Buying a house with a boundary dispute in place

Suzy_M

Think of the land as a 'ransom' strip rather than simply for access. You might find it changes the perspective of this transaction.

http://www.buildstore.co.uk/findingland/files/Legal_Considerations.pdf

poppysarah

pimento wrote: »

Our house only has a 1 metre (3 feet) side access and we get everything down there that we need to. Don't most houses only have a 1 metre side access?

I've seen new build "detached" where you'd struggle to get a wheely bin down the side of.

Could you get a mini-digger through? (trying to think how wide the one we had on our allotment was... )

If you've got an acre you might want a digger on it at some point to do the landscaping.

Richard_Webster

Boundary dispute .. been there, done that and would NEVER, EVER get within a mile of a property with uncertain boundaries again!

Why would anybody in their right mind pay out good money for perhaps years of bitter dispute, stress, unhappiness and haemhorraging money in legal fees?

Run away, OP, as fast as your little legs will take you. There are thousands of unfettered houses out there just waiting to provide you with a peaceful, happy home.

I have to agree - people have such a touching faith in the law - as if somehow a clear statement of the legal position will make the recalcitrant person quake and immediately obey - they don't!. If the neighbour won't move the fence even if he is in the wrong legally it could :
a) still be expensive, stressful, and time consuming to get it sorted through the courts and
b) make a permanent enemy of the neighbour.

If the seller cannot provide a cut and dried renunciation of rights and physical movement of fence by the neighbour I wouldn't touch it if the extra width is important to you.

Raggie

poppysarah wrote: »

I've seen new build "detached" where you'd struggle to get a wheely bin down the side of.

Could you get a mini-digger through? (trying to think how wide the one we had on our allotment was... )

If you've got an acre you might want a digger on it at some point to do the landscaping.

Surprising what a digger will fit through

http://www.minidigger-hire.co.uk/Home.html

Have a doorway.... Get a digger

(no connection to this site. Others available. I was in a connected profession once lol)

free1000

G_M wrote: »

I'm surprised by this. Your solicitor told you the presence of a fence would over-ride the rights of the owner of a registered Title?

Sorry, I was glossing over some details, he was referring to the location of the main boundary, this is in question, so affects the known position of the access strip.

1) The boundary is encroaching into the main title by about 1 metre, then the access strip is 1.5 metre more. So the neighbour currently has 2.5Meter that really belongs next door.

2) If the established boundary is what matters, then the access strip would measure 1.5 inside the defacto boundary

I guess it seems strange to me that if the access strip position can be determined by survey (which it can) then it makes the original boundary position quite clear.

A quid pro quo could be to say that the access strip would be measured 1.5 meter from the defacto boundary. However the neighbour seems to have decided to fight this via a solicitor rather than do a deal with me. I should point out that the correct title includes an 80' triangle that is currently placed inside the neighbours boundary, so they would be getting quite a nice chunk of land that on the plans belongs next door.

I suppose that if I don't buy the house now, the neighbour, by writing to my solicitor has already created an official boundary dispute of some kind and I guess this would affect the value of their own property when they come to sell.

If so I think this was foolish as the movement of the boundary by 1.5M wide for only about 12M long would not really have inconvenienced them as it would not have affected the outlook from their house or any amenities in the garden like seating areas, sheds etc. I offered to pay all costs and reinstate their landscaping/shrubs etc. and to improve the quality of the existing wall section replacing it with proper stonework rather than the current breeze blocks.

free1000

Raggie wrote: »

Surprising what a digger will fit through

Have a doorway.... Get a digger

(no connection to this site. Others available. I was in a connected profession once lol)

Interesting, they are smaller than I thought. There is so much earth to move that this would be an expensive option. Judging in terms of the examples, I'd say 5-10 times the effort.

Perhaps a slightly larger one would go through the house, as there are double doors all the way through. While I don't like the idea of a tracked vehicle going through a house with woodblock flooring I guess there might be ways of protecting the floor to achieve this.

pararct

free1000 wrote: »

Interesting, they are smaller than I thought. There is so much earth to move that this would be an expensive option. Judging in terms of the examples, I'd say 5-10 times the effort.

Perhaps a slightly larger one would go through the house, as there are double doors all the way through. While I don't like the idea of a tracked vehicle going through a house with woodblock flooring I guess there might be ways of protecting the floor to achieve this.

If you can gets your ducks into a row you can hire a crane to lift any plant skips ect you need over the roof. Once the job is done bring the crane back and lift it back out.
Would need costing but depending on how much work you were having done it could be a viable alternative.

free1000

Suzy_M wrote: »

Think of the land as a 'ransom' strip rather than simply for access. You might find it changes the perspective of this transaction.

Suzy, I know the concept of a ransom strip. Who would be ransoming who?

I suppose if I owned it, then the possibility of a dispute and/or boundary change would hang over the neighbours. I could negotiate to sell it to them I suppose.

Is that what you mean? Provided I am happy to own a house with a 1.25 acre garden and only a 1M max access from the front, I can't see how I could be held to ransom on the other hand.

chris_m

free1000 wrote: »

While I don't like the idea of a tracked vehicle going through a house with woodblock flooring I guess there might be ways of protecting the floor to achieve this.

Old bit of carpet, hardboard offcuts, etc. The tracks are usually rubber on these mini-diggers so, unless the floor cannot take the weight, most damage would be caused by the dirt adhering to them - insist that it wipes its feet

paddy's_mum

Jon Maynard's Boundary Disputes webpage runs to many pages.

It speaks gazillions of gallons of commonsense, as did he, personally, when I once rang him, utterly distraught and in floods of tears, not knowing where to go next. I owe him many thanks and I am delighted to acknowledge his humane, kind and professional input.

Frankly, I don't know how he has not been awarded an MBE (or similar) for his services to Neighbour Harmony! I wish I had known about all this before our vascular dementia neighbour kicked off. I would never have been the peacemaker.

Thank you, Richard Webster. My experience exactly!

Free1000 - you can, of course, ignore any advice given that does not accord with your perception of events/realities.

However, have you checked with your proposed or actual insurer that they will be willing to fund your boundary battle with the neighbour once they know that this was a pre-existing problem? Tread carefully, is the best advice I can give you, or at least check that you have very, very deep pockets!