Shared Garden - Neighbour plans to divide

Bendy_House

You can also get a copy of your deeds from the Land Registry site.

Section62

*POSTERPOTS* said:

Thank you! I'm really unsure as we can't locate any of our paperwork 😭😭. We didn't seek any permission to put the perimeter fence up. 

You'll need to find your paperwork, or start getting hold of copies.  (e.g. download the title documents from the Land Registry website)

Any kind of legal advice/action you need/want to take will depend on having access to documentation regarding ownership, rights, and restrictions.

*POSTERPOTS*

We do have this already but obvious doesn't state the exact measurements 

Section62

*POSTERPOTS* said:

We do have this already but obvious doesn't state the exact measurements 

Ah, you said you can't locate any of your paperwork....

The exact measurements (if any exist) don't matter at this point in time.

The first thing you need to find out is whether the land is owned 'jointly' or separately but with (reciprocal) rights to use the other half, and also whether fences/walls/hedges are allowed in the front garden.

If the neighbour is not allowed to fence off the land then the exact measurements no longer matter.

Are these ex-council or housing association houses?

Bendy_House

Are your houses detached or semi? If the latter, and if they are mirror images (or just identical), then it is usually very straight-forward to determine where the two houses 'join'. In which case, is it equally easy to determine the 'join' at the road end? If 'yes' to both, then draw a straight line (literally or meta), provided the deeds plan also shows it's a straight border.

If your houses are detached, are there any fixed features - a garage, a house wall, a gate post - that can help determine the boundary line?

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Are your houses detached or semi? If the latter, and if they are mirror images (or just identical), then it is usually very straight-forward to determine where the two houses 'join'. In which case, is it equally easy to determine the 'join' at the road end? If 'yes' to both, then draw a straight line (literally or meta), provided the deeds plan also shows it's a straight border.

If your houses are detached, are there any fixed features - a garage, a house wall, a gate post - that can help determine the boundary line?

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?

Already confirmed....

*POSTERPOTS* said:

We are two detached houses.

Chloe_G

DE_612183 said:

There is a land registry site that superimposes boundaries on an google maps ( or similar ) view - which is good.

Land Registry UK - Map Search (landregistry-uk.com)

may help.

I don't like the look of that - it puts my right hand boundary through the edge of my house (I have a sideway on that side) and then from this point it cuts everyone's right hand boundary through the right hand side of each house for the rest of the street. Bizarre.

Abbafan1972

Chloe_G said:

DE_612183 said:

There is a land registry site that superimposes boundaries on an google maps ( or similar ) view - which is good.

Land Registry UK - Map Search (landregistry-uk.com)

may help.

I don't like the look of that - it puts my right hand boundary through the edge of my house (I have a sideway on that side) and then from this point it cuts everyone's right hand boundary through the right hand side of each house for the rest of the street. Bizarre.

I have had a look at mine and can't even see which is my house, it's awful. 

Section62

Chloe_G said:

DE_612183 said:

There is a land registry site that superimposes boundaries on an google maps ( or similar ) view - which is good.

Land Registry UK - Map Search (landregistry-uk.com)

may help.

I don't like the look of that - it puts my right hand boundary through the edge of my house (I have a sideway on that side) and then from this point it cuts everyone's right hand boundary through the right hand side of each house for the rest of the street. Bizarre.

Mapping at this scale is not very accurate.  It should only be used as a guide for general locations, not an indication of precise boundaries.  LR themselves are very clear about that point on their official site and documents etc.

Using mapping of this type would be more or less useless to resolve the OP's issue with their neighbour.

droopsnoot

Chloe_G said:

DE_612183 said:

There is a land registry site that superimposes boundaries on an google maps ( or similar ) view - which is good.

Land Registry UK - Map Search (landregistry-uk.com)

may help.

I don't like the look of that - it puts my right hand boundary through the edge of my house (I have a sideway on that side) and then from this point it cuts everyone's right hand boundary through the right hand side of each house for the rest of the street. Bizarre.

I suspect that's just the overlay of the boundary map over the aerial photography. There's a note on the "title plan" page of the Land Registry site that talks about boundaries and how not everything on the register has any boundary information. I'm sure I've seen another note that says the land register can't be used to settle boundary disputes, but I can't find it now.