NEIGHBOUR CROSSED THE BOUNDARY BEFORE EXCHANGE

The shrubs?

Don’t talk daft.

There is a potential Criminal Damage issue so Plod could get involved if the vendors make a complaint

I’d be speaking to the agent, making your solicitor aware of the potential for delay. But it will go solicitor- vendors solicitor - vendor whereas both you and the vendor can speak directly with the agent cutting out two middle men.

I would expect the vendor will approach the neighbours directly.

I'd do my damndest to contact the vendors as the chances are, they have NO idea about any of this and are completely unaware there is a problem. Once they are, its likely they who will be the squeakiest wheel!

Only seeing this now OP. Your solicitor needs to be urgently raising this query with the solicitor for the vendors. I won't lie though, unless the neighbour puts their hands up this could get messy and you will have to make a call whether you want to go down that road.

It is quite common - although not with the sort of behaviour displayed by the neighbours in this instance. We have a joke at work that when you retire you get a motorhome and start a boundary dispute. It seems to be popular amongst retired folk, presumably because they start to pay more attention to their garden and the value of their assets.

This is worth repeating.

This is on the vendors to sort.
They offered up X at auction to be sold...not X-10% of the site.

If this is tge case you have been mis sold something.

Itvis on the vendor to ensure you get what was agreed.
All the adjustments to the property need to be recorded by video and photos.

This is surprisingly common.

I wouldn’t give them any chance!
I would be on the phone today reminding them that you are supposed to complete on x day and you need this dealing with urgently.
Make a real nuisance of yourself.

which is why I said mid afternoon monday.

I don’t disagree but would give the solicitor some grace as Fridays are mad with completions.

If you don't hear by mid afternoon monday, I'd be chasing again though.
The auction house should have a policy for a lot being not as described in the legal pack and should be able to tell you what that is. Your sol has had plenty of time to sort out what her next move should be and to give you that information and a timescale. The EA should be able to tell you who is now handling the sale.

So many posters telling the OP to just contact the solicitor because she doesn't own the house yet, +1 and in the meanwhile the solicitor has done FA. Ours was incompetent but I was shocked that @Strictlymad had to find and send the enviromental reports by herself!!

Fair enough - I thought everyone had ignored you so far!

The other thing to note, and I’m sure your solicitor will tell you is that once you complete you might lose any evidence of the previous boundary. The current sellers, assuming they have some personal knowledge of the property and its history will be able to testify to the fact that the boundary was where it was placed previously for x number of years. Whereas you will only know that to be true since you first viewed. That’s really important when looking at adverse possession and boundary disputes. You want the vendors motivated to resolve this (and at their own expense).

Yes and there’s no use getting confrontational by threatening to withdraw to a vendor who is likely acting in good faith and has no idea this has happened.

It isn't a criminal matter though. It is a civil dispute and the Police won't get involved which I would imagine the neighbours know. There is no harm in sending a letter before action but this can only come from the vendors. In your situation, you will be aware of their details from the sellers pack. If you are not, you need to search the LR for the legal owner and then search the probate grant for the name of the person who applied for it and contact them.

Sadly the auction house/ EA will have their fees accounted for in your deposit money (only the Vendor will be returned the remainder) so they are under no pressure to react. If I were you, I would be minded to see which governing body the Auction House/EA is registered with and complain to them in writing today. Contact the MD of the Auction House/EA via linkedIn and complain to that person and also take to twitter/X to make the issue public (normally resolves things). You have been patient enough but going nuclear on a Friday should actually make you both feel better and get things moving. At the end of all that you know you have tried your best.

If you cannot resolve this, I still stand by my original advice to walk away - you do not need to purchase a house with a boundary dispute so unless it is resolved to the most transparent level do not proceed. If your circumstances change in the future (and things can happen unexpectedly) you may not be able to sell it easily.

Good luck today.

Hi. Do you have any contact with the sellers directly? I haven’t read everyone’s responses to you but as you don’t yet own the property, if you can contact the seller direct you could tell them that unless the issue is sorted, you won’t be completing. If you don’t have contact with them, explaining the same to the agent selling the property would mean they could contact the seller.
I know you want the house but sometimes you have to push back to get people to sort things.

Edited to say, apologies, since I started writing this and then got round to finishing it and hitting post, others have said the same.

This, OP. You need to make it very clear that the property now is not what you bought and that you'll not be going ahead if it isn't sorted immediately.

From what you've written so far, no one seems to think this issue is in any way important or urgent.

Sadly, the only times I've ever got results with any kind of issue is when I've made a complete pain in the arse of myself.

Good luck @MummyToBeAgain1

With my recent nightmare purchase, I had to threaten to pull out to get the seller and their solicitor going. It did the trick and we completed the following week.

@MummyToBeAgain1 I would pull out and tell them to let you know when sorted so you can decide if you want to engage again.

I've been following this thread from afar OP and I agree with PP that you need to make them understand that this is THEIR issue to sort out, not yours. I think it's time to channel your inner frustration into putting a rocket up everyone!

I suggest sending a round robin email marked urgent right now that includes your solicitor, all relevant EA, the auction house and the auction house's solicitor's/seller's solicitors. State that you are frustrated and disappointed that you are still waiting for responses from all parties and that no action is being taken to resolve this issue since you raised it on xx. Then state that, as a consequence, you now are considering withdrawing from the sale because you are not prepared to buy a property where the neighbours have done a land grab of the garden, destroying a section of it in the process, and are being allowed to get away with it. Give them until 5pm today to get back with a response.

umm no. If I have understood correctly, the house is not the property of the OP yet. Its a modern auction and therefore not completion at hammerfall and also (and more importantly) the property details do not match the legal pack which PROBABLY (not a legal beagle) renders the auction invalid.