House boundaries

[Electric_Andy]

That's pretty clear cut, I'd be getting a steel post concreted in here sharpish!

That's what I thought, it's obvious. But she has now texted me to say she has got hold of some other deeds which follow her driveway e.g. her drivway that's not in line with the boundariesd on the deeds. I haven't seen her yet, but she has at least cancelled the work until we agree on where she can come up to

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I'm not sure what's digitised and what's accessable to be honest. Here is a pic of the deeds (I'm number 7, she is to the left of me number 5 which isn't numbered). The orange line is where the neighbour thinks her drive can go, but as you can see the boundary lines go out 90 degrees from the plane of the house. The driveways on on her side actually goes about 3 feet into her other adjoining neighbours driveway....but that has obviously been overlooked and not challenged for years
View attachment 646857

On its own that may not be enough. Do you have a deed with the property’s bounding description?

It certainly appears that your neighbour is taking more than she is entitled to and you’ll need the bounding description to tie in with the plan to be sure.

 

[Electric_Andy]

On its own that may not be enough. Do you have a deed with the property’s bounding description?

It certainly appears that your neighbour is taking more than she is entitled to and you’ll need the bounding description to tie in with the plan to be sure.

ok thanks, it's actually my Dad who owns the house so I'll have to ask him if he has anything else.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Also check how long No 5 has been using her assumed extent (the part that encroaches onto No 7 in particular). I think England still works under the adverse possession principle where a person can assume possession of a piece of land if they’ve occupied it, unchallenged by the true occupier, for 10 years.

The English land register should be able to help but you may incur fees.

In the interim, I’d be inclined to put up some small mark of delineation along that boundary, such as a very low picket fence. Shouldn't cost much in materials or time and will act as a mark of intent as well as being a good visual aid for anyone being asked to consider the dispute.

I note that the plan shows the boundary as being slightly offset from the extended centre line of the two properties, in favour of the neighbour. This may be accurate or not, which is why you’ll need the bounding description to be sure.

 

[Hornchurch]

Pretty sure there's millions of homes that are overlooked. Net curtains and you're good to go.

You could put nets up or a film where you can see out but they cant see in? You dont have to have the curtains drawn fully all the time.

Cheers Guys,

What causes the main problems, are THREE-FOLD

1, She (the 'oppressor') since the Granny-Annexe, is now just "handshake" distance away, literally (so nets won't hide much, because....
Her piss-pot 'money-saving' annexe was built in 2013 - I wuz already there at least 10-yrs earlier, long before 'her' arrival.

2, We have TWO 'Ford Transit sized FULL picture-windows - They were there since property was built, in 1973 - Original fitment

3, Herein lies the biggest "issue" -

"If" we attempt to sell, NO buyer (worth their salt), ever wants to buy a property so 'heavily' & closely overlooked

Basically, I'm "crocked" - All because some lazy fiddle-stain council-planners would NOT listen to my objections, or, visit property seen below

MOD NOTE - Naked photo and references to same removed.



.

 

[fossyant]

Ohh she's taking the wee wee, why would just your property not have a perpendicular boundary line like the rest. Jog on I'd say. Pretty clear cut.

 

[icowden]

Basically, I'm "crocked" - All because some lazy fiddle-stain council-planners would NOT listen to my objections, or, visit property seen below

Whilst I feel for you, you should be able to look up the planning rules used by your council. If the property does not conform to those rules you should have grounds for an appeal.

For example in Wrexham:

To achieve this, minimum separation distances should be maintained between houses, and in particular, between habitable rooms. Habitable rooms include living rooms, bedrooms, studies and kitchens. They do not include halls, stair landings, passageways and utility rooms. Where two habitable rooms face each other such that direct overlooking is physically possible, the windows should be 22 metres apart. Where a window in a habitable room faces a blank wall, the height of which exceeds the top of that window, there should be a distance measuring a minimum of 13 metres between them. In the case of a kitchen window, these standards may be relaxed provided suitable screening is in place. These standards apply on flat ground.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Ohh she's taking the wee wee, why would just your property not have a perpendicular boundary line like the rest. Jog on I'd say. Pretty clear cut.

