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sheffieldsaddler
Posts: 72 Forumite
I wonder if anyone can help.
In 2010 I bought a house. There has always been a 15/17 inch gap between the fence on my property and a neighbours wall. This 15/17 inch is always overgrown so having discussed with the neighbour I decided to clear it.
After this I decided to find out if this was in fact my land.
I got in touch with the company that built the house and surrounding fences and after investigation it became clear that they had built a fence next to the wall but the previous occupiers of my house (1 occupier since built in 2001) had moved the fence from the wall to form this 15/17 gap. I have no idea why!
So next I got in touch with the company that did the homebuyer report when I bought the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check.
So next I got in touch with the solicitors who I used to buy the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check.
My last port of call was my mortgage company. Having spoken to them they said it was not their responsibility to check.
My question is
Whose responsibility was it to point this out when I bought the house? i.e the boundary fence was not in the correct position.
I now have a significant cost to incur in order to move the fence back to its original position next to the wall.
Thanks
In 2010 I bought a house. There has always been a 15/17 inch gap between the fence on my property and a neighbours wall. This 15/17 inch is always overgrown so having discussed with the neighbour I decided to clear it.
After this I decided to find out if this was in fact my land.
I got in touch with the company that built the house and surrounding fences and after investigation it became clear that they had built a fence next to the wall but the previous occupiers of my house (1 occupier since built in 2001) had moved the fence from the wall to form this 15/17 gap. I have no idea why!
So next I got in touch with the company that did the homebuyer report when I bought the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check.
So next I got in touch with the solicitors who I used to buy the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check.
My last port of call was my mortgage company. Having spoken to them they said it was not their responsibility to check.
My question is
Whose responsibility was it to point this out when I bought the house? i.e the boundary fence was not in the correct position.
I now have a significant cost to incur in order to move the fence back to its original position next to the wall.
Thanks
0
Comments
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Point what out?
There's no such thing as a boundary fence - legally.
It's just a fence.
You may not even have the right to move the fence back. There is absolutely no reason to believe you still own that land.0 -
The land IS my land according to the land registry report and the detailed report from the solicitors of the house builders.
In answer to your other question, to POINT OUT that the fence was not in the correct position and thus created a 15/17 inch gap of lost land that belonged to me.0 -
sheffieldsaddler wrote: »The land IS my land according to the land registry report and the detailed report from the solicitors of the house builders. - The land WAS the land associated with the property back in 2001. However in 16 years a lot can happen. You didn't necessarily buy that land. No different for example the kitchen that was there in 2001.
In answer to your other question, to POINT OUT that the fence was not in the correct position and thus created a 15/17 inch gap of lost land that belonged to me.
As far as I can tell you need to prove the land wasn't sold on or handed over, or otherwise claimed (adverse possession) in the last 16 years0 -
It was not sold on or otherwise claimed. This can be clarified.0
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sheffieldsaddler wrote: »It was not sold on or otherwise claimed. This can be clarified.
How?
In anycase, a fence can be put anywhere, not just on a boundary. You bought it as seen, I don't see how you have any claim against anyone. If you want to re-take possession of the land - assuming you are the rightful owner - the cost is yours to pay0 -
Just take the fence down, regard the wall as the boundary and get on with your life. What else am I missing?0
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Boundary issues are notoriously difficult unless resolved amicably.
You also looked at "the land registry report". LR Plans are really not sufficiently large scale to place a boundary with accuracy.sheffieldsaddler wrote: »I got in touch with the company that built the house and surrounding fences and after investigation it became clear that they had built a fence next to the wall
OK, but did they also confirm that the fence they built was on the boundary? It is a reasonable asumption, but not proof.
but the previous occupiers of my house (1 occupier since built in 2001) had moved the fence from the wall to form this 15/17 gap.
Who told you this? Were the 'previous occupiers' the owners at the time? Were they your vendors? How did they inform you? Orally? In writing?
Or was it the neighbours? Or someoneelse? Again- orally or in writing.
So next I got in touch with the company that did the homebuyer report when I bought the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check. Correct. They check the structure/construction, nit legal matters like boundaries.
So next I got in touch with the solicitors who I used to buy the house. They emailed back saying this was not their responsibility to check.
How could they check? They (presumably) never visited the property so could not know if the fence was or was not on the boundary. They would simply look at the Plan and see there was a boundary between your land and the neighbour.
Did you specifically ask them where the exact boundary was?
My last port of call was my mortgage company. Having spoken to them they said it was not their responsibility to check.
Correct. All they'd care about was whether
a) you were going to be the genuine owner after Completion (ie the seller was entitled legally to sell to you)
b) the property was adequate security (in value etc) for their loan to you - this 17 inch plot would not sufficiently decrease the value to concern them either way
My question is
Whose responsibility was it to point this out when I bought the house? i.e the boundary fence was not in the correct position.
The only people who might/would have known were the vendors and the neighbours.
Neither had 'responibility', but might have told you if you'd asked.
When you spoke the neighbours before buying, what did you ask and what did they reply?
I now have a significant cost to incur in order to move the fence back to its original position next to the wall.
The cost to move a fence is not that much in the scale of things, but why move it at all? Why not just remove it? Do you Deeds specify anywhere that there must be a fence? And even if they do, who would know?
Thanks0 -
It sounds like your neighbour had a wall on the boundary, then the previous owner of your house decided they wanted a fence, but they had to put it a foot or so into their own land so they could concrete the posts in properly and not disturb the wall. If this is the case, I agree with ProDave. Take down the fence if you want to include that bit of land in your garden.
We had a commercial neighbour with a mesh fence. Got fed up of looking at them, so we put a fence about a foot into our land to make sure we missed the concrete footings on their fence. We still own the land between our fences, but the world won't end if we lost it. The gain in privacy was worth the (tiny) loss of space.
That's exactly the view I would take of things.
I would just get on and make arrangements to remove my fence and have that part of my garden in between the fence and wall accessible to me again. End of.....0
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