boundary advice

lynsiloo

My neighbours are getting an extension at the rear of their house. Today i was told by them that my fence has to come down so they can roughcast the new building, there is also an issue about the boundary line. I have looked at the deeds for my house, it doesnt say. Where can i find out where the actual boundary lies???

bruce2110

hello!

i had a problem about 2yrs ago with boundry problems with my nieghbour, i went to the council, and they put me in touch with the planning/land registry dept who in turn, looked out the the information i needed to rectify the issue with my nieghbour.

of couorse, for a small fee......!!

i take it your nieghbours have asked your permission(before submitting there plans to the planning office) about taking your fence down to carry out the work to there property?

i would contact your local council who may be able to help, if not, the land registry deprtment(the council will have there contact details) should be able to help, but they would probably charge a fee for that service or failing that you may need to employ a solicitor to sort this issue out which will cost a lot of money!!:mad: (if you do go down that route, make sure he has a good track record with dealing with land issues!)

hth,

Bruce2110

johnbikemad

If you have your deeds at hand a small " T " should be next to the side of the boundery owners side in other words if the " T " is on your side you are resposible for that boundary,any way even if your neighbour owns the boundary he/she should out of courtesy ask permmision if they can come on to your property in order to carry out some work.its all down to how well you get on with them . if you dont get on you can warn them not to trespass but dont forget you have to live next door.hope all goes well.

ScoobieGirl

If you can't find your deeds ask another close neighbour, your house will probably show on thiers.

Also if you can prove the current boundary has been where it is for 12 years then it can stay where it is regardless where the deed say it should be.

grumbler

Garden Law Discussion Forum

p4u1_2

ScoobieGirl wrote:

If you can't find your deeds ask another close neighbour, your house will probably show on thiers.

Also if you can prove the current boundary has been where it is for 12 years then it can stay where it is regardless where the deed say it should be.

This is not strictly true as there is normally no legal requirement for a landowner to erect a boundary fence, therefore a misplaced boundary cannot transfer the ownership of land. However, it can give a right of access, if that access has been exercised for 12??? years. Not sure if this would extend to somebody being able to build on someone else's land though.

ScoobieGirl

p4u1 wrote:

This is not strictly true as there is normally no legal requirement for a landowner to erect a boundary fence, therefore a misplaced boundary cannot transfer the ownership of land. However, it can give a right of access, if that access has been exercised for 12??? years. Not sure if this would extend to somebody being able to build on someone else's land though.

Oh. Are there any circumstances when it would give transfer of ownership? The advice my solicitor gave me when I tried (successfully) to get my boundary reinstated to match my deeds that unless they could prove it had been where it was at the time for at least 12 years I would be okay. As the owners had only been there a few years it wasn't tested.

p4u1_2

ScoobieGirl wrote:

Oh. Are there any circumstances when it would give transfer of ownership? The advice my solicitor gave me when I tried (successfully) to get my boundary reinstated to match my deeds that unless they could prove it had been where it was at the time for at least 12 years I would be okay. As the owners had only been there a few years it wasn't tested.

Not sure! I based my comment on the advice a friend was given, and a DIY law book that I read 20 years ago. This was over an issue where 2 brothers lived next door to one another. One brother built a garage which extended onto the others land by a foot or so. Not a problem for the 2 brothers, but my friend bought the house with the garage, the other brother sold up, and the fun started. The advice given at the time was that because the garage had been there for 12+ years a right of access had been established.

grumbler

The law about adverse posession has been changed in 2002. Now owneship cannot be changed without consent of the original owner.
See http://www.propertylawuk.net/adversepossessionsquatters.html

Debt_Free_Chick

I doubt any of us could ever categorically confirm the real boundaries of our properties. Physical boundaries can be moved and/or removed and even natural boundaries (hedgerows, streams etc) can change over a period of time.

Even if the deeds state the size of the plot, you don't know where to begin to measure from.

At the end of the day, a boundary is an imaginary line and can only really be agreed by the parties involved.

mexicanwaver

You can obtain copies of the plans/deeds online from the official website of the land registry.

I used it last year, when I had a dispute with a neighbour about a fence.

I seem to remember paying a couple of quid for the privilege, but they doprovide you with scanned electronic copies (downloadable PDF format). The boundaries are usually clearly marked in red ink.