Fence height rules in the Netherlands and when you need a permit

A boundary fence (erfafscheiding) is anything that separates two plots: a fence, a gate, mesh fencing or a low wall. Two heights matter.

• Up to 1 metre: permit-free, wherever it stands on your plot. This is in the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (Bbl, the national Buildings Decree), article 2.29 under j.
• Between 1 and 2 metres: permit-free if the fence stands behind the line along the front of the main building, on a plot that already has a main building. This rule comes from the bruidsschat (art. 22.27 under f and 22.36) and is now part of your municipality's zoning plan (omgevingsplan).
• Higher than 2 metres: never permit-free. See below.

The bruidsschat (literally ‘dowry’) is the package of national rules that was placed in every omgevingsplan when the Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act) took effect on 1 January 2024. A municipality (gemeente) may keep these rules, change them or drop them. So your municipality may set a different height or position from the one below.

Many internationals are used to a tall fence or hedge at the front of the house. In the Netherlands, the permit-free limit at the front is 1 metre. Check the rules before you order a taller front fence.

Your erf is the land that belongs to your house. The rules divide it into parts, measured from the front of the main building. That is usually the façade that faces the street.

• Voorerf (front plot): the land in front of the house, usually the front garden.
• Zijerf (side plot): the land beside the house. If it borders a street, pavement or public green space, the height rules treat it as the front.
• Achtererf (back plot): the land behind the house, usually the back garden.

Where the front ends and the back begins depends on the source. This is where the rules differ:

• The bruidsschat (art. 22.36) uses the line along the front of the main building itself. Since the Vangnetregeling Omgevingswet (a 2024 regulation that repaired gaps in the new law, art. 2.1b), this line runs along the front and then parallel to the adjoining public space, without passing through the house.
• For other structures, such as outbuildings, the Bbl uses the term achtererfgebied (rear plot area): the land behind a line 1 metre behind the front of the main building.
• Some municipalities use that metre for fences too. Sittard-Geleen states on its Omgevingsplein website: 1 metre in the front plot and in a side plot next to public space, and 2 metres from 1 metre behind the front façade.

At a corner house (hoekwoning), the side plot borders the street. For a fence along that side, assume that 1 metre is permit-free and that anything higher usually needs a permit.

The reason: the bruidsschat line runs along the front of the house and then turns the corner with the side wall, parallel to the street. The strip between the side wall and the street is therefore in front of the line. The Vangnetregeling Omgevingswet clarified this in 2024.

There is also a practical reason. A tall fence on a corner can block the view of the junction or the driveway. That is why many old zoning plans (bestemmingsplannen) already kept 1 metre here, and municipalities can keep it that way in their omgevingsplan.

Above 2 metres, a boundary fence is never permit-free. Two tracks then run side by side.

• Planning: you need an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning) for an omgevingsplanactiviteit (an activity covered by the zoning plan), unless your municipality's omgevingsplan allows the higher fence at that spot.
• Technical: a boundary fence higher than 2 metres is not technically permit-free (art. 2.26 paragraph 2 under c Bbl). For a simple structure such as a fence, the quality assurance system (kwaliteitsborging) then applies. You submit a building notification (bouwmelding) at least four weeks before work starts (art. 2.18 Bbl) and you hire an independent quality assurer (kwaliteitsborger).
• At a monument, this system does not apply. You need an environmental permit for the technical part.

Allow time for the procedure in your planning. A taller fence also catches more wind, so posts and foundations must be designed for it.

At a monument, a fence is not permit-free, not even below 1 metre. This applies in, on, attached to and near national monuments (rijksmonumenten), provincial and municipal monuments, and also provisionally protected monuments (art. 2.30 Bbl, art. 22.28 bruidsschat).

In an area marked as a protected national townscape or village view (rijksbeschermd stads- of dorpsgezicht), permit-free building is limited. It is only allowed on the plot at the back of the house, if that plot is not also at the side and does not face public space. A fence in the front garden or along a side street therefore needs a permit there.

• To see whether your building is a national monument, look it up in the Monumentenregister of the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (the national heritage agency).
• Municipal monuments are on your municipality's list of monuments (monumentenlijst).
• To see whether your address is in a protected townscape or village view, use Regels op de kaart (Rules on the map) in the Omgevingsloket, the government's online permit portal.

South Limburg has many historic buildings, such as square courtyard farms (carréboerderijen) and old houses in village centres. If you live in one, or next to one, check this before you order anything.

Even without a permit, every structure must meet the technical rules of the Bbl. IPLO (the government's information point for the Omgevingswet) and the national government (Rijksoverheid) both say so. For a fence, this mainly means strength: it must stand up to the wind and must not fall onto the pavement or into the neighbours' garden.

• Set the posts deep enough. As a rule of thumb, about one third of a post's length goes into the ground. Loose soil or a lot of wind may call for a concrete foundation.
• Windscreen cloth or a closed fence catches a lot of wind. Choose posts and fixings with that in mind.
• Do not build on land that belongs to the neighbours or the municipality without an agreement. Neighbour law in Book 5 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW, the Dutch Civil Code) still applies. Read our guide on the property boundary.

The Omgevingsloket (the government's online permit portal) at omgevingswet.overheid.nl has two tools. You do not need to log in for either.

The portal is in Dutch. A translation tool in your browser helps you follow the steps. Save the result in the original Dutch as well.

1. 1Open Regels op de kaart (Rules on the map) and enter your address. You will see which rules apply to your plot, including the municipality's omgevingsplan.
2. 2In the omgevingsplan, look for the rules on boundary fences (erf- en perceelafscheidingen). Check the heights, the position relative to the front façade, and labels such as protected village view (beschermd dorpsgezicht).
3. 3Then open the Vergunningcheck (permit check), enter the same address and choose building a boundary fence or fence (erfafscheiding or schutting).
4. 4Answer the questions about position and height. The result is permit-free (vergunningvrij), a notification (melding) or a permit (vergunning).
5. 5Save the result as a PDF or screenshot, with the date.
6. 6If you are unsure, or if the check says something different from the omgevingsplan, email the municipality and ask for a written answer.

If you rent, you need permission from your landlord or housing association (woningcorporatie) for a new fence. According to the Rijksoverheid, a tenant may not change anything about the home, including the outside, unless it can be undone without much cost. Get the permission in writing, including what happens to the fence when you move out.

Many internationals in the Netherlands rent their home. Ask your landlord before you order a fence, not after.

Is the fence broken or worn? Ordinary maintenance is for the tenant. But according to the Rijksoverheid, major repairs and renewal of a fence, hedge or wall are for the landlord. So report it to your landlord first.

If you live in a flat or a house that belongs to a VvE (Vereniging van Eigenaars, the owners' association), check the splitsingsakte (deed of division) and the splitsingsreglement (its regulations). These state whether the garden is private or shared, and whether you need permission from the owners' meeting for changes to the outside.