Boundary and Walls

thetogonator

Hello, this is my second attempt to start a thread so here goes.

I have a problem with a boundary and a damaged wall.

I live in the end house of an old terrace, there is a wall which runs alongside my garden and the path that goes round the back of the house. The wall backs onto some parking spaces that are owned by a local builder who built new houses in the area.

The wall has been damaged, it has clearly been struck by a vehicle as the bricks have been shunted towards my house and the wall seems to lean a bit towards the house. We do not know when the damaged occured it happened this year but we did not witness it.

The first issue I have is who owns the wall, how do I find this out, will it involved legal costs as the land registry don't appear to be of much help. I have spoken to the builder and he said he would ask his solicitor (his speak for "I won't do a damn thing").

Regardless of the ownership, is there a case for criminal damage? The builder claimed that anyone can park in these spaces. This is not true, he rents these spaces for £50 a month, but cash in hand, so no records. He also has his son and nephew parking in the spaces. His nephew has a large 4x4 and we have photos of him parking the car right up to the wall, although since we mentioned it to the builder the 4x4 miraculously parks properly well away from the wall, hmm funny that.

So my issues are ownership and whose should pay to get it fixed, I feel that as the damage was not created by me I should not pay. Further to this the builder offered to remove the damaged bricks, but how would I explain it if I wanted to sell the house.

All advice will be welcome.

newnhak

Have you tried your local district council?

thetogonator

Its an option I was thinking of looking into, but I'm not sure what powers they have.

thetogonator

The local council weren't very helpful they said - "You are advised that the developer/owner of the wall takes responsibility for replacing or fixing any damage that occurs" I was hoping for a bit more advice from them.

Fire_Fox

If the wall divides your property from the car park then one of the two parties owns and is responsible for the wall. It should have been made clear to you when you purchased your property which boundaries were your responsibility, did this not happen? If not, read through whatever documentation you have or speak with your conveyancer. If you write to the builder's solicitor (failing that the builder himself) by recorded delivery then he has a responsibility to respond to your query about ownership of the wall.

thetogonator

I've looked into the land registry details and it's not clear at all, it just shows the boundaries and doesn't specify. I think I'll have to talk to the solicitor. Interesting information about the recorded delivery.

SmlSave

Does your land registry plan have any little 'T' marks on the boundaries? If it does then the the way the 'T' points shows who owns the boundary.

Or there may be mention of a Conveyance or Transfer on the land registry title document, again if there is this should tell you who is responsible for the boundaries. Its normally £5 to order a Conveyance/Transfer from the land registry.

Hope this helps!

thetogonator

I've been in contact with my Solicitor and they've looked at the paperwork. The land registry plan does not have the T's on it. So they checked the rest of the paperwork and the previous owners have stated that the wall is my responsibility.

They could not advise me on the legal issues.

I'm annoyed as someone has hit the wall and known that they've done it but driven off. I suspect the money to fix it will come out of my pocket :mad:

I'm going to contact the CAB and see what they say, that's if they pick the phone up!

ormus

criminal damage is only caused when done willfully, otherwise its just an accident.
so the police will not be interested and its a civil matter. without any proof its impossible to get recompense off anyone.
see your house insurance, you may have some cover there?

PasturesNew

The last house I owned was a shared wall on both sides. This was detailed in the deeds.

They're all different.

ic

Talk to your house insurance and let them sort it out? They'll soon figure out who owns it.