Title plan - not reflective of back garden boundary? Can I extend?

badger09

theoretica said:

Might be worth asking the next door neighbour who also doesn't own their land if they would like to team up - I imagine council expenses for selling two bits of adjacent land might be less than twice that of selling one piece.

Agreed. Might also be worth asking neighbour who did buy their extra bit, what the cost was, so you have a ball park figure.

As others have said, unless its a deal breaker for you, I'd definitely leave it until you've moved in.

bannanna

Thanks Theoretica. The neighbouring house is in a poor condition (rotting window frames, overgrown garden etc), and there is no online history of it ever being sold so I imagine the occupant is either elderly or the house is vacant. I can't recall seeing any lights on when we went for an evening viewing before offering. However, you never know, and I shouldn't assume! I will gauge interest once I'm in - I wouldn't have thought of this, so thanks for mentioning. 

flashg67

greatcrested said:

Use the LR 'map enqiry' function to see if that extra land is registered, and if so who owns it. It's a bit fiddly but once you zoom in you can see any registered titles.

If you use the land as your own (eg fence it in and maintain it) for 12 years, you can claim 'adverse possession'. If the previous owners have been using it as their own for, say, 5 years, get a Statement of Truth from them and you just need the outstanding 7 years.

Just wanted to add my thanks - I have a very similar situation, and managed to find the land plans & title associated with the extra land for my purchase by using the map enquiry. Why can the LR not name the associated land records something that makes sense and would relate it to the proert in question - talk about hard work! 

bannanna

badger09 said:

theoretica said:

Might be worth asking the next door neighbour who also doesn't own their land if they would like to team up - I imagine council expenses for selling two bits of adjacent land might be less than twice that of selling one piece.

Agreed. Might also be worth asking neighbour who did buy their extra bit, what the cost was, so you have a ball park figure.

As others have said, unless its a deal breaker for you, I'd definitely leave it until you've moved in.

I can see that when the current next-door neighbour moved in 2 years ago, they bought the house and land for £190,000 but the LR doesn't have old Title registers available for that piece of land, which I imagine would detail the price paid when the land was bought ~5 years ago. It is possible that the current owners will have this information somewhere, from when they bought the house. I will take them home-baked cake and ask them very nicely when i move in

Thanks all

Thrugelmir

Perhaps previous owners parked vehicles in that space. Not unusual for back boundaries i.e. fences and walls to finish short. 

bannanna

Thrugelmir said:

Perhaps previous owners parked vehicles in that space. Not unusual for back boundaries i.e. fences and walls to finish short. 

That might have been possible once upon a time, but since the houses nearest the adjacent road have extended their garden back there is no way you can get a car down there, really it is only wide enough for 2 people to walk down. There is a small drive to the front of the house so parking isn't an issue.

frogglet

Might be worth buying both bits of land as one piece with a view to selling it in the future.
The council near us was trying to cut down on the amount of bits of difficult grass strips  it had to maintain.
An enterprising person bought the strip then knocked on everyone's door and sold them all except a couple a decent piece to lengthen their garden.