Ownership of boundary fences may be shown on the deeds of a property. The ‘T’ symbol, shown below, indicates the side to which the fence belongs. Occasionally a double ‘T’ may be shown, which indicates the boundary is jointly owned by the two properties.
- The normal rule with garden fences, such as palisade fencing, is that the fence belongs to the side on which the fence posts stand. This is because the more attractive side, that has the fence posts hidden, usually faces outwards from the property it encloses.
- With agricultural fencing, the reverse is more likely to apply. Posts are usually put on the non-stock side of the fence, that is the side away from the owner’s land. This makes the fence more secure, as stock are less likely to loosen the fixings of the rails or wires by leaning on the fence.
- If the fence replaces the visible remnants of a hedge and ditch, this may indicate the fence ownership. The hedge and ditch normally belong to the property adjacent to the hedge, and thus a fence on the hedge side will also belong to that property. A fence on the non-hedged side of the ditch is more likely to belong to the other owner. The presumption is that the owner dug the ditch to make the hedge bank, so this rule does not apply to natural ditches.
