Builder wants land back for free

GarryF

Hi , I purchased my first home 5 months ago. I only wished it had a larger garden but it was in an ideal location for work.

Fast forward to last week, the builder I purchased the property from says my deeds state I own a large chuck of the neighborings garden and he needs to change this. So, I look on my TP1 and yes my plans actually show I own much more land for my garden (10 meter square parcel of land). My fence in real life is obviously in the incorrect place.
The builder wants to change the deeds rather than give me the land and move my fence. I feel I must do this? And he is putting pressure on me and saying it always happens and it’s an honest mistake.
The neighbouring property hasn’t sold yet and is new like mine.
Do I claim what is mine as shown on the deeds ?:eek:
P.s I’d rather have the garden than money / however builder isn’t willing to give either anyway.:beer:
Thank you in advance,
Garry

silvercar

It sounds like an honest mistake. How would you feel if the situation was reversed and the builder knocked on your door to say half your fenced in garden wasn't yours and he needs to move the fence to leave the postage stamp sized garden that is on your deeds?

AdrianC

GarryF wrote: »

Hi , I purchased my first home 5 months ago. I only wished it had a larger garden but it was in an ideal location for work.

Fast forward to last week, the builder I purchased the property from says my deeds state I own a large chuck of the neighborings garden and he needs to change this. So, I look on my TP1 and yes my plans actually show I own much more land for my garden (10 meter square parcel of land). My fence in real life is obviously in the incorrect place.
The builder wants to change the deeds rather than give me the land and move my fence. I feel I must do this? And he is putting pressure on me and saying it always happens and it’s an honest mistake.
The neighbouring property hasn’t sold yet and is new like mine.(this is also owned by builder)
Do I claim what is mine as shown on the deeds ?:eek:
P.s I’d rather have the garden than money / however builder isn’t willing to give either anyway.:beer:
Thank you in advance,
Garry

You never knew or even suspected that was your land, did you? You bought the house thinking the fence was the boundary.

So think of it as correcting a simple paperwork error, rather than "taking your land".

silvercar

I've merged the 2 identical threads started by the OP.

AdrianC

silvercar wrote: »

I've merged the 2 identical threads started by the OP.

I thought "I'm sure I replied to this... Maybe MSE's having a brainfart"

elsien

For future reference, always scrutinise that what you think you are buying is what you are actually getting. A neighbour lost part of his house that way.

If you wanted more garden, why didn't you buy the bigger one next door?

ethank

What would you do if you'd made the mistake?

Assuming you bought it new, if you are going to dispute this, what are you going to do if you have any defects that need fixing?

davidmcn

At the very least they ought to be covering your expenses - have you spoken to your solicitor yet? Does the title reflect what you contracted to buy? Assuming you have a mortgage, the lender will need to be involved too and they'll at least have some form of admin charge, possibly a revaluation.

When you say "10 meter square", do you mean 10m x 10m i.e. 100 square metres? Or 10 square metres? If the former, not sure how everyone accidentally included something that large in your title.

bouicca21

Clearly I am totally immoral - I’d want the garden. Legally the garden belongs to OP, I doubt the builder would rely on anything other than law if the situation were reversed. More importantly if the builder made such a fundamental error, I’d be worrying about what else might be wrong.

leaseholdzzz

If the shoe was on the other foot, what would the builder say if you had sold him a plot of land and then went up to him 5 months later saying "mate I made a mistake, your deeds say you own 10 acres but actually its only 5, can I have the extra land back please, for free? These kind of mistakes happen all the time."

GarryF wrote: »

Hi , I purchased my first home 5 months ago. I only wished it had a larger garden but it was in an ideal location for work.

Fast forward to last week, the builder I purchased the property from says my deeds state I own a large chuck of the neighborings garden and he needs to change this. So, I look on my TP1 and yes my plans actually show I own much more land for my garden (10 meter square parcel of land). My fence in real life is obviously in the incorrect place.
The builder wants to change the deeds rather than give me the land and move my fence. I feel I must do this? And he is putting pressure on me and saying it always happens and it’s an honest mistake.
The neighbouring property hasn’t sold yet and is new like mine.
Do I claim what is mine as shown on the deeds ?:eek:
P.s I’d rather have the garden than money / however builder isn’t willing to give either anyway.:beer:
Thank you in advance,
Garry

TonyMMM

Well you are in the strongest position. There are 3 ways forward...

You accept that there has been a mistake, and you agree to the deeds being amended (with the builder paying all legal costs).

You move the fence to the correct position to reflect the boundary line as per the current deeds.

You agree to amendment of the deeds IF the builder makes an offer of suitable compensation for your time/trouble and "lost" land".

The builder will have problems selling the other property without getting the issue resolved, so will need to get it sorted. But you will also have problems if you want to move in the future, so it can't just be left as is.

Decide what you want as the outcome, and negotiate.

Your mortgage lender will also have to be involved, with associated legal costs.