Dealing with property boundary disputes

When you're buying a property, it's highly likely that your principal focus will be on the home itself: its rooms, the size, what you could do with it. Secondarily, you might be interested in the garden: the dimensions, how mature it is, how much work is likely to be required to maintain it to your requirements, and how you might want to reorganise it.

Very few people are likely to wonder about the property's boundary - perhaps they might look at the fence or a hedge and think about whether it needs a bit of work. Those thoughts might spread to considering who might own it.

But surely that's something to consider for the future?

Truthfully, it's something you need to be thinking about as part of the planned purchase of the house: before and after, particularly if there is a difficult problem and it needs to be resolved with the neighbours.

The boundary of a property comes in many forms, be it a fence, a brick wall, a hedge, another building, a road, footpath or even a stream or river.

Their ongoing maintenance and the establishment of the clear demarcation of responsibilities for them can help to avoid some potentially nasty clashes and boundary disputes between you and the neighbours.

Bear in mind, too, that the boundary along one side may involve more than the one neighbour, which is why it is so critical to understand who owns what, and what you can reasonably do with anything on the boundary to avoid it escalating into a difficult dispute.

And, of course, you shouldn't forget the side passages (if they exist) and any front gardens and driveways that abut the neighbouring property.

There are several "rules of thumb" that people go by when it comes to the boundary: the left-hand side of the garden is owned by the neighbour, and you own the right-hand side. Or is it the other way around? And what about the width of the boundary at the bottom of the garden?

More importantly, where does the boundary officially start?

When you get the estate agent particulars, you'll be provided with a layout of the property, and this might include the rough dimensions and layout of the external grounds.

As part of the conveyancing solicitor's initial tasks, they will contact HM Land Registry for all the information that is currently held on the Title of the property. This will highlight the boundaries of the home, but they will not necessarily be precise. But that information should be sufficient to compare with the details you've received from the seller.

If there are any differences, or the information is incomplete, you should raise your findings and concerns with the conveyancing solicitor to resolve with the seller's solicitor before you commit to buying the property.

This is important to avoid the possibility of becoming embroiled in a boundary dispute with your neighbours once you have bought the home.

You've successfully completed on your transaction, you've moved in and you've been living in the property for a while. Now the time has come to do some maintenance on the boundary: perhaps a fence has broken and needs to be mended and replaced, or, more simply, a hedge needs to be trimmed, or trees need to be cut back.

Whatever the task that needs to be managed and its priority to be performed, you'll need to talk to your neighbour (or neighbours if there is more than one sharing the boundary) to discuss what needs to be done, who will do it, when, and who is going to stump up the money if it's needed to manage the issue.

But what if you are thinking of more drastic changes? You want to embark on building works along the boundary, install a large structure, plant a tree, or even build an extension.

As part of the planning permission submission to the local council, detailing your plans for building works, they will not be checking the ownership of the boundary, so it's vital that you find out the boundary ownership before you commit to any such major works.

And you should always discuss your plans with the neighbours before you go too far down the road of lining up contractors. And you should consider the noise and disruption that such efforts will incur, as well as setting up a party wall agreement so everyone impacted is clear and protected. After all, your neighbours have the right to enjoy their property as much as you do yours.

Dealing with your neighbours up front will minimise the risk of getting into a boundary dispute later, which could result in litigation, taking up a lot of your time to deal with, souring the relationships, and costing a great deal in money and stress.

Whatever your mitigation actions to try and avoid a boundary dispute, there might still be the occasion where a dispute arises.

Boundary disputes are more common than you might realise, despite your best efforts, and even the smallest dispute, if not managed effectively, can quickly escalate into a court action if not dealt with correctly.

As soon as a dispute arises that you don't think can be resolved amicably on all sides, you should get a solicitor involved, who will resolve the dispute quickly and affordably.

You should also employ a chartered surveyor, as they have the experience and knowledge in dealing with any boundary disputes. They use their specialist skills to interpret various documentation, such as maps, aerial photographs, surveys, historical documentation, and the information provided by HM Land Registry. They will also be well-versed in the latest civil procedure rules that govern land and boundary disputes.

All of this is dealing with the problem after the fact.

To avoid the necessity of dealing with the aftermath of a growing boundary dispute, you might want to consider employing a chartered surveyor before you buy the property or shortly after completion, to define the precise legal boundaries. They will produce an official document to be signed by you and all the neighbours affected.

This will be far more exacting than the information held by HM Land Registry, and will therefore prevent future arguments about the boundary.

The document that the chartered surveyor produces, with all the signatories detailed, will then be lodged at HM Land Registry, which means that any future disputes can be resolved quickly before it goes to court.

The document will also be part of the information the conveyancing solicitor of your future buyer will access, which makes it a strong selling point.

If you want to talk about boundary disputes, or to get an official map of the boundaries drawn up and ratified, then look no further than Surveyor Local.

We only work with chartered surveyors who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, ensuring the survey you get is always professionally delivered.

They will work hard to identify all kinds of problems, including the impact of prior flooding on the structure of the property.

Call  to get your no-obligation survey quote started, or to discuss your concerns with the acquisition of your planned property.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Surveyor Local's easy-to-use quote generator. Simply input your name, postcode, email address, phone number and an approximate value of the property (usually the agreed price), and we'll give you an instant quote for the work (with an email copy). 

We'll do the rest once you confirm your acceptance of the quote.