Land not on title - boundary surveyor

never_again_123

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help unscramble my brain 🥴 Sorry it's so long.

During the conveyancing process, we found that a small strip of land at the top of our garden is not included in our title deeds. It turns out it wasn't transferred over to us when we bought in 2007 and is in previous owners name (who has since passed away). We have been here for 14 years. Our previous buyers were going to claim adverse possession of the land after completion with a statement of truth provided by us. All agreed by their solicitor,  we were good to go, then their buyer pulled out and we had to find a new buyer.

Found a new buyer very quickly. We were hoping the same solution might be okay with our new buyer (we told her everything at the first viewing as it was clear she wanted to offer). 

Quick sidenote: Us claiming adverse possession for this transaction is not an option due to it taking several months and we would lose our onwards purchase. If our sale falls through again however, we would go down that route and then sell again once all sorted. 

Our new buyer's solicitor however has advised against an adverse possession claim after completion for them stating that it's not 100% guaranteed to go through (fair enough!)

So the new solution suggested is that we move the fence boundary back to where it is shown on the title plan (it's couple of metres and a scrappy bit of land!). We're happy to do this, but:

1) Our buyers solicitor has said we need to obtain a boundary survey first to ensure the fence is moved to the correct position. I've never heard of a boundary surveyor before this! Has anyone had experience? What exactly do they do apart from look at the satellite title plan? Everything we've read seems to imply that no boundaries are exact, so we're just a bit puzzled!

2) As mentioned above, if this sale falls through, our next step would be (apart from losing our purchase 😭) claiming adverse possession ourselves to then sell again once sorted in a few months time. Do you think it's reasonable to suggest that the fence move is not completed until exchange has taken place? Maybe leave 2 weeks between exchange and completion if all agree to get the work done then?

If we move the fence & she then changes her mind / decides she doesn't like what we've done, we've wasted lots of money and lose our 14 consecutive years to claim adverse possession as the boundary is no longer there!

Again, sorry it's so long, but any thoughts or similar experiences would be very much welcomed! 

davidmcn

There's absolutely no need to move the fence (or to have a fence at all). Sounds a waste of time. 

never_again_123

If only our buyer's solicitor agreed 😆

AdrianC

never_again_123 said:

If only our buyer's solicitor agreed 😆

Your buyer's solicitor doesn't make the decision. He advises your buyer, they make the decision.

Yes, he also advises the lender - I can't see this being an issue for them.

davidmcn

Do they have some sort of cunning legal argument? Because all it will achieve is make it more difficult for their clients to access the bit of land. Until they quietly move the fence again of course... 

never_again_123

Our buyer is actually a cash buyer, but she is very cautious and has said she will not go against her solicitor's advice 🤷🏻‍♀️