We have the porch, waste bins, outdoor access to gas, plant pots on the paved area as do our neighbours, who also bring their cars up. Oddly, it seems that this is not the case for the three identical front areas on houses on either side. We were told by the Land Registry, that our little front part belongs to the council. It is in a terrace and some have tiny -2 metre- walled gardens at the front whereas others, ours included, have a paved area before a tarmac pavement.Ī front porch was added to ours over 10 years ago so that part of this front is now part of the house. We bought a very old cottage (300 years old converted buildings) in 2013. we cannot help you resolve your boundary dispute or provide legal advice - if you need help, contact RICS or if you need legal advice, see a solicitor.there’s more guidance on property boundaries if you need more information.the title plan will only show you the general boundaries of the property.our information can sometimes help, but is only part of a bigger picture.RICS also provides a list of surveyors who could assist in boundary disputes. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Property Litigation Association have created a mediation service to help neighbours resolve disputes over their property boundaries without resorting to court action. There are other organisations that can help you before things get to that stage. If a dispute continues, it is ultimately a court that makes decisions, but they do not like such disputes being put before them. The registered titles can help you to reach an agreement, but only if this information has been added.īoundary disputes can be complex and I always suggest getting some legal advice if a dispute is in danger of flaring up.

If you want to change an existing boundary, such as replacing an old fence with a new one, we always recommend discussing with your neighbour first and making sure it is all agreed. Larger developments tend to have some indication provided by the builder, but there are no hard and fast rules, I’m afraid. Then there are cases where the deeds refer to ‘T’ marks on a plan and include wording such as ‘to maintain the boundaries marked with an inward facing T mark’. In a lot of cases though, the deeds make no mention. Sometimes deeds lodged with us when we first register the property may have information about it, in which case it may be mentioned in the register.

People often think they are responsible for the left (or right) hand boundary wherever they live, but there isn’t any legal basis for this. A deed plan may refer to measurements but these have to be interpreted, as the land may not be level and you don’t know where they were measured from or how. If you want to check if we have any boundary information, you can get a copy of the title register, title plan, and any ‘filed’ deeds we have for your own property and your neighbour's property. We can’t tell you which boundary feature you are responsible for either, though some registers may refer to this.

For instance, it may not show small juts in the boundary or bay windows. The information is based on large-scale Ordnance Survey mapping and is generalised to some degree. I always start by explaining that we can’t tell you exactly where your legal boundary is, as our title plans show general boundaries. In my experience, the boundary can often become the weapon of choice when neighbours have fallen out over something such as noise, pets, parties, or BBQs when the washing is out. A boundary feature can be a fence, wall, hedge, ditch, piece of wire, or sometimes even just the edge of a driveway. They can be the cause of heated debate and trigger arguments between neighbours, sometimes over just a few inches of ground. I often get asked questions about boundaries and they tend to be some of the hardest to answer. Are you a member of the public? If so we’d like your views to help improve our service to you.

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