Do I need planning permission for a fence?
Usually no. Fences, gates and walls are permitted development under Class A, so no application is needed if the height is 2 metres or less, or 1 metre or less next to a highway used by vehicles. You do need permission for anything taller, for any fence at a listed building, and where permitted development rights have been removed by a planning condition or an Article 4 direction.
Class A of the permitted development order grants planning permission for the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. That covers repairs and alterations as well as new fences, which is why almost nobody applies for permission to replace a garden fence. The permission comes with limits attached. The two that matter for a domestic garden are the 2 metre general cap and the 1 metre cap next to a highway used by vehicular traffic, both measured above ground level.
Four situations take the fence outside Class A. A listed building: where any part of the site is a listed building or within its curtilage, or the fence forms a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or its curtilage, permission is needed at any height, and listed building consent may be needed separately. An Article 4 direction covering your area. A condition on the original planning permission, which is the usual catch on modern estates and open-plan frontages. And a case where the house itself, or its use, is unlawful.
Conservation areas work in a way most fencing websites get backwards. Class A contains no conservation-area height restriction, so putting a fence up is not capped at 1 metre because you live in one. The control bites on taking something down. Demolishing a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure of 1 metre or more next to a highway, waterway or open space, or 2 metres or more elsewhere, generally needs planning permission for relevant demolition. Cheltenham has extensive conservation areas, so removing an old wall can need consent that the replacement fence does not.
Where it is unclear, there is a formal answer. Apply to Cheltenham Borough Council, or to your own local planning authority, for a lawful development certificate and you get a legally binding decision instead of an opinion. Worth doing before you spend money on a tall fence, a fence on a corner plot, or a rebuild of something that already exceeds the limits. National rules are also only part of the picture. The Planning Portal's own caveat is that additional local rules may affect what permissions are needed, and you should check before starting work.
More in fence law and neighbours, or browse all 36 questions on the FAQ index.
Price your fencing
Two quick steps. We reply within one working day.
No account, no obligation. We only use this to prepare your quote.
Ready to price your fencing?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We reply within one working day with an honest cost bracket, then a fixed written quote once we have measured up.