’s wall. If this is not an option, you can instead use a pressure treated shed to avoid or lessen the damp effects.
Calling Help From The Local Planning Department
One of the safest ways to make sure that your construction plans would work is by calling the Local Planning Department. This is to ensure that you would build at your property and you’re abiding by every building code available in your area. It’s better to take this action early, even if it’s tedious and time-consuming.
When your construction plan is deemed hazardous or illegal, all of the work you’ve done for your shed or any other outbuilding will be gone. The authority will force you to remove the structure whether you like it or not.
What Happens If A Neighbour Objects To A Building?
The Best Option: Communication With The Neighbor
It’s important to ask for your neighbor’s permission if you want to build something next to their fence.
Besides the possibility of not getting invited to parties, you and your neighbor might get into legal action if this matter is not resolved early. Take the proper time to talk to your neighbors and get some negotiations rolling. Ask for their permission and explain your plans thoroughly.
In the meantime, here are some of the main reasons why a neighbor would stop your shed building plans.
Common Neighbor Objections
Let’s admit it; some neighbors will not let you go through your plans because of petty reasons.
Most of the time, reasons like “It will not look good and will ruin my view” appears. But in some cases, there are actually valid reasons as to why there are neighbors who choose to stop your home projects. Here are a few of those:
- Concerns about possible damages to the property
- Builders might destroy a valuable structure nearby
- The plan can ruin a public utility system
- Loss of privacy and accessibility
Building a garden shed might not affect these things directly. You might avoid future problems just by making an agreement with your neighbor. If you went ahead and built a shed next to your neighbor’s fence without contacting him/her and the Local Planning Department, then you might want to prepare for possible consequences.
What Can A Neighbour Do In This Situation?
If you aggravated your neighbor by building too close to his or her fence, the next thing he or she can do is to call the local authority about this. They can give their reasons as to why they object to your plan. And in this case, it would be because your build is too close to their fence.
Neighbors are given 21 days to submit their valid concerns as to why your plans should not be built. The local authority would have another 21 days to approve or reject the claims. If their reasons are valid, you wouldn’t have a choice but to adjust your building or remove it.
A Good Option: Get Planning Permission
A good option to avoid the latter scenario from happening is to acquire planning permission.
This is if you’re planning to make a bigger shed and is beyond what permitted development approves. What happens here is that, after you acquire planning permission, the local authority will notice adjoining neighbors about your plans.
At this point, your neighbors will have a comment about your plans and proposed design. Adjoining neighbors will have 21 days to add their comments and object if needed.
It would be better if you communicate with your neighbors properly during this time period. After all, your plans and designs might actually cause inconvenience to them in the future. Nobody knows what would happen, accidents can come at any time, and often without warning.
If you became considerate and amiable from the start, then future problems can be avoided. Neighbors cannot stop you from making decisions and expansions in your property. But do remember that they can delay the process or make your life complicated by adjusting your properties.
