Boundary and Neighbour Dispute Lawyers

Aneela Ahmed

Solicitor (2014 Qualified)
Heald Green 0161 283 6573
Get in Touch
Dan Chadwick
Dan Chadwick
1748941505
We recently sold and bought a new property, Anna B was our solicitor (both sale and purchase). Our chain was very long and there were several factors causing issues and delays. Anna and the team at the Cheadle branch, worked very hard to ensure the success of the chain. My husband and I are extremely grateful for all their hard work and support throughout the process - which at times was stressful! We would highly recommend.
Laura Anderson
Laura Anderson
1748536946
I can not speak highly enough of Anna Beavers at Mounteney, she helped us with our recent house sale and purchase, when I say helped, she guided us through it expertly, explaining things as went along, Anna was very professional but also down to earth and kept us up to date with progress. One thing that stood out for us was how responsive Anna was, ALWAYS getting in touch when she said she would, emailing back very promptly to enquiries, chased other conveyancers when needed, this was a huge positive for us and made the whole experience so much better than we thought. Thank you so much Anna!
radu muntean
radu muntean
1747855457
I have dealt with a number of solicitors during the last few years and I think that Mr. Ian McKenna is by far the best solicitor I've ever worked with.He is very efficient, he has an outstanding expertise, and he has a very high level of professionalism. All these qualities make him a great person to deal with.I really appreciate how he handled my property purchase from start to finish and I will definitely use his services again.
Hetal Knowlson
Hetal Knowlson
1747835491
Anna Beavers was our solicitor and she was excellent. Very responsive via email/call, gave good advice, navigated the challenges of sale/purchase well and managed to complete a purchase in 6 weeks! She went the extra mile to make sure we could complete so quickly. We were so glad we went with her, service was top class. Thank you Anna!
Eleanor Bowkis
Eleanor Bowkis
1747249570
Anna Beavers was our solicitor for sale and purchase. We cannot praise her enough. She was amazing throughout, extremely quick at responding to emails and kept us updated as much as possible.She ensured all funds were ready for our completion date and made everything effortless. We were completed and in our new home by 1pm! Incredible service from Mounteney and we will use them again in the future for sure.
Lucy Wiggins
Lucy Wiggins
1746529958
Very good communication- friendly, approachable staff- made the whole experience less stressful!
js_loader

Description

There are so many boundary features (walls, fences, hedges, ditches etc.) that they are bound from time to time to cause tension between adjoining neighbours. Myths abound about things like “right hand boundaries” – but the only general rule to address the complex issues arising, is the so-called, “Hedge and Ditch Rule” – that when land of adjoining owners is separated by a hedge alongside a ditch then, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, both the hedge and ditch will be deemed to belong to the owner of the land on the same side as the hedge. This rule rarely helps, because hedge-ditch combinations are uncommon.

Occasionally old plans mark boundary features with “T-marks”, that may indicate one owner or the other is responsible for the maintenance or ownership of that boundary feature. This is also rare, however. To ascertain whether it’s the case for your property would require some effort digging-into old plans on paper and/or at HM Land Registry, if there are any. The considerable effort (which would be costly, if we are asked to do it for you) would not normally be fruitful.

Where a boundary feature stands clearly on one side of the boundary, then the feature would normally be owned and maintained by land-owner on whose land the feature stands.

If there is some evidence who put the boundary feature up, that might also be relevant.

However, the normal position is that the boundary feature stands either on the boundary, or so close to the boundary that no-one can be sure which land-owner actually owns the feature – and there is no strong evidence where the feature originally came from [often the features are older than the tenure of the adjacent owners]. In those cases (i.e. the vast majority of instances) the Courts will simply infer the boundary features are party-owned, i.e. joint responsibility between adjoining neighbours – with no unilateral rights for either of them alone; the co-owners should co-operate in maintenance.

If a party feature is not being maintained by either side, then a neighbour might consider putting some screening feature of their own on their side of the party feature, so they don’t have to view the unmaintained party feature. That won’t prevent any obligation toward the party-feature, however.

If a party-feature clearly needs maintenance, then one owner could repair it even if the other refuses to contribute – a co-owner cannot insist a party feature remains in disrepair, even if they do refuse to contribute toward repairing it (even when they should do so).

A neighbour contemplating formalising a boundary dispute with their neighbour should consider these four serious “health-warnings” about what boundary-arguments can easily become:

  • These are typically extremely acrimonious – only the “hard-as-nails” need apply; they are the domain of bullies – neighbours may well get personal, in person. If you are of a nervous disposition, the cure may well be worse than the disease.
  • There would need to be investigation into the evidence, and often a surveyor’s report – all of which can be surprisingly costly considering the value of what’s probably at stake – normally strips of land less than a foot wide, or maintenance costing less than a thousand pounds.
  • Usually these cases can be argued either way, and the Courts have wide discretion to decide – that makes the outcome unpredictable, that all involved dislike. Starting a dispute is no guarantee of winning the dispute.
  • These disputes have a blight-effect on property value: you are not likely to be able to sell your property at all during the course of such a dispute, and even afterward the legacy can appreciably depress property values; no-one wants to live next-door to a proven aggressive or neglectful neighbour.

How long will it take?

Please Contact us for more details or see Solicitors Letter.

Money Matters

If you have any questions, require any further information, or would like to engage us on the T&Cs linked Our Terms in the footer below, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.