House extension overlaps garden fence boundary

darrensheffield

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a house, and I have raised a query regarding a rear extension of the property not lining up with the garden fence boudary. The extensions to 3 of the houses mine (I say "mine" to lessen confusion) being the furthermost right of the 3 have been built back from the houses at an angle not matching that of the angle of the garden fence boundaries. This has resulted in the rear extension of the house to the left encroaching by 50cm over my left garden boundary, and then my extension overlaps the garden boundary of the house to the right by the same amount.

The 3 extensions were carried out by the same builder and all have the same problem. The work was carried out over 20 years ago.

My concern is that the house to the right could at some point dispute the boundary, and that I could be asked to take down the extension. I have been told this is unlikely but my aim is not to live in this house for more than a few years and don't want to have an issue when I come to sell. I have been told that no dispute has ever been raised regarding the extension.

I have therefore asked for an indemnity to cover this (which will be granted), but this will only cover legal fees and any loss of value to the house for taking the extension down (so I have been told).

I have a couple of questions that I would really appreciate a second opinion on

1. With an indemnity should I proceed with the purchase?
2. With the age of the extension how likely am I to lose a court case (I can go to court as legal costs will be covered)?
3. What can I do after purchasing the house to resolve this situation in a better way to remove this potential issue altogether?

Many thanks in advance,

Darren

CLAPTON

this would be something to ask your solicitor but if the house has benefited from the extra bit of land for more than a certain period years then the occupier can claim by right of adverse possession
the rules are a bit complicated so you really need to ask the solicitor

darrensheffield

Thanks for your quick reply, the solicitor has been involved with this the whole way through and we have got to the point of him getting us an indemnity. My fear is that the indemnity doesn't cover the cost of rebuilding so it isn't a 100% insurance to cover us completely.

The solicitor has said it is unlikely that a dispute will arise but it is now down to us to make a decision if we take the risk. We are covered for legal fees, so I believe the risk is low as we will have no fear in taking it to court. From what I've read court fees are up to £6000, and with boundary disputes being hard to settle believe that this will stop any disputes from arising.

Really just wanted to get some second opinions to see if people agree with my logic as I may be being irrational as I really want to buy the house.

CLAPTON

ask him about adverse possession

darrensheffield

Adverse possession indemnity policy is what we are now getting. Thanks a lot for the advice. Hugely appreciated.