Adverse Possession

wesleyad

This might be a silly question, but how do solicitors know that fences are incorrectly placed? They don't go to the property. Do they rely on google maps or something?

Regarding the adverse possession I would query two things.

As Konark says above they have to have been in adverse possession for 12 years up until 2003 at which point it comes under the newer land registration act.

What I would say is they need to be in uninterrupted possession of the land for 12 years, but if they moved in 4 years ago they clearly haven't. I very much doubt (maybe someone can help here) that this would pass on through buyers?

Had a quick look and I think I'm wrong on that last point so ignore that.

moneyistooshorttomention

"Adverse possession" can be passed on through different owners of the house - as long as the squatting by the land-nicker has been continuous (ie by the house doing the squatting) for the decreed length of time.

davidmcn

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

In your position I guess the choice boils down to:
- Don't "ask" but "tell" the vendors that, as the house is worth correspondingly less with that patch of garden being inaccessible and it does leave a "nasty taste in mouth" to lose some garden to a neighbour doing that - you are reducing your offer accordingly by £x (as the house is worth that bit less minus a bit of its garden).

But the OP has only seen and offered on the basis of the garden with its current layout - they haven't "lost" any of that. And it's really not clear that the current neighbours are trying to "nick" anything - or that they're even aware of there being an (alleged) inconsistency.

olgadapolga

wesleyad wrote: »

This might be a silly question, but how do solicitors know that fences are incorrectly placed? They don't go to the property. Do they rely on google maps or something?

My solicitor sent me the title plan among other things and advised me to check it against the actual property layout. That's how we found out about the fence/boundary issue.

All academic now anyway as we've withdrawn our offer, not just because of the boundary issue, there were a lot of other things that we were not happy with and this was pretty well the straw that broke the camel's back.

Just need to find another property now.

Clutterfree

olgadapolga wrote: »

My solicitor sent me the title plan among other things and advised me to check it against the actual property layout. That's how we found out about the fence/boundary issue.

All academic now anyway as we've withdrawn our offer, not just because of the boundary issue, there were a lot of other things that we were not happy with and this was pretty well the straw that broke the camel's back.

Just need to find another property now.

Glad you're not buying it.
Having lived through a boundary dispute and the unbelievable stress it caused I was going to advise you to run, not walk, away!

olgadapolga

Clutterfree wrote: »

Glad you're not buying it.
Having lived through a boundary dispute and the unbelievable stress it caused I was going to advise you to run, not walk, away!

I am so glad that you posted this, as it reinforces the decision.

I have no regrets about withdrawing our offer, despite the fact that we have lost money through fees and surveys. In fact, I feel nothing but relief. My husband has pretty well expressed the same so at least we are in agreement about that.

olgadapolga

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread but today I had a phone call from the estate agent, saying that the sellers were willing to drop the price and did we want the house (bearing in mind that we'd withdrawn our offer, paid the solicitor's bill for the work done and the house had gone back onto the market)?

Once I'd stopped laughing, I advised the somewhat-shocked estate agent that they'd need to reduce it an awful lot more than the amount being offered, which produced a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, so I then proceeded to list all of the issues with the house, before adding that I wished them luck in selling the property because they were going to need it . . .

I guess that the level of interest since it went back onto the market has been minimal.

Dear oh dear, the mind boggles . . .

chunkytfg

olgadapolga wrote: »

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread but today I had a phone call from the estate agent, saying that the sellers were willing to drop the price and did we want the house (bearing in mind that we'd withdrawn our offer, paid the solicitor's bill for the work done and the house had gone back onto the market)?

Once I'd stopped laughing, I advised the somewhat-shocked estate agent that they'd need to reduce it an awful lot more than the amount being offered, which produced a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, so I then proceeded to list all of the issues with the house, before adding that I wished them luck in selling the property because they were going to need it . . .

I guess that the level of interest since it went back onto the market has been minimal.

Dear oh dear, the mind boggles . . .

You should have given them a number after the laughing. A number you know they'd never have considered initially but now or in 3-6 months time they may well do.:beer:

Davesnave

chunkytfg wrote: »

You should have given them a number after the laughing. A number you know they'd never have considered initially but now or in 3-6 months time they may well do.:beer:

Thanks to human nature, once someone mentally moves on, almost any number seems too high.

lookstraightahead

Serves the vendors right and you've been totally sensible.