Newly Bought House - Garden "Stolen"

Dustyevsky

Checking exactly what you're buying, by looking at the title plan and comparing it with the situation on the ground, is one of the most fundamental parts of the purchase process. In the property I live in now, the driveway to the neighbour's property had been moved 15m north, and the vendor had simply forgotten that change, agreed with the neighbour 10 years previously. By picking up the error, we made the vendor pay to have the deeds to both properties altered before purchase.

In your case, the deeds were correct, so it has to be assumed you didn't look carefully at the title plan before agreeing it to be accurate. You don't seem to recall doing that check, but unless you can show it never took place, you have no case against your solicitor. The vendor may not have drawn your attention to the garden's legal extent, but unless they or the advertising clearly affirmed you were getting more land than you have now, you have no case there either.

ProDave

My guess is by retaining that big chunk of back garden, the vendor will later be trying to get planning permission to build a new house in that large back garden area.

MultiFuelBurner

ProDave said:

My guess is by retaining that big chunk of back garden, the vendor will later be trying to get planning permission to build a new house in that large back garden area.

The OP might want to go have a friendly chat next door and check the local planning applications.

ThisIsWeird

Thundy, it would help us to help you if you gave clear answers to Qs asked.

1) Was this sold via an estate agent? If so, what do the sales 'particulars' say?

2) When you were (presumably) shown around, what were you told? Did you wander freely into this garden along with the rep, as if the garden did belong to the house you were considering buying? What was said? Anything? "Ooh, this would make a nice place for a garden room?"

3) Look through all the letters and docs your conveyancing solicitor sent you. You should have a letter which fronts a copy of the deeds, which should in turn include the deeds map. Your conveyancer's covering letter should ask you to go through this, and also ask you to confirm that the plot outlined in red is an accurate representation of what you saw - will see - on the ground. Tell us what that map shows. Why can't you include this map on here? Just import the pic into any vague editing software - even MS Paint will do this - and cover any IDing names.

4) Did you have any communication with the seller? Bump into him? A chat over the fence?

5) Was ANYTHING said to you by ANYONE to suggest that this garden came with the house?

And,

6) Have you spoken to your conveyancing solicitor yet?

loubel

What did the seller say in the Property Information From in answer to the questions about boundaries having moved in the last 20 years and land being sold or purchased? The transfer of the garden should have been disclosed here to warn you (and your solicitor) that you needed to check this.

However, as others have said, was the discrepancy not obvious on a glance at the Title Plan, given you are saying it's most of the garden that's missing. The example plans you have shared suggest it was very clear that part of the garden wasn't included in the title and I would expect the average buyer to notice this and ask their solicitors to investigate. I fear that your failure to check this will make it much harder to claim a misrepresentation by the seller about the land being sold but you would need to speak to a litigation solicitor to get proper advice on this.

Albermarle

Although it sounds like the Vendor has done nothing illegal, I presume neighbourly relations will not be so good going forward . Probably not much chatting over that fence !

Flugelhorn

I wonder who had been looking after the garden?

MultiFuelBurner

Local or distant cheaper solicitor? Or the worse option Solicitor linked to the Estate Agent.

DullGreyGuy

Flugelhorn said:

I wonder who had been looking after the garden?

Presumably whoever was living in the property

Hoenir

MultiFuelBurner said:

Local or distant cheaper solicitor? Or the worse option Solicitor linked to the Estate Agent.

They could be one and the same.