Boundary issue

Regulator101

https://ibb.co/niWm86

Picture here (if it works).

chappers

I take it you have direct contact with the buyer.
Try explaining the position to him and direct him to question his solicitor, maybe even hint that your not going to move the wall and that if he wants the house then he is going to have to do some of the work.

This is one occasion I would be risking the wrath of the boss and confronting the solicitor, maybe ask the buyer if he has any objection to you doing so first.
Ask him exactly what he thinks the problem is and point out to him that there is a good chance that the sale is going to break down over what you consider to be an incorrect assumption on his part.

Just going back a little bit, how did the solicitor become aware of the issue, they don't normally actually see what's on the ground

iammumtoone

I have to say I kind of agree with your buyer, the wall would be better moved / taken down completely now, just in case they ever need/want to use that strip of land in future, however I would not pull out of buying due to it.

I have the same thing in my back garden I have a small strip of my neighbours land enclosed inside a fence in my garden (they agreed to this). I know that strip is not mine and expect when they come to sell the fence will be moved back by the new owners. I have no issue with that. I am not sure what will happen with future buyers of the neighbours property if I sell first.

franklee

Regulator101 wrote: »

https://ibb.co/niWm86

Picture here (if it works).

Works fine.

It is a tiny bit of land but I would say it is of value if it makes the difference between being able to open the car door fully or not. As the neighbour's house isn't shown it's hard to see how pushed for space he is.

Likewise we cannot see how much space you have to the right of the picture. There is more room on your side but if two cars were parked on your drive side by side would the extra door swing space be useful? Some folks families with children, elderly, disabled etc. may want car doors open wide.

The mind boggles as to why the wall was built there in the first place! What about knocking the low part of the wall down and leaving the area open plan. At least that way the gravelled "car door opening" space can be shared and the issue isn't so obvious. It's only a small wall so should not be too much of an issue to remove.

If you get a cash buyer they probably won't care but I'd be asking your solicitor if it would be an issue for mortgage lenders or if the last buyer was a one off.

Regulator101

chappers wrote: »

I take it you have direct contact with the buyer.
Try explaining the position to him and direct him to question his solicitor, maybe even hint that your not going to move the wall and that if he wants the house then he is going to have to do some of the work.

This is one occasion I would be risking the wrath of the boss and confronting the solicitor, maybe ask the buyer if he has any objection to you doing so first.
Ask him exactly what he thinks the problem is and point out to him that there is a good chance that the sale is going to break down over what you consider to be an incorrect assumption on his part.

Just going back a little bit, how did the solicitor become aware of the issue, they don't normally actually see what's on the ground

We wrote directly to the buyer last week explaining the whole thing. We’ve offered to take the wall down completely at a cost of £150 but this has not placated the solicitor.

We disclosed the existence of this land in the solicitor questionnaire, more to inform the buyer of its existence and the fact that they would be responsible for its upkeep. We thought we were being helpful. Clearly wish we’d not bothered now and just given a yes/no answer.

Regulator101

franklee wrote: »

The mind boggles as to why the wall was built there in the first place! What about knocking the low part of the wall down and leaving the area open plan. At least that way the gravelled "car door opening" space can be shared and the issue isn't so obvious. It's only a small wall so should not be too much of an issue to remove.

As above, we’ve offered to take the wall bordering the drive down. They could then tarmac over the patch of land making it completely open plan. The neighbour is fine with this. We made this offer to the buyer last Friday and offered to pay the £150 that it would cost. We thought that this would do the trick with the solicitor but she still felt the need to check with the lender.

moneyistooshorttomention

Now it's possible to see the set-up - I still think it's no big deal (to you) to take the wall down and put up a few short wooden posts with a chain link in between them connecting them at the farthest-from-you line immediately adjacent to neighbours drive and wouldnt cost much effort/money to do.

I'm not sure why this is an issue to you for something that would only take a few hours/cost a couple of hundred £s or so.

As it stands at present - then, if I were a potential buyer of your house, I'd be feeling unsure about whether that bit of my land definitely was my land and the neighbour definitely was going to keep their hands off it. I would be anticipating a try-on neighbour in that house making a bid for it by putting several large plant pots on my gravel with plants in. I've seen people do that sort of thing.

chappers

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I'm not sure why this is an issue to you for something that would only take a few hours/cost a couple of hundred £s or so.

umm....... because it's unnecessary and going to cost money and the solicitor has got it wrong and is now being a !!!!!.
This is totally unnecessary, their is no neighbourly dispute as to who owns the land, a status that can be carried through any subsequent transactions.
I have bought/sold and viewed many properties with odd parcels of land either belonging to the property or another property and it always comes up at first viewing. "oh we also own that small strip of land over their" or "oh strangely that small strip of land actually belongs to the neighbours".
It's only when what's on the ground doesn't match the title that there should be a problem.

If the solicitor had any idea what he was doing then it wouldn't be a problem and even less so if the obfuscating boundary was removed, thousands upon thousands of properties have boundaries with no physical demarcation. The erection of a piece of chain, fence, wall or other has absolutely no bearing on the actual location of the boundary.
If on the title plan for each property there is no clear dogleg in the boundary from the alleyway where the bins are stored then there is no issue.

moneyistooshorttomention

Which is all well and good - until one gets one of "those" neighbours moving in next door, making a grab for the land and being determined to keep it.

As new owner of house concerned - I'd probably rather like to easily be able to put my own large plants in pots on that gravel.

Regulator101

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Now it's possible to see the set-up - I still think it's no big deal (to you) to take the wall down and put up a few short wooden posts with a chain link in between them connecting them at the farthest-from-you line immediately adjacent to neighbours drive and wouldnt cost much effort/money to do.

I'm not sure why this is an issue to you for something that would only take a few hours/cost a couple of hundred £s or so.

To be clear, we have offered to take the wall down and pay for it. When the neighbour said that they would prefer that the wall was not rebuilt on the boundary we decided not to insist on any form of physical boundary being put in place. The last thing that we want to do is to CAUSE a dispute that we've managed to avoid for 17 years. We have provided the neighbour with a draft boundary agreement which seeks to clarify the situation. We are yet to hear back from them. The neighbour is as much at a loss as to why this has arisen as we are.