Has anyone had a boundary dispute and if so how did it go?

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OP
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Out of interest, you say it happened around 10 years ago - has the neighbour been there that long? Or is it possible he inherited the land grab? :p

They've been there even longer. From what I can tell from Google earth there used to be a wide hedge at one point which was removed and a wall put up right up against my side.

How much land are we talking about ?

Hard to say really, but a traingular chunk maybe 6ft at its widest point.

Anyway sorry all for the slow response all, life has got in the way somewhat lately. Here are some pictures:

My garage on the left, theirs on the right. Eccuse the rubble I've been having some construction done. Towards the back you can see the wall they have constructed between the two which means I can't go down:

uZY4j62.jpg

Land registry boundary, which I think shows I should be able to go down the side? It does differ slightly from the one @SeatIbiza got for me.

2mttiy1.jpg
 
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My view is that the garage is built onto the boundary i.e. you've not got space down the side.

If anything, that sliver is down on their side of the plans, it's not obvious from the above, but it is on the MapSearch system...
 
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OP
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My view is that the garage is built onto the boundary i.e. you've not got space down the side.

If anything, that sliver is down on their side of the plans, it's not obvious from the above, but it is on the MapSearch system...

Fair enough I can accept that if that is your view. Thanks again for sending the maps over :)
 
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Hi all, so bought my house about a year ago. At the time the back garden was so over grown you could barely access a lot of it. After it was all hacked back I noticed a sizeable chunk of the side of the back garden had been taken by next door.

Basically what they have done is put a wall between our garages (I should be able to walk down the side of it acccording to deeds) and then put a wall on the back of the garage. As in the picture below.

Left: How it should be. Right: How it is.

QW2meRk.jpg

I looked at Google earth and rolled back the years and see it happened around 10 years ago. It looks like there used to be a big thick hedge. Which he has removed and then put a wall in right over my side.

Now I was considering wether to bring it up or not, presuming if I do it will be the end of friendly relations. My dad decided to bring it up with him and he aggressively replied "it always been like that" and then was heard slamming his bins and kicking things about in his garden. So to get anything done I would think would need to be via other channels.

How has this worked out for others? I'd rather get on with my neighbours but at the same time I don't think its right.
Why do you think the plan on the left is how it should be? What are you basing your opinion on? It seems odd that you think you should be able to walk down the side of your garage but your neighbour wouldn't be able to do the same on his plot. You cannot work out the boundary from the Land registry title plans as these show a general outline only and carry a warning to this effect. They cannot be measured from as they are based on Ordnance survey plans and are not to scale and these cannot define or alter property boundaries by law due to accuracy limitations.
Your best bet is to get a survey done and be careful who you choose as it has to be a demarcation survey and they carry out a measured survey from physical features still in place and many surveyors do not appear to understand they cannot use the title plans or O.S. plans to measure from. Remember the house that was built and sold first will take precedence in law over the house that came later, the original fence and or walls installed by the developer will define the boundary in law as it was these that created the boundary originally between the two properties. The title plans can be helpful in indicating what the original developer intended and are usually a design plan used as a conveyance plan and not an "as built" plan, hence the need for a comprehensive survey.
Often a hedge is installed on one side of the boundary and if that is the case and the hedge was in your neighbours plot he would be entitled to remove it and put a fence or wall on the actual boundary. If you purchased the house with the border in place why do you now think you are entitled to more land than you purchased?
I would suggest that by far the easiest and most sensible way forward is to jointly instruct a surveyor such as Jon Maynard (boundary problems website author) who understands the rules and regulations that apply and agree to abide by his findings as to where the boundary is.
Reasonable discussion and each understanding the position of the other is by far the best way forward. If you handle it this way both parties will feel they have been heard and the solution will be based on fact. None of us are qualified surveyors and therefore may not understand what applies, this way the final solution is both financially better and would avoid the need for bad feeling. A boundary agreement can then be logged with the land registry to avoid future problems.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/resolving-boundary-disputes-lesson-1-boundaries-land-nicholas-isaac

Boundary Problems


www.boundary-problems.co.uk

Good luck.
 
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Soldato
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It's extremely annoying!!

We have a shared driveway between us and our neighbour. She constantly parks a second car infront of my garage and/or parking space so we have to park in front of our house.

I have thought about going down the legal route, but in the end decided just to leave it until the kids have left school, then move. The longterm plan is to move more into the country side, and our next house won't be anywhere near a neighbour or shared anything! These days I'd rather have a small house on a large plot of land.
 
Soldato
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Looking at the diagram in the OP, and assuming the land registry says both garages are touching (from another post futher down), then it seems you've gained a bit of land on the 'south' side and the neighbour gained a bit on the 'north' side, so pretty much even stephens? (the corridoor between the garages pretty much split evenly?)....

I'd proceed very carefully before starting a formal dispute over what looks to be a 2foot by 10 foot patch of land.
 
