Installing a fence to establish our property boundary

Property Advice: What you can and can't do when building a fence

Close up color image depicting a wooden garden fence with new modern houses blurred out of focus in the background. Lots of room for copy space.

Hi Brigid, We moved into our ‘new’ home a year ago. It’s a corporation-built three-bed terraced house — from the 1950s we think — which we are very happy with. One issue which my partner and I felt we would always have to address is the fact that our driveway is only separated from our neighbours on one side by several poles and three strands of loose wire. It’s the same with our back garden on that side. They are visually very unattractive, and we always planned on getting them replaced when we had the money.
It has become more pressing after the summer as the three kids next door seemed to be constantly coming under the wire to retrieve footballs, rugby balls and sliotars. Very often these are hitting our car. They also leave their bikes up against the wire on a regular basis and these come through to our side and we have to step over them. Our neighbours and kids are fine, but we would like to maintain our privacy and establish proper boundaries.
On the other side, there are walls which have been there for a long time. Our neighbour on that side said they were there when he moved in. The wall at the back is covered in ivy and the one at the front, which is lower, has flowers and shrubs growing beside it. For space reasons, we probably will just have to replace the poles with a narrow wall or wooden fence of some type. Could you outline the options to us, front and back? How do we go about it and who pays for it? Do we need planning permission? 

Thanks, Alex