Land registry and boundary dispute

killerkev

princeofpounds wrote: »

Indeed. And it should be phrased stating that the fence IS the boundary, but that even if it weren't you would have adverse possession. You must not weaken any of your claims.

Thanks all points taken on board

Land_Registry

Sounds like a very sound approach - the wording of any communication can be crucial of course as if the matter does escalate then interpretation of what has been said and communicated can be vital and can, if not carefully worded, come back to bite you legally,

Your solicitor should be more than capable of getting it right but I would recommend reading it as if you were the neighbour to see if any other interpretation could be reached before sending.

DaftyDuck

...but I would recommend reading it as if you were the neighbour to see if any other interpretation could be reached before sending....

Very well put, and extremely important. So many cases on here (and from my limited experience) involve one side taking a dogmatic stance, knowing that they are RIGHT, the law is on their side, all their neighbours are sympathetic to their case, and they will prevail in the end, completely unaware that the other side is taking a dogmatic stance, all their neighbours agree with them, the law is also on their side.... and so on, and so on, until a very large bill arrives on the doormat, neighbours avoid you, and selling becomes near-essential and virtually impossible.

In your case, OP, I certainly do agree that you appear to be completely right.

Generali

I think the toss arguing shows one thing: get proper legal advice that you pay for.

Otherwise, I'd post here if I were you.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/legal-issues-practical-51110.aspx?mid=13105463

Clitheroekid is a proper solicitor and posts some fantastic legal advice on there. Post this up on there and hope he picks it up would be my advice.

Send nothing to the neighbours without proper legal advice, be it from Clitheroekid or a paid solicitor. Don't just send some random letter as you have no idea what the consequences may be.

Errata

princeofpounds wrote: »

Indeed. And it should be phrased stating that the fence IS the boundary, but that even if it weren't you would have adverse possession. You must not weaken any of your claims.

A fence isn't a boundary, it may indicate where a boundary might be but it isn't the boundary itself.

aliby21

Errata wrote: »

A fence isn't a boundary, it may indicate where a boundary might be but it isn't the boundary itself.

And nothing to stop the neigbours errecting something on their side of the boundary that might cause problems for OPs parents if space is that much of a premium. Like a rapidly growing shrub that soon pokes 8cm through the chain link... Of course OPs parents could keep it trimmed back to their boundary, but might not be what they want to spend their time doing at their age.

princeofpounds

A fence isn't a boundary, it may indicate where a boundary might be but it isn't the boundary itself.

yes, yes, you know what I meant.

which I guess illustrates how careful you need to be with wording, so I would second (third? forth?) the recommendation for proper legal advice.

Pricivius

To answer the queries:

AdrianC - Our 18% was around £3,300. The whole legal bill was just over £18,000. We used solicitors for much of it but then ran out of funds and did the rest ourselves. We instructed Counsel to give an opinion and then represent during the 2-day Hearing. The Judge was amazed we had managed to keep costs so low as he expected them to be far higher.

MITSTM - As several people have said in a round about way, the argument is never about what the argument is about! The wall became an issue following some confusion over planning permission which had not been granted for the neighbour's extension. In brief, his building was delayed and his plans had to change so he sought revenge. The neighbour then dug himself a hole from which he could not escape without losing face. He tried to settle in the week leading up to the Hearing by offering for my parents to buy the land from him! He then offered to walk away on the morning of the hearing with costs to be borne by the parties, but we had gone too far by this point. His solicitor then tried to get the matter adjourned! Desperate measures which the Judge saw right through...

As LRR suggests may happen, after the initial dispute my parents put the house up for sale and the neighbour informed the estate agents that there was a dispute and it could not be sold. So we had to either give in to him to be able to sell or take it off the market and sort it out.

We were aware of the option of taking the matter to a Land Registry Adjudicator, but this was another suggestion the neighbour refused. He was adamant that only a court of law could decide the issue.

Would I do it again? Yes. My answer would probably be different if we had lost, but then it is unlikely that we would have taken a less clear-cut case to court. But let me be clear that after six years, tears were shed when the Judge announced his judgment as the whole process had been so time-consuming and stressful. I'm a firm believer in principles, but they are very expensive things.

moneyistooshorttomention

Pistorius
So yours was about revenge by the look of it. Mine seems to be about she didn't want me for a neighbour in the first place and has been hoping I would move out ever since. That isn't logical of itself, as I'm quiet, law-abiding, helpful, etc, etc - so it would have been logical to be a bit irritated at all the renovation work to start with (but many other owners would have done it too) and then be grateful for a neighbour like that.

She doesn't seem to have realised some of us are stubborn b's. My own mother has often said "There's no point in trying to TELL you what to do, because you will deliberately do the opposite". Rational/logical reasoning gets listened to. Orders don't. Still less the (not so subtle) threats made in course of ostensibly friendly conversation a while back to effect of "Cross me and I'll see you suffer for it". I've noticed a couple of odd little things since that go some way towards my friends' descriptions of her as "vengeful" - but batted them off as minor irritations/dealt with in about 10 minutes flat.

Personally, the thought has crossed my mind (several times) as to whether I really should be taking account of her age (ie because I am now wondering just why she doesn't seem to be thinking very logically). I have seen her shoot herself in the foot 4 times to date and am now actively crossing my fingers she does so in a 5th possible way I anticipate she might very well.

My house won't be going up for sale during my lifetime (bar a lottery win of course...) and I don't think its honestly occurred to her that some of us ignore any emotions we feel if they don't make sense...so she might as well give up any hope of me going against my own best interests and selling.

killerkev

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
I did employ a property lawyer and he wrote to the other couple Just had a reply from their side and in a very condescending way they have said while they don't agree with any of the points raised they are prepared to drop the matter and let the posts stay in the presents position.
Sounds like trying to save face!!! Still everything sorted in the end, and over such a small amount of land!!!.