Boundary reports are usually required when two property owners disagree on a boundaries location, this, in turn, becomes a boundary dispute. The origin of the dispute often arises when property owners, disagree with the maintenance liabilities of the boundary line, then, in turn, the location, width, or even ownership.
Boundaries tend to be set by residing features, some examples are walls, fences, hedges, trees and driveways.
Over the years we have found the boundaries are often moved or even left to overgrow by the various property owners.
Your legal boundary line will always be highlighted on the Land Registry Title Plan, however, these are often to a very high scale, i.e. 1 to 1,250. This effectively means when a Surveyor tries to determine a boundary line using the Land Registry Title Plan, there could be over a metre of uncertainty as to where the true boundary line is.
Due to this, Boundary Surveyors will conduct various different protocols on site as well as undertake desktop research, in order to provide an adequate report. They will gather the facts then draw on their knowledge and experience to provide a professional opinion to where the boundary line lies as well as detail the path followed when forming the opinion. When on-site Boundary Surveyors takes a number of measurements (following Health & Safety guidelines) as well as take photographs in order to form an accurate assessment of the current projection of the boundary line.
Post site inspection, a Boundary Surveyor undertakes further desktop research, including reviewing the Land Registry Map, Land Registry details, Ordnance Survey Maps, previous Planning Applications Historical and Present Maps as well as Google Earth, Street View and Bing Maps. When it comes to Boundary determination the more evidence the better. The Boundary Report can be prepared on behalf of both parties to the boundary dispute, or just one of the parties.
Upon agreement of both parties involved in the Boundary dispute, a Boundary Agreement can be formed, both parties can then sign this and register it and the Land Registry, ensuring future owners will not have the same issue. If both parties are not able to agree with the Boundary Report and the dispute remains, the parties can proceed to court and let a judge rule on the matter. It is worth noting if you decide to proceed to court, there can be large cost implications ranging from £10,000- £150,000 theses cases can also drag on for in excess of 18 months depending on the cases complexity. The court procedures form a court order determining the location, ownership and maintenance liabilities of the boundary.
If you have a Boundary dispute or a question, feel free to give us a call and take advantage of the 30 minutes free consultation with one of our experienced Boundary Surveyors.
