PROPERTY BOUNDARIES

Tulips2lips

My daughter has recently got planning consent on her paddock to the rear of her house to build a bungalow.  She advertised the land and has a buyer but their surveyor is disputing the boundary position.  The intended boundary is the fence line which is clearly marked on the plan and appears on all ordnance survey mapping as far back as 1975.  Due to the scale being slightly out the surveyor is trying to claim another 2 metres closer to my daughter's house.  Does anyone know if he is right to do this or is my daughter right?

user1977

Not sure what you mean by "trying to claim". It's up to the parties to agree what's being sold. Neither is "right". Unless there's some underlying agreement which you haven't told us about.

Slinky

I don't see how she can be forced to sell more than she is willing to sell if she owns all the land.

ProDave

If she is selling the land for someone else to build on, make it clear the boudaries are "As Fenced"  Get that written into the contract "as fenced on dd/mm/yy"

Section62

Tulips2lips said:

My daughter has recently got planning consent on her paddock to the rear of her house to build a bungalow.  She advertised the land and has a buyer but their surveyor is disputing the boundary position.  The intended boundary is the fence line which is clearly marked on the plan and appears on all ordnance survey mapping as far back as 1975.  Due to the scale being slightly out the surveyor is trying to claim another 2 metres closer to my daughter's house.  Does anyone know if he is right to do this or is my daughter right?

The way OS mappng is produced means they aren't more accurate than to about +/- 1m at best.  If the buyer's surveyor is basing their claim on nothing but an OS map then they are trying it on.

If your daughter owns all the land then as others have said, she can sell them exactly the amount she wants, no more and no less.  If this buyer is unhappy with the land on offer then they should move on and find a different plot to buy.

Given they have attempted to dispute the boundary before they have even purchased the plot your daughter would be wise to make sure the boundary position is recorded on the basis of measurements from permanent features (e.g. distance from the back wall of the bungalow), rather than something temporary like a fence.  It is possible she could come home from holiday to find the neighbours have put up a brand new fence 2m closer to her bungalow and then the definition of where the boundary should be has been lost.

On the other hand, if these prospective neighbours have already shown themselves willing to get into a neighbour dispute over a strip of land then personally I'd be considering carefully whether I'd actually want them to be neighbours, or if it would be better to find someone else to sell to.

Edit:  If the issue is with a diference between the planning application drawings and what is on the ground then that may be more of an issue, as the planning consent may be based in part on the size of the plot.  If the house is to be built on a plot which is materially smaller (/different) then the owners could (in theory) be at risk of planning enforcement action.

user1977

ProDave said:

If she is selling the land for someone else to build on, make it clear the boudaries are "As Fenced"  Get that written into the contract "as fenced on dd/mm/yy"

Adding a definitive plan (which you'll need anyway) in the contract is going to be much safer than potential arguments about where fences are or were on particular dates...

theartfullodger

Ordnance survey all very interesting but what do land registry plans show please?

user1977

theartfullodger said:

Ordnance survey all very interesting but what do land registry plans show please?

Why does it matter what the LR plan shows, as long as the OP's daughter is selling something within the land she owns? I don't think the boundary being "disputed" is anything to do with another owner.

Grumpy_chap

theartfullodger said:

Ordnance survey all very interesting but what do land registry plans show please?

AIUI. there is no separate LR entry at present as the land to be sold for the bungalow is to be split from the OP's Daughter's land ownership so the two separate Titles will be created post sale (as part of the sale process).

However, it may be better to find another buyer that is not starting with a dispute, as others have suggested.

daveyjp

The planning application will have a red line boundary.  If the intention is to sell the land which has planning permission that is where the boundary needs to be and ideally should be pegged out by the seller.

Say 'no thanks' to anyone who is arguing the point.

Tulips2lips

Thanks everyone!  Planning permission shows fence line as boundary.  The fence is clearly marked on land registry title plan also.  It appears that scaling from plan to points on ground don't match but it doesn't affect what's to be built.  The fence is also attached to the side of a building which is  shown on planning consent and LR title plan.