Obtaining a copy of my property deeds.

tribetown

I bought this property over 10 years ago and my solicitor at the time was unable to find out who owned the boundary fences, I replaced the one on the left of my property a few years ago, the neighbours behind replaced theirs last year. The one on the right, my previous neighbour said it was his, the new neighbour is not sure.

The property was built in the late 80's.

I have a copy of the title register and title plan showing my boundary marked in red but it does not
show who owns which boundary fences.
When the daughter of the previous owner filled in the forms she ticked "Don't know" when it came to the boundaries.

I understand that a copy of the deeds may show with T markers who owns the fence on the right of the property when looking at it from the road.

I thought I could order a copy from HM land registry but the only documents I can find available online to buy are the title register and title plan which I already have.

How do I order a copy of the deeds please?

hareng

No idea if it changes from region to region.
My deeds stated the rear is my fence 4 panels and the right 21 panels. Same as prior 5 houses.

Next door neighbour is an end house their fence is on the left, Rear and Right. 

Previous house 1/2 mile away 86 Rear and Right. Same as 30 mile away built 30's.

Previous 3/4 mile away on a corner, all the way round Left, Rear and Right.

Normally nowadays your lender holds the deeds until paid in full, must do mine.

HM Land Registry will have to pay

Chief_of_Staffy

I thought the information in the deeds was incorporated into the plan and register. I wouldn't expect to find additional information in the deeds, although a lot of what I expect these days doesn't manifest in reality.

p00hsticks

Even if the Land registry shows T markers indicating who is responsible for maintaining the boundaries it doesn't necessarily follow that that person will own the fence.

for example - unless there are covenants specifying exactly how the boundary needs to be maintained, the owner could simply decide to mark it with a piece of string. If their neighbour doesn't like that idea, or perhaps is a dog owner who needs to contain their pet, then the neighbour might decide that they would prefer to erect a fence just their side of the boundary next to the string. 

and in some cases, neighbours agree to go halves on a joint fence. 

tribetown

I do not have a lender.

I always assumed (wrongly it appears) that the Title register and Title plan were the deeds, so I have never actually seen the deeds for any of my properties I have owned over the years.

EssexHebridean

hareng said:

No idea if it changes from region to region.
My deeds stated the rear is my fence 4 panels and the right 21 panels. Same as prior 5 houses.

Next door neighbour is an end house their fence is on the left, Rear and Right. 

Previous house 1/2 mile away 86 Rear and Right. Same as 30 mile away built 30's.

Previous 3/4 mile away on a corner, all the way round Left, Rear and Right.

Normally nowadays your lender holds the deeds until paid in full, must do mine.

HM Land Registry will have to pay

Very few lenders want any documents other than the title these days - holding paper documents hasn’t been much of a thing since well before covid. 

The “deeds” now pretty much just consist of the copy of the register and title plan for a freehold - with the exception being for a property where other documents are referred to in the register entry. Ours for  example has the original transfer as it refers to restrictive covenants which still apply to the property. That is also held electronically - neither we nor our lenders have a paper version of it though. 

chrisw

I have a 1980s house for which I have nothing but the title register and plan, and a 1950s house which as well as the title register and plan, has a large bundle of historical documents which once formed part of the 'deeds'. As I understand it, these extra documents are now of historical value only.

Interestingly, none of the plans for either house have a T on the boundaries or any details of ownership other than the red lines. For the 50s house the neighbours have always assumed we own the left hand fences, for the 80s house the right hand fences. No idea why.

Flugelhorn

chrisw said:

I have a 1980s house for which I have nothing but the title register and plan, and a 1950s house which as well as the title register and plan, has a large bundle of historical documents which once formed part of the 'deeds'. As I understand it, these extra documents are now of historical value only.

When we had a 70s property, the solicitor let us know that the lender no longer wanted the deeds and we could have them - they were of historical interest only - we kept them and passed them on later to new owners - was the same when we bought a house in 2008 - lovely documents from 1907 onwards - but the only thing that mattered was the info at the LR

sheramber

I always understood the fence belonged to whoever out it up.

Being responsible for the boundary does't mean a fence, unless it is stated in the deeds.

When I bought my house Iwas told by the vendor that they put the fences up on the three sides. One side is  about 12 inches  inside the boundary . The original wire fence fence is still there as it is a council owned  house.

eddddy

tribetown said:

I bought this property over 10 years ago and my solicitor at the time was unable to find out who owned the boundary fences, I replaced the one on the left of my property a few years ago, the neighbours behind replaced theirs last year. The one on the right, my previous neighbour said it was his, the new neighbour is not sure.

If somebody puts up a fence, they would typically put it up on their own side of the boundary. So can you tell if the fence posts are on your side of the boundary, or on your neighbour's side of the boundary?

But taking a step back, why are you asking?

For example, if the fence belongs to your neighbour and it's in poor condition, it's up to the neighbour whether they do anything about it. It's unlikely that you can force them to do anything.

If you want the fence replaced or repaired, perhaps the best solution is to discuss it with your neighbour and agree what should be done, and who should pay or whether the cost should be split, etc

user1977

tribetown said:

my solicitor at the time was unable to find out who owned the boundary fences

What makes you think any more information will have come to light since then?