According to gov.uk “most land in England and Wales is registered with general boundaries”. This is the responsibility of the Land Registry who draw up a ‘title plan’ (an official sketch) of any property that is registered with them. This is stored and made available on request.
Some property owners choose to have more exact boundary information drawn up. This can help avoid any future neighbour or boundary disputes. If you are buying a property your conveyancing solicitor should be able to advise you of any possible boundary disputes, giving you the opportunity to ask the seller for more detail of the parameters of the property. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) also advises that you speak to your (new) neighbours to identify exact boundary positions and responsibility for maintaining them.
If you find yourself caught up in a boundary dispute this can be costly, upsetting and stressful. Common disputes are over fence boundaries. No laws exist about which side of the fence, wall or hedge you and your neighbour are responsible for. This is why we suggest following the RICS advice and draw up an agreement with your neighbours, before any dispute arises.
If an issue does crop up there are a number of ways to resolve it. In the first instance you should try to talk to your neighbour to come to an agreement. The next step would be to contact us at Wrigley Claydon. We will advise you of the resolution methods available to you such as mediation.
At Wrigley Claydon we can assist you with any legal action relating to boundary disputes. Our civil litigation team are experienced at handling these types of cases and can act on your behalf should the case proceed to the Courts. They will explain the steps involved, discuss likely outcomes with you as well as injunctions and damages you can or cannot expect.
Please call the Oldham office on 0161 624 6811. You can reach the Todmorden boundary disputes team on 01706 815 712. You can use our online enquiry form if you prefer and one of our team will get back to you.
Vijay Srivastava
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