Garden Privacy: Survey of 2,000 UK Homeowners on Overlooking & Screens

Garden privacy in Britain is a problem of sightlines rather than walls, and Furniture in Fashion sets out the geometry in this 2026 report. Most overlooking comes from upper floor windows, which a boundary fence of any legal height barely affects, so the effective measures are screening placed close to the seating, planting and overhead cover. We state plainly that no survey fieldwork was carried out and report no homeowner attitude figures. The analysis covers the planning rules that genuinely apply, including the 2 metre general limit for fences and gates under the General Permitted Development Order 2015 and the 1 metre limit beside a vehicular highway, alongside the high hedges provisions and the absence of any general right to a view in English law. A comparison table weighs fences, slatted screens, planting, pergolas and parasols on what they block, wind behaviour and upkeep. Seating placement and container planting complete the guidance....