Advice please on land border issue

Fire_Fox

Solicitor then it goes on the land registry, neighbours pay all costs as well as a sum towards the land.

pawlala

thanks for the input so far folks, much appreciated!

moneyistooshorttomention

I must admit that, if I were in your parents' position, my mouth would drop open with total astonishment at neighbours having the sheer gall to ask to even purchase a part of my garden. As for expecting me to hand over a bit of my garden as a "free gift" - they'd be lucky if I ever spoke to them again:eek:

In your position - I would be questioning your parents as to whether the neighbours have ever "made a grab" for anything else of your parents' property.

Also THE single best thing you can do here is to Be Prepared. Walk round your parents' house and garden looking at it through the eyes of those next door neighbours. Try and "put yourself in the shoes" of those grabby neighbours and think what else they might like to grab from your parents. Would they maybe like to move a back garden fence? Maybe have an extension built that would go along the back side wall of your parents' house (but would "work" rather better for them if they surreptitiously accidentally-on-purpose had the builder go a vital few inches into your parents' garden?)

Keep an eye on those neighbours' - because it sounds as if anything that would "better their position" is something they might come after at some point - even if it is at your parents' expense.

Have those neighbours offered ANYTHING at all to your parents for that strip of garden? Your parents are being SO generous to just give away a bit of their garden like that that the very least the neighbours could do in return is hand them a very generous level present.

princeofpounds

my mouth would drop open with total astonishment at neighbours having the sheer gall to ask to even purchase a part of my garden.

That's a bit harsh. Nothing wrong with offering to purchase!

ILW

Why do people get so protective over a 6" wide strip of land?

Land_Registry

The advice given by other posters appears reasonably sound and princeofpounds is quite correct that a plan only goes so far in establishing the general boundaries of a title, especially as the thickness of the lines can represent a measurement as well. Take a look at our online guide re boundaries for some additional information.

Where a strip of land is being sold/gifted then the normal way of completing this from a registration perspective is by completion of a legal deed i.e. Transfer of Part (form TP1). However for the reasons already stated this may be seen as unnecessary as the actual strip of land is so small.

The other option is to 'determine the boundary' by having a very precise plan drawn up showing where the exact boundary line is (section 8 of the guide refers) - it is this procedure which I suspect Fire Fox and others are referring to here. Although they may simply be referring to drawing up the details to ensure that if the position is queried in the future then the papers reveal all - whether this would be adequate or not I do not know as anything other than a formal TP1 or determined boundary application would not be registered with Land Registry.

In the circumstances I would recommend reading the guide and then seeking legal advice to establish the best course of action to take. Both your parents and their neighbours should consider carefully what the options are and agree the best way forward.

In my experience, and I am sure it is the same for the other posters, agreeing everything verbally is fine whilst both sides are in agreement or neighbourly but this may not always last and/or when they come to say sell their respective properties it could be a potential stumbling block for a buyer and/or their solicitor.
NB - the same issues which have been indentified above will also apply to the neighbour as they have in effect gained some extra ground which may be queried at a later date as well.

moneyistooshorttomention

ILW wrote: »

Why do people get so protective over a 6" wide strip of land?

To hazard an informed guess - because the gardens to so many British houses are positively tiny and literally every single inch counts.

I've had to "get out there" before now and complain about a very small piece of land - because I have so very little. I wouldn't be bothered about a foot or two if British houses/my own particular house had nice large gardens as a norm - but even a few inches matters where all there is is a "pocket handkerchief" amount of outdoor space.

I was only watching Sarah Beeny's new housebuying programme recently (the first episode - set in Brighton) and was astonished to note that she was describing 2 tiny little gardens as "large". I'm not totally sure my eyebrows have come back down again yet from hitting the ceiling at having obviously tiny little gardens described as "large" (even though we could all see for ourselves just how small they are).

ChrisM90

Regardless to any form of payment for the occupation of the land, a legal agreement should be drawn up documenting the occupation. This will prevent any possibility of adverse possession (the establishment of rights to occupy the land).

As discussed above, it is only moral for the instigator to pay any reasonable legal fees.