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Here are some legal points that have a bearing on the situation:
  1. Nicholas Isaac QC Queen's Counsel at Tanfield Chambers. Land Registry plans do not show where the boundary is. I have lost count of the number of times I have had to say this to clients clutching their Land Registry plans and insisting that their neighbours have encroached onto their land. The reason why this is the case is the so-called "general boundaries rule", now incorporated into section 60 of the Land Registration Act 2002, but of much greater vintage, which provides: (1) The boundary of a registered estate as shown for the purposes of the register is a general boundary, unless shown as determined under this section. (2) A general boundary does not determine the exact line of the boundary. To all intents and purposes the general boundaries rule means that Land Registry plans are of no use whatsoever in determining where the boundary between properties lies. Let me repeat that point: Land Registry plans do not show where the boundary is. It is unsurprising that members of the public do not know about the existence or effect of the general boundaries rule. What is more surprising is the number of surveyors and lawyers who appear to be equally ignorant of it. In the past year I have seen more than one surveyor’s report which claims to determine where a boundary between properties is based solely on Land Registry plans, as well as several solicitors’ letters asserting the location of boundaries on the same basis. Whether you are a member of the public, a surveyor or a lawyer, if you become involved in a boundary dispute of any kind, please remember: Land Registry plans do not show where the boundary is.
  2. A surveyor should understand their duties as an expert, primarily that duty is owed to the court, not to the party paying the bill. Reading part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules (and the practice direction accompanying it) each time they prepare an expert's report, to ensure that they have at the very forefront of their mind what is required , and that the expert's declaration at the end of the report is correct.
  3. From a lawyer's or court's perspective, the most important contribution a surveyor makes to the resolution of boundary disputes is the production of a good measured site survey. This is the objective evidence against which all other evidence is measured (sometimes literally) as well as the plan upon which the judge can draw a red line, confident that it can be reproduced on the ground. It is recommended that an "expert" try and include as much detail as possible, not simply what you consider to be indicative of a boundary. Manhole covers, trees, sheds, garages, paths, and patios can all assist the court in determining matters. Often this will be because of something which can be seen in a historical photograph which you have not seen - if in doubt, put it in should be the motto. When boundary disputes reach court, judges quite rightly like to hear expert evidence to assist them in determining the dispute. Such evidence is, in the first instance, in the form of a written report, to which is attached, as appendices one or more plans, including, most importantly, the measured site survey.
  4. "And be it enacted, That this present Act .... shall not extend, or be deemed or be construed to extend, to ascertain, define, alter, enlarge, increase or decrease, nor in any way to affect, any Boundary or Boundaries of .... any Land or Property, with relation to any Owner or Owners, or Claimant or Claimants of any such Land respectively, nor to affect the Title of any such Owner or Owners, or Claimant or Claimants respectively, in or to or with respect to any such Lands or Property, but that all Right and Title of any Owner or Claimant of any Land or Property whatever within any Hundred, Parish, or other Division or Place whatever, shall remain to all Intents and Purposes in like State and Condition as if this Act had not been passed".
    Ordnance Survey Act 1841
  5. In spite of this, Ordnance Survey maps have long been put to use as: Conveyance plans and transfer plans; Title Plans; Evidence during a boundary dispute and litigation.
  6. Expert surveyors' poor quality boundary surveys are rife. A large proportion of disputes could be avoided by obtaining a high-quality survey at an early stage; this will inevitably involve a detailed plan (which should be in electronic format so that it can be reproduced, and from which detailed dimensions can be taken). In many cases, specialist chartered land surveyors should be used. All too frequently, experts without specialist experience produce poor quality plans and reports, which do little to elucidate the position on the ground and, oftentimes, cause further confusion and entrenchment of positions.
  7. A surveyor should differentiate between matters of law, and matters of surveying opinion. Reaching survey conclusions based on unsubstantiated claims would be inappropriately trespassing into judicial/legal territory. Instead the surveyor should say words to the effect of "What if any effect the existence of whatever has on the current boundary line is a legal matter and I do not comment on the same".

The conveyance or transfer which separated the one historical property into two current properties is known as the originating conveyance - i.e. the conveyance from which the separate properties (and the boundary between them) originates. Originating conveyances are of crucial importance in boundary disputes because, as a matter of law, they definitively fix the boundary between the properties as at the date of that conveyance.
It will be immediately obvious at this point that the history of the plot of land - what was there, particularly in terms of physical boundary features, at the date of the conveyance - is of crucial importance in construing the conveyance in general and the parcels clause in particular. The sources of evidence for such history will form the most important contribution a boundary surveyor makes to boundary dispute resolution.
 
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https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/property-boundaries

OS maps don't show legal property boundaries or ownership of physical features. Our remit is to survey and map the physical features on the ground at the time of survey, not to provide maps showing property boundaries.
HM Land Registry's role in recording boundaries
HM Land Registry will show the extent of the land in a registered title by a red line on the title plan. Where a boundary of the land is not defined by a physical feature on the Ordnance Survey map, HM Land Registry indicates it on the title plan by a dotted line.

England and Wales operates a 'general boundaries' system of land registration. A title plan with 'general boundaries' shows the boundary of a property in relation to a given physical feature on the ground such as a wall or hedge as identified on the Ordnance Survey map at the time the survey was carried out.

The red edging on a HM Land Registry title plan is therefore not definitive as to the precise position of the boundaries. For this reason, official copies of title plans carry the following warning:

This title plan shows the general position of the boundaries: it does not show the exact line of the boundaries. Measurements scaled from this plan may not match measurements between the same points on the ground.

This is a clear statement that HM Land Registry is unable to tell you precisely where a property boundary is located.
HM Land Registry uses our mapping to provide a representation of where a property’s legal boundaries are located, based on the ‘general boundaries’ system of land registration.
Maps purchased or sourced direct from us never show legal property boundaries, nor do they show ownership of physical features.
 
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