That's basically what I'm saying, but she keeps arguing the toss...pretending to be all nice about it and "oh sorry I don't know anything about this"..but when confronted with the deeds, she still keeps saying her line is 90 degrees when it clearly isn't. I've pointed out that if she doesn't want me to object then she needs to hire someone to come and measure it properly, which she doesn't want to do. I might just have to get my Dad to come down and we'll take a line out from the outside edges of each house, and measure the distance so that we can get the perpendicular boundary line. it's all a pain in the butt, I'm going to have to look at a caravan anyway which she is free to put there, but I don't want it any closer than it needs to be, especially if it comes onto my (Dad's) land.

 

[figbat]

I might just have to get my Dad to come down and we'll take a line out from the outside edges of each house, and measure the distance so that we can get the perpendicular boundary line.

This would assume that each property is identical width. If I were you I'd start with an agreed centreline of the house and measure left and right along each house the same distance to a fixed point on each, then do the triangulation to a projected boundary line (you may then also confirm that the houses are equal width). Of course this mean getting access to both houses. If you want to do it purely from your own property then get Pythagoras on the case - a 3:4:5 triangle is the easiest to work with although any measures will work with a little maths.

It is possible - maybe likely - that the layout of the road and houses have formed an optical illusion of what perpendicular looks like vs what it really is.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You can get a copy of your neighbour’s deeds from Land Registry if you want.

Unless the "deeds" she has are from the Land Registry, they mean nothing.

Are property boundaries in England’s Land Registry not digitised yet?

To all above, Not all property is on the Land Registry, although this looks like a fairly new build so will be, any property whose sale was before 2006 (I think) is not likely to be on there.

good advice, also check their deeds to see if there is any restrictive covenant to prevent them parking a caravan on the drive, that would be a bonus!!

This is a good one, the covenants on our property are quite rigid, about height to fences, hedges, commercial vehicles, caravans, campers & apparently you can operate a brothel as long as you do not serve alcoholic drinks.

 

[fossyant]

A long piece of timber should be more than enough to show the correct angle of the boundary line.

 

[DCLane]

@Electric_Andy - it looks like they're new enough to be on the electronic register and all the houses have a perpendicular boundary. She's basically hoping you won't object as it seems the occupier of no. 3 hasn't.

Unless she wants to change the official boundary by paying your Dad for the land officially then she's no chance. Any issues contact your local planning stating they've already taken space from no. 3 and are now trying with yours . But personally I'd be marking it out, putting a couple of posts in just inside your side of the boundary, then seeing what happens.

Note that we're soon to be extending our driveway side-wards and removing a small piece of lawn. I want to be very careful that it's on the exact line with my neighbours and we'll double check it as the lawn bit's used by both properties.

 

[Alex321]

To all above, Not all property is on the Land Registry, although this looks like a fairly new build so will be, any property whose sale was before 2006 (I think) is not likely to be on there.

Actually 1990 when registration of land on any sale or transfer taking place became compulsory.

Anything built or sold since then should be on it.

Anything prior to that still may be, compulsory registration was available to counties or parts of counties from 1925 onwards, though I'm not sure how many counties introduced it. I know in 1964, according to an entry in Hansard, it was 5 counties, and 14 county Boroughs. Which isn't all that many.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Its a pain when neighbours do this sort of thing.I had problems with my NDN's daughter parking their car on my drive it really angered me as I struggled to get my bike down my own drive.I wouldn't be getting into any arguments with her, I'd just tell her no way.
Just concrete in your own posts on your side of the correct boundary line problem solved. Shes a chancer trying it on obviously.People play silly games like this and pretend to be thick to steal and get one over on you.

 

[Electric_Andy]

personally I'd be marking it out, putting a couple of posts in just inside your side of the boundary

Thank you. Yes there is currently a string line where I am happy for the boundary to be. It's about 3 inches into my side but that's ok as a compromise. @figbat you are correct, the line of the pavement is misleading becasue the houses are not on the same plane, hence her originally thinking that her side of the boundary at the pavement end was in line with my front door! She's playing dumb but she absolutely knows what she wants