Boundary wall

magpies79

How do I go about finding out if this is a shared boundary wall or just mine or possibly there's? 

It's a strange wall as on the drive it starts on the drive and then runs behind into my garden then behind the fence.

ButterCheese

Have you got the deeds to hand? What do they say?  Might be a good starting point.  Although it may just have a thick red line that marks the boundary which might not be of much use

magpies79

Yeah feel like I looked a years back and was just a red line which like you said didn't help much.

We have new neighbours next door and she half mentioned on building a side extension and coming off this wall so thought I best do some digging lol

Section62

magpies79 said:

We have new neighbours next door and she half mentioned on building a side extension and coming off this wall so thought I best do some digging lol

If you mean she's thinking of building the side extension on top of this existing wall then she'll have to revise her plans a lot.  It will need removing and rebuilding with proper foundations and damp proofing.

Towards the back where the bins are it looks like it is retaining a fair amount of higher ground on your side - is there nothing in the deeds about ownership and responsibility for retaining walls?

magpies79

Section62 said:

magpies79 said:

We have new neighbours next door and she half mentioned on building a side extension and coming off this wall so thought I best do some digging lol

If you mean she's thinking of building the side extension on top of this existing wall then she'll have to revise her plans a lot.  It will need removing and rebuilding with proper foundations and damp proofing.

Towards the back where the bins are it looks like it is retaining a fair amount of higher ground on your side - is there nothing in the deeds about ownership and responsibility for retaining walls?

I'll have to dig them out or look online it's been a long long time since I've seen them.

I do believe he said coming off that wall I guess he could mean like you said knock that wall down and provide proper foundations and build up where that wall is.

grumpy_codger

AFAIK, a retaining wall is typically owned by the higher ground level party. 
I think it was just easier to erect the fence next to the wall than on the top of it.

magpies79

grumpy_codger said:

AFAIK, a retaining wall typically owned by the higher ground level party. 
I think it was just easier to erect the fence next to the wall than on the top of it.

So obviously appreciate I need to check deeds but the new fence went where the old fence was which had been there for at least 20 years what would happen if I find out that the boundary is in fact where the wall is and not the fence for the record the previous owners paid for 80% of the fence and got a company to put it up.

Ectophile

Trying to attach a 6 foot fence to the top of a brick wall is unlikely to succeed.  So someone has taken the sensible option of putting the fence next to the wall.  If the wall predates the fence, then the wall is probably the boundary.

Retaining walls are often the responsibility of whoever's land they are retaining.  But the deeds may override that.

WIAWSNB

Is the row of red bricks in line with the rendered wall?

How old are the houses? Are they similar in design - from the same era?

Does the street you are on have a slope? If not, why are your houses on different levels? The garden is strange - that appears to be sloping back upwards from the house? Is your neighbour's garden the same? If so, their house must be sitting in quite a dip?!

Could you download a copy of their deeds map, and post an anonymised extract along with your own? And what do the written details in the deeds say?

See their metal gate - what does that attach to? What about other neighbouring properties - do they have retaining walls too? If so, are there any visible indications as to which side they belong?

It often cannot be stated by the visuals that a retaining wall is the responsibility of one side or the other, as the circumstances that formed them can vary. They are usually the responsibility of the property that has benefitted from, or carried out, the ground alteration - ie whoever caused the change in level, up or down. If your houses look to have been built by the same builder or developer, then almost certainly the change in level would have been part of that build, and - usually - the retaining wall would have been part of the higher land. However, it could still be straddling the actual boundary line, so a 'party' wall.

Annemos

WIAWSNB said.....

It often cannot be stated by the visuals that a retaining wall is the responsibility of one side or the other, as the circumstances that formed them can vary. They are usually the responsibility of the property that has benefitted from, or carried out, the ground alteration - ie whoever caused the change in level, up or down.

===========================================================

My own circumstances:   


I took a look at the issue of retaining walls for my own place. My neighbour and I are 1.80 meters apart. Two detached bungalows. Neighbour is about 2 feet higher up than me.

On our deeds, the Plans clearly show that my neighbour has the T on her side for the long fencing, all the way along the dividing line at the back of our properties. (Thus in our back gardens, she is responsible for maintaining the Fences between us going from front to back.)


BUT at the Front, the Deeds are silent.  There is a small 3 meter long retaining wall that holds her side up. My own land had to be dug out and levelled out by the big Building Company in 1980, to form a flat patio for me. If that had not been done, my patio at the front would have been on a slope. (Indeed where our patios go forward into Council Grass at the front of us both, there are 2 steps down.) 


I looked at the following documents and I decided, that because my patio has had to be created, I am most likely responsible for maintaining that boundary wall and so I would not bother to fight it. (Luckily it is not a huge wall!!) 

Here are the documents I found most useful for me. (I could get into the CILA document and save it as a PDF.) 


https://cila.co.uk/document/retaining-walls-cila-subsidence-sig-nov17/#:~:text=This%20paper%20is%20a%20comprehensive%20guide%20to%20claims,retaining%20walls%20collapses%20and%20discusses%20insurance%20policy%20considerations.


And I also found this useful, although it does not discuss where the lower land has had to be levelled out/excavated. 


https://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/walls.html#Retaining%20Walls