Boundary issue

alpin_demi

Hi I would like some help on an issue I am having with my neighbour behind my property.
I bought a new build property an when I viewed the house everything was fully built however the properties behind had not been completed yet therefore behind my garden where just mud. Now my garden at the time looked exactly as shown on the deed plan.
Now, 5 months down the line after moving in, the property behind is complete and the builders have messed up somewhere and apparently my fence now has to be moved to make the property behinds garden match the deep plan. According to the deep plan at the time of purchase my garden looked exactly like shown on the plan.
The builders offer red a £500 payment as the work will cause ‘minor’ inconvenience which I did not accept as this is not substantially worth my while. 

They have now posted a passive aggressive letter saying they are basically going to move the fence anyway regardless of my decision and if I don’t allow them access to my garden they have no other choice to move the fence via the neighbours side and switch the side the fence panels are one so I no longer have the ‘good side’ of the fence either basically blackmailing me.
Im a 25 years old and purchased the property on my own for the first time, i thought it would be a an existing move but it’s caused nothing but stress and anxiety.
Can anyone help me with my right to the above ?

Bradden

How much do they wish to move the fencing by... is it worth the stress?

2bFrank

If you have already completed (which i presume with you living there) and the garden matches the plans on your deeds with the LR then that is your land and they are taking it from you.

How much are they planning on moving the fence. Deeds are a not 100% accurate and if its a couple of inches then I believe they are in the right to correct the boundaries. if it is few feet, then this is a legal issue and unfortunately they will be trespassing, you will need to pursue this in a legal way. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance, might be worth giving them a call and getting some legal advice.

[Deleted User]

Presumably it's more than a couple of hundred mil or they wouldn't be bothering to move the fence. As such I'd suggest sending them a letter stating that you believe the fence is in the correct location and citing the deed plan as evidence. Say that you do not consent to having the fence moved and they should not trespass on your land.

Would you be interested in selling them the land?

pinkshoes

If your current boundary matches your plans, then I would WRITE to them stating this (with a copy of the plan), state that you do NOT give them permission to move the boundary as it is already correct as per your deeds.

You could always SELL them the land they require at say £5000?

I'm assuming they have messed up the other house's boundary line so trying to take it from yours instead?

How much land are we talking about? 5 metres? 1 meter?

Woolsery

The builders are likely to come on strong even if their case is weak, but the question of how much land will be lost and gained is relevant.

On title plans accuracy of boundaries is only determinable with about 0.4m, so  what sort of discrepancy is involved and what area are you likely to lose altogether?

Once the above is known people will be able to judge if a fight with the developer is likely to be worth it and succeed.

Section62

alpin_demi said:

They have now posted a passive aggressive letter saying they are basically going to move the fence anyway regardless of my decision and if I don’t allow them access to my garden they have no other choice to move the fence via the neighbours side and switch the side the fence panels are one so I no longer have the ‘good side’ of the fence either basically blackmailing me.

Check your contract/deeds.  There is likely to be something in there saying they have the right to make variations and carry out remedial work/correct errors.  They are also likely to have the right to enter your property (with notice) to carry out work on yours or neighbouring properties.

They are also likely to have the right to turn the panels round, but to do so as a result of your lack of cooperation is out of order - although they may be able to justify this if, for example, the fencing can only be worked on/fixed from one side.

alpin_demi

Bradden said:

How much do they wish to move the fencing by... is it worth the stress?

They are basically trying to take around 2 foot of the back of my garden, there is a clear mistake made as the neighbours garden is an awful shape so they are trying to make mine smaller keeping it the same shape as the boundary lines but just shortening the garden to make the neighbours larger

Section62

Woolsery said:

On title plans accuracy of boundaries is only determinable with about 0.4m, so  what sort of discrepancy is involved and what area are you likely to lose altogether?

On new build the developers will almost certainly have digital plans of the properties with boundaries capable of being determined to fractions of millimetres.  These plans are likely to have formed the basis of the OP's contract with the developer, and the basis of the land registration.

The question here is whether the OP purchased what was shown on the developer's digital plan, or what they saw in the garden when they viewed the property.  We've had several of these situations in the last year or so - it isn't clear from the feedback we have had which way things would work out if it went to court.

alpin_demi

Thank you for all your responses.

I did seek legal advice when the builders first knocked at my door with the plans. My solicitor said they need to make it substantially worth my while and £500 is not enough, I thought this was a joke so asked for £5000 or it’s a legal route and they ignored my request and this is when I received the letter from the site manager given me 48 hours notice that they are moving the fence regardless 

they are trying to take around 2 foot of the fence back 

there is a clear mistake made as the neighbours garden is a thin skinny garden but how do I know that’s not a mistake on where they have placed the neighbours house or other houses to the other side ?

Section62

alpin_demi said:

Thank you for all your responses.

I did seek legal advice when the builders first knocked at my door with the plans. My solicitor said they need to make it substantially worth my while and £500 is not enough, I thought this was a joke so asked for £5000 or it’s a legal route and they ignored my request and this is when I received the letter from the site manager given me 48 hours notice that they are moving the fence regardless 

they are trying to take around 2 foot of the fence back 

there is a clear mistake made as the neighbours garden is a thin skinny garden but how do I know that’s not a mistake on where they have placed the neighbours house or other houses to the other side ?

Did your solicitor look through your contract before advising, or was that just an off the top of their head answer?

The site manager giving you 48 hours notice tends to suggest that is what your contract (possibly) says.

A land surveyor could measure the distance between your house and the house to the rear and compare that dimension and the position of the boundary fence - either using the developer's digital data (if they are willing to share it) or else by comparing the ratios.

How much of your garden does 2 feet represent?