Boundaries and land slippage/subsidence

Retro_Bunny

We have a shared boundary at the back of the house. Defined by a tree line, which is about 6 feet thick, so it's a debate where the actual line is and who's trees are whos - an ongoing issue.

However the land behind is about 5 feet higher than my garden, and it appears that the boundary is moving towards my garden, ie the land is slipping towards me and moving into my garden pushing the trees over and moving my wall back (we've photographed over 5 months, and are fairly sure this is happening at a very slow pace).

Now the problem - who's to blame?

Is it the lack of support on my side, failing to hold back tons of earth on the higher land behind?

Is it their land pushing into mine, therefore their fault?
I should note it's a privately owned road directly on the boundary line, so some weight there - my argument is that it is a poorly supported road, how can my garden wall hold up to daily traffic over it, lorries and all.

If the defining feature which notes where the boundary line lies, physically moves - where the heck is the boundary legally?

Grateful for advice from anyone else who's maybe experienced this?

KennyH1

Did you put the boundary wall up or was it existing when you moved in?
Who is the other boundary owner (council I presume?)

Your boundary should be noted on your title deeds and it may be easier to define of that rather than looking in the middle of some trees. If you can find a definitive point that you can call a boundary then you can start discussions from that point rather than talking about a general area.

Retro_Bunny

The only wall is my low (1 ft) garden wall - behind which I have about 2 feet of land, before a tree line which slopes upwards to a verge (theirs) and a private road (owned by house behind, not council).

The boundary is the tree line, but as the tree line is about 6 foot thick.

Title deeds do not accurately state boundaries, only give an indication of where it is and it says its probably the tree line.

Anyway my issue is not where the boundary is now, it's the fact that the physical features that define it are actually moving. It's a very slow landslide, which over the next three years or so has the potential to move 10 feet based on the 5 months of movement we've seen so far.

KennyH1

I understand that the boundary isn't the main issue for you but if you can define where the boundary is then you can start to determine who's responsible. You should have a title plan with your deeds outlining your property in red. Where this red line is, is where your boundary is. If this is not shown then I would speak to a solicitor and your neighbours and agree on a definitive boundary.

Also what discussions have you had with your neighbours regarding the movement? I assume they wouldn't be happy if their access road slipped away?

In regards to your comment in your 1st post "If the defining feature which notes where the boundary line lies, physically moves - where the heck is the boundary legally?". The boundary position does not change just because the trees are moving. If all the trees were removed there would still be a boundary.