boundary dispute

[bossmillie]

if i have a boundary fence in place can my neighbour knock it down as he has claimed its on his land, even though i totally disagree

[Ethel]

Very expensive to go to court over this. Very very expensive.

Why do you think it is your land, and why does your neighbour think it is his?

[bossmillie]

he has produced a drawing which conflicts with my interpretation of the land registry plan, albeit they are ambiguous. My concern is though can he just take the fence down and put his own up where he thinks his is or does it have to be esatblished legally where the boundary is before he can do it. He has only just threatened this after 3 years of being a neighbour. I think he is trying to bully me into submission. I think his is aim is more finacial gain than boundary. Someone said if he did take my fence down it would be criminal damage, I dont know?

[bednobs]

it will depend on where the boundary lies. if its your fence on his land, he could take it down. If its your fence on your land he cannot touch it. What would be wholly more sensible would be to reach a compromise, sit down and talk to him. You say it's for financial gain, but unless the land registry plans are extaordinarily vague, surely it wouldn't amount to much more than a foot or two? he is hardly going to get loads of money for such a small bit of extra land. Anywy, is there a compromise somewhere? (ie he wants 10 inches, you agree on 5?

[jen78]

I'd say the first step would be him finding an official document (eg a house deed) which backs up his claim to additional land.

If it's an old document it still might not be particularly clear though many plans had dimensions written on them to assist with identification.

If you identify that there is a deed showing him with more land than he currently has then make sure that the situation has not been changed by any other deed since.

You may only be able to find registered deeds if both properties are registered at the Land Registry so maybe worth a check on the general deeds pack in case there are other unregistered deeds or statutory declarations or useful correspondence.

Take care with the Land Registry plans as documents are now usually copied and destroyed so there may not be an original left.

As buildersmate said on another thread, the Land Registry do not guarantee boundaries, they just do the best they can on the documents provided to them and, bearing in mind the age of some of the documents they are going off, that can be difficult and common sense on the ordanance survey plan can prevail

From your investigations, it may or may not highlight a disparity from which you can move on accordingly.

Whatever happends try not to end up in an acrimonious dispute and make sure any change in boundaries is properly documented and lodged with the Land Registry as both would need to be disclosed on the sale of either property and could cause issues on a sale if not done properly.