Leasehold flat owner - question on boundaries

huskie69

Hi all

I lodged an enquiry with the lease advisroy service back in December but I'm still awaiting for a response.

In the meantime I thought I'd put it forward to you guys and see what advice you might be able to give!

I purchased a ground floor flat during the Summer last year. The flat was advetised with 'sole use of the front garden'. I had plans to fence off 'my' section of the garden so I could make the most of it.

The flat is part of block of 6 flats and we all own 1/6th of the freehold.

My flat is listed on the land registry with the following illustration (AARGGH, can't include an image/link as I'm a new user!)

Basically, my flat has the addition of a boundary line (dotted line on image), as does the other ground floor flat. Eveything else seems to be communal land.

One of my neighbours has raised concerns with her own solictor that the land has been sub-divided and she's of the opionion that all the land is communal. Her solicitor has agreed with her and has said the land can't be parcelled up.

I'm in a quandry as I'd like to erect a fence for my own privacy and also keep my neighbours happy! However, during the sale I was told I had sole use of the garden and the land registry plan does seem to confirm that this land has been allocated to my flat.

My very basic understanding is that if the actual building can be subdivided, then so can the grounds. It's not necessarily full ownership of the grounds but something like a sole use clause. Just like I don't actually own my flat, it's still 'owned' by the freehold. Like we all have a 1/6th freehold of the building in its entirety we only have access to our own individual flats. That's my understanding anyway. There must have been an agreement between tenants in place when it was registered with the land agency otherwise those subdivisions wouldn't have been explicitly defined in the revised title plan / schedule of notices.

Any ideas? Can freehold land be allocated to the leaseholders? If I can figure out how to post a picture of the land registry illustration I will.


Thanks

Guest101

Shock Horror, the solicitor she's presumably paying a good whack to has agreed with her....


Your lease includes land leased to you. That's perfectly normal.

HouseBuyer77

If you've got a title plan from the land registry indicating a parcel of land for your sole use as part of the lease you have a very strong argument that it's yours and you can put a fence up.

To have any argument against you she would need to produce a title plan for her lease or another flat owner's lease that indicates all of the land is shared (not just the freehold plan as obviously this will just be the whole builing + grounds).

HouseBuyer77

Oh you'll also need to check the lease, it may have a clause saying you're not allowed to errect fences or similar.

huskie69

Guest101 wrote: »

Your lease includes land leased to you. That's perfectly normal.

That's the assumption I was under. But as she's mentioned it (and even copied me in on emails from her solicitor) I now have to do my own investigation to find out what is legal so I can re-assure her and all the other tenants that what I intend to do with "my" subdivision of the land is within the acceptable terms of the lease.

huskie69

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

Oh you'll also need to check the lease, it may have a clause saying you're not allowed to errect fences or similar.

No, it's doesn't mention that in the leasehold document. Additionally, the other ground floor flat owner already has part of the sub-divsion fenced off (it was like that when they bought it). This other neighbour is also questioning the legality of that fence. It's proving to be a bit of a headache!

HouseBuyer77

£6 to the land registry is all you need to get the documents you need (available instantly electronically, can pay more and get an official copy). You should have received this anyway from your solicitor but if not or you've misplaced them easy enough to get new ones.

I'd get them, send her a copy, clearly highlighting where in the plan it shows your land and write a latter stating the lease clearly shows this land is yours and that she needs to provide documentation showing either the lease prevents you from errecting fences or that the plan provided by the land registry is incorrect.

huskie69

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

If you've got a title plan from the land registry indicating a parcel of land for your sole use as part of the lease you have a very strong argument that it's yours and you can put a fence up.

To have any argument against you she would need to produce a title plan for her lease or another flat owner's lease that indicates all of the land is shared (not just the freehold plan as obviously this will just be the whole builing + grounds).

Hmm. I asusme the plan which forms part of the land registry document (which includes the property register, properietorship register, charges register and the schedule of notices of leases) is the title plan? If so, this plan shows the freehold in bold red represented with a number '1'. However, the ground floor flats which have the subdivisions on this land have numbers 2 and 3. Once I've posted enough responses, I should be able to post the picture!

HouseBuyer77

Oh and another thought, planning regulations do restrict what kind of fences you can errect, don't know if it matters about front vs back garden? Probably not an issue but worth checking out, just so she doesn't have a leg to stand on

huskie69

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

Oh and another thought, planning regulations do restrict what kind of fences you can errect, don't know if it matters about front vs back garden? Probably not an issue but worth checking out, just so she doesn't have a leg to stand on

I think I'm safe, there are other properties in the area with "street facing faces". I think as long as the height doesn't exceed 6ft it's ok.

huskie69

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

£6 to the land registry is all you need to get the documents you need (available instantly electronically, can pay more and get an official copy). You should have received this anyway from your solicitor but if not or you've misplaced them easy enough to get new ones.

I'd get them, send her a copy, clearly highlighting where in the plan it shows your land and write a latter stating the lease clearly shows this land is yours and that she needs to provide documentation showing either the lease prevents you from errecting fences or that the plan provided by the land registry is incorrect.

This was already obtained as part of the conveyance when the flat was bought. We both have it, we're both working off the same document. Only her assumption is that these sub-divisions don't legally stand and that all the grounds are communal