Is there a time limit on encroachment.

Knightowl

Hi I hope I have posted this in the correct place , apologies if not but I am making discreet enquiries on where we stand.
We have purchased a property in good faith , nothing was highligted by the vendor, nothing by the estate agent and nothing really noticable that was wrong with the property.
However on receiving the deeds it looks like the following has happened.
1) There was a passage way / alley between the 2 terraced houses the neighbour has absorbed this into his property outwardly you can see why BUT it shows that the alleyway property is on the deeds of our house.
2) Further to this the, neighbour has built to it an extension at the rear creating a new party boundary with it that has absorbed a four foot width strip of land.
The new party boundary is now the side of his house. (It has also taken a fair bit of light from the rear window.
3)There is a chimney flue that appears to be ours ( we know it is) but we can not access it in any way other than getting onto the roof and removing tiles so if there is a structural issue we cannot see it.

4)Does this affect my building insurances in any way?
or do I have other legal issues?
5)The vendor stated that access was available to all parts of the property.

Furts

It is buyer beware, so pay sceptical attention to the estate agent and vendors claims. That said, who checked the Deeds before you purchased? Did the solicitor? Did the solicitor write to say get a surveyor to check the Deeds? Did you have a survey, and what terms were agreed before this was undertaken? Did you agree to check the Deeds before purchasing?

When one sees "Sold Subject To Contract" this when these issues, and others, are being investigated.

In essence, is there someone you can go back to and suggest negligence?

Davesnave

When the solicitor obtained the title plan before purchase, he/she would not normally have visited the property, so would have no idea that the alleyway had been 'absorbed' by the neighbour.

This is something the OP should have brought to the solicitor's attention, assuming they were at that time given access to the plan. If they weren't it's different matter, because they should have been.

When I bought the property I'm in now, there were 4 mistakes on the title documents, a couple of which I spotted. The solicitor couldn't have found those, never having been here. We insisted these were rectified before exchange.

Davesnave

I think in this situation I'd start by obtaining the neighbour's title plan from the Land Registry (£3) and see where the red line is on that.

Often, when there is a boundary dispute, it is hard to pin down exactly where the line on the plan is meant to be on the ground, but in this case the alleyway gives a very definite point of reference.

The neighbour could be in trouble!

warmhands.coldheart

Davesnave wrote: »

I think in this situation I'd start by obtaining the neighbour's title plan from the Land Registry (£3) and see where the red line is on that.

Often, when there is a boundary dispute, it is hard to pin down exactly where the line on the plan is meant to be on the ground, but in this case the alleyway gives a very definite point of reference.

The neighbour could be in trouble!

Do you think it will also now be dependant on how long the neighbours extension has been there? Couple of years OK. could be challenged but 10 or 15 years...... He could say anything.. he was gifted the land by the guy who lived there 12 15 years ago.. just didn't get round to changing the deeds.....

Knightowl

I have obtained both sets of deeds (far clearer on these) and the alleyway and the land that he has built the extension on is definatly included on our deeds.

The deeds supplied to us were not that clear the red line obscured the alleyway!

We smelled a rat when we looked at the chimney flue.

We havent approached the neighbour yet , our first concern was the flue . The neighbour in conversation said it was ours.......hmmmmm.........we thought as we couldn't find it in the loft and based on how the roof line is with his the extension its on his property.

Its obviously not been built to regs.

The last date on the deeds for our neighbour was registered in 78
Dates on deeds for ourself 99.
Don't know when extension was built and as trying to keep it low key difficult to find out.

Chunks

So your neighbour has lived there since 1978 (on the face of it). Plenty of time to come up with a defense. He may well have (or claim to have) come to some arrangement with a previous owner(s).

No idea where you stand legally but you probably need certainty in that regard sooner rather than later. Knowing that you don't have a legal leg to stand on (not saying that's the case) may allow you to come to terms with your situation and move on, as neighbour disputes can become hellish. If you have a strong legal case, then you can weigh things up choosing action (or inaction) as you deem fit.

Did your solicitor produce a property questionnaire for the vendor to complete? Any misinformation supplied there?

Good luck to you.

System

Surely you bought it on what you saw and not what was on the deeds, so why the major worry? (everything you saw and thought were buying formed part of the sale)

Seems like the deeds might just need cleared up, would be a bit strange if the neighbour was able to build an extension on the land without the owner at that time mentioning anything.
I don't understand all the "keeping it low key" stuff - just go and have a conversation with the guy, or speak to your local authority - unless you speak directly to the people that can answer your queries it will never be resolved.

Knightowl

Chunks wrote: »

So your neighbour has lived there since 1978 (on the face of it). Plenty of time to come up with a defense. He may well have (or claim to have) come to some arrangement with a previous owner(s).

No idea where you stand legally but you probably need certainty in that regard sooner rather than later. Knowing that you don't have a legal leg to stand on (not saying that's the case) may allow you to come to terms with your situation and move on, as neighbour disputes can become hellish. If you have a strong legal case, then you can weigh things up choosing action (or inaction) as you deem fit.

Did your solicitor produce a property questionnaire for the vendor to complete? Any misinformation supplied there?

Good luck to you.

I'm in agreement actually , our worry is what happens IF there is an issue with the roof or if at some point a claim would need to be made on the insurance. Whose insurance would cover that sort of an issue?
They have lived there for over 35 years.
As for the situation we have discovered the Property Information form isnt worth the ink on the paper.

System

I don't think I've ever had an insurance company ask me for a copy of my title deeds when making a claim...

Chunks

Sorry if it's obvious but are you looking at this from the point of view of your ability to maintain your own property? If you have no access, since your neighbour has done what he's done, there's an issue (say) and your buildings cover is void (say) as you didn't maintain your roof?