Neighbour boundary dispute

Hello. I am Gemma, a legal assistant at Lawyer Destroyer, and I would be happy to explain how boundary disputes work between neighbours.

When a disagreement arises over a boundary, the responsibility for resolving it rests with both the neighbours involved. There is no automatic authority, local council, or government body that will step in and decide the matter for you, so it is up to the property owners to find a solution.

The legal position:

People often assume that looking at the title plan from HM Land Registry will instantly solve a boundary dispute. Unfortunately, the red line on a Land Registry title plan only shows the general boundary. It does not show the exact, precise line of the boundary on the ground down to the nearest inch.

To find out who is responsible for a specific boundary feature, such as a fence, wall, or hedge, you usually need to look at the wording in your property title deeds. Sometimes the deeds will contain a plan with an inward-facing T mark. This usually means the owner of the property on that side of the boundary is responsible for maintaining the fence or wall. If two adjoining T marks join together to form an H mark, it usually means the boundary is shared.

However, many deeds are completely silent on who owns or maintains a boundary. If the deeds do not say, the boundary feature might be shared, or it might belong to whoever originally built it. It is also worth knowing that, in most normal residential circumstances, there is no legal obligation to have a fence or boundary feature erected at all.

Practical next steps:

Boundary disputes can quickly become incredibly expensive, stressful, and damaging to neighbourly relations. Because of this, it is always best to try and sort things out calmly and practically.

1. Gather your documents. Download your title register and title plan, as well as those of your neighbour, from the HM Land Registry website for a small fee. Read them carefully to see if they mention who owns or maintains the boundaries. Gathering any historical documents, old conveyancing files, or old photographs of the properties can also be very helpful.

2. Have a friendly chat. Often, disputes arise from simple misunderstandings. Approach your neighbour calmly, share the documents you have found, and see if you can reach an amicable agreement without involving professionals.

3. Check your insurance. Read your home insurance policy to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, your insurer might cover the costs of a surveyor or help mediate the dispute. You must contact them before taking any formal action or spending any money yourself.

4. Instruct a surveyor. If you cannot agree on where the boundary lies, you and your neighbour could agree to hire a jointly instructed surveyor. Make sure they are an expert in boundaries, ideally a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. They can study the physical land and the historical documents to give an independent expert opinion.

5. Consider mediation. If talks begin to break down, a trained independent mediator can help you and your neighbour find a compromise. This is vastly quicker and cheaper than arguing through lawyers.

6. Record your agreement. If you do manage to reach an agreement, you can make it official by recording a formal Boundary Agreement with HM Land Registry. Alternatively, you can apply to the Land Registry for a Determined Boundary if you have had a surveyor plot the precise line.

7. Formal legal action. If absolutely all else fails, a boundary dispute can be decided by the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber or the County Court. This should truly be a last resort. Boundary litigation is notorious for taking many months or years, and the legal costs frequently end up being far higher than the value of the sliver of land being argued over.

If you manage to resolve the issue early through a simple conversation or by sharing a surveyor, you will save a great deal of money and preserve your peace of mind at home. Let me know if you would like me to explain what to look for when you download your property documents.