Selling a house with a garden bigger than showing on land registry?

[HedgeOwl]

We live on a new build, the neighbours want to extend their garden into a patch of wasteland, we have to do so too for it to not look obvious. Land is managed by a big company. Currently it’s just wasteland by a hedge and will always remain so.
If we do move the fence the garden will obviously be bigger than what the deeds show, which is fine now, but when we come to sell this will be an issue won’t it? We’ll either have to shrink the garden or we’re not going to be able to sell.

In our old house, We had a 3 foot strip of land that ran the length of the house and garden. Was council owned and not maintained very well.We wanted to extend the fence to make it part of our garden. Council stated permission likely to be granted. Until the local ‘victor meldrew’ who lived on the other side of the estate put in an objection and the council went with it, permission refused.
Maybe we should have just claimed it as ours instead?

Also if you are a new build you might want to check the deeds and covenants, ours is quite strict regarding what we can and cannot do. Especially fencing. We can’t just move or erect a fence Willy nilly.

@costco

To be fair to the OP, she has at least considered that this might not be a good idea. Perhaps she didn’t understand that it’s fully properly illegal not just a little fudge. So, as gently as possible: OP, well done for venturing the question, hopefully the answers help make the right decision!

Thanks, yes it is a wildlife corridor, but currently only brambles. Which I know is ideal for some wildlife. We want to plant some wildflowers to make it more of a meadow bank to attract bees/birds etc.

There have been 5 other people already extending their gardens by a metre or two.

This was really common previously? Friends live in a street where everyone has extended their garden bar one on street view, you can see it all over the country on street view.

Yes I’m posting as I’m really unsure, especially as it has a management company, not just land that will be ignored, hence asking. If I was just going to steal land I would have bloody done it not asking if it was wrong, I have to live with these neighbours and want a good reason to give if we say no.

My friend did exactly this. When they moved in (standard mid terrace) the garden was teeny tiny, literally room for a chair. They backed onto unused waste land so they just moved the fence back and made (still tiny but usable) garden. 4 years later they’ve moved, house has been viewed and sale agreed the of course it’s come up that they don’t own that land and in fact only have the tiny garden. It’s causing a nightmare for them now

I remember reading about a very similar issue. They extended garden of new build into “wasteland” behind them and put fence around new larger garden. They were made to redo while fence and return the “wasteland” as it was part of the developments planning permission to have a wildlife corridor and they’d effectively stolen it. You can’t just take land and claim it as your garden but you already know this...it sounds like you are just worried about what your neighbours will think if you don’t go along with their plan and it makes their land grab obvious. I’d say to them you’d be happy to approach landowner to discuss purchasing but are not willing to extend your garden without permission. If it’s “ugly” wasteland throw some wild flower seeds down.

Forgot to add the house we were going to buy before this one backed onto green space including woodland and a pond we asked the builder if it would be possible to put a gate in for access... we were told this was fine.

sorry cross posted. Don’t feel bad about saying to neighbours you aren’t comfortable just shifting fences. Tell them to look into properly.

If the deeds don't match then you'll have legal problems. Can be sorted but would be a massive delay to the process.

Also depends if it's registered or unregistered land. Both still need to be legitimately sorted out to change ownership/statutory declaration if it's unregistered.

You need planning permission to change the use to domestic garden and you need to buy the land.

Enforcement at most councils would take action and ask for an application.

Doing it without landowner permission or planning permission buts you at risk of legal and enforcement action in the future.

The change of use application can cover the garden extension for both properties under one form and one fee so you can share the cost with the neighbour.

As PP have said, the wildlife corridor may be part of the planning permission (especially if it's a large development). It will be there for a reason, e.g. the one on our estate is to allow deer to traverse between woodland where previously they used the fields (now houses), plus some other animal and bird species. But you wouldn't know that just to look at it.

If you go ahead (and I wouldn't, for environmental reasons, as well as the legal reasons), maybe keep a fence + gate at your actual boundary so it's clear later on where your legal boundary is.

If it'a a wildlife corridor then surely it can't be claimed?

When we had our back fence replaced the man doing the work offered to shift it back a few foot if we wanted, we'd never considered it before until he said people do it quite a bit. It's some trees then verge then a road behind so assume owned by whoever owns the road. Didn't feel right, obviously, and we'd have had responsibility for the trees so didn't seem a smart move.

You could still stick some wildflower seeds down if you want OP, guerilla gardening and all that. I bet plenty of people wouldn't want the brambles so will end up destroying habitats while they're nicking land so wouldn't want to encourage it.

Who would you even report it to ?

You want to extend yout garden into someone else’s land and pretend it’s yours? 😃

Go for it, but be prepared to have to shrink it back. Also if it has a management company how often does someone check it? If they check and find you’ve nicked it there will be repurcussions.

Love it though. 😂😂😂

If I was just going to steal land I would have bloody done it not asking if it was wrong

It’s always wrong to steal. And you didn’t ask if it was wrong to try to steal the land, you asked if it would be a problem when you came to sell becayse your garden was going to be bigger than the deeds showed.😂

Let the neighbours do what they want to do and have no part of it. Unless you really want to try for adverse possession of a bit of land yourself.

Provided they don't do any damage - and removing plants can be considered damage - they're not doing much wrong, but if the landowner finds out they can make the neighbour remove their fences.

Of it is a wildlife corridor why on earth are you planning to fence it off as part of your garden. How are the animals using it supposed to move around. Don’t do it op absolute tosser move if you do and if it is for animals not humans.

@BornOnTwelthNight

In our old house, We had a 3 foot strip of land that ran the length of the house and garden. Was council owned and not maintained very well.We wanted to extend the fence to make it part of our garden. Council stated permission likely to be granted. Until the local ‘victor meldrew’ who lived on the other side of the estate put in an objection and the council went with it, permission refused. Maybe we should have just claimed it as ours instead?

Also if you are a new build you might want to check the deeds and covenants, ours is quite strict regarding what we can and cannot do. Especially fencing. We can’t just move or erect a fence Willy nilly.

Pity you don’t live in our council area as you would definitely have been given permission . Someone near us basically fenced in a 6’ x 12’ area of land that was adjacent to a local footpath and that their bungalow was next to and despite local complaints the council just let them take it . The footpath which previously had trees and bushes on either side now has a fugly 6’ fence on one side .

We just bought a house that had a strip at the back of the garden that measured 30cm. There was a hedge in the people over the back's garden and then the unowned 30cm and then our' garden so this left a sort of no mans land situation.

It caused no end of problems with the mortgage and in the end the seller put up a fence that was on the border and fenced the 30cm out of 'our garden.

Thief

As a PP said wildlife corridors are a requirement for most new build estates now. I don't suppose there's anything to stop you chucking some bee bombs down but as for cutting back the brambles and sequestering it, you can't.

There is nothing to stop you taking the fence down between your garden and the corridor though and that would make your wildlife very happy

Ideas here: www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-make-new-build-garden-wildlife

This was really common previously?

Being common doesn’t stop it being illegal.

I have to live with these neighbours and want a good reason to give if we say no.

And you don’t think it being illegal is a good reason?

It may be immoral, but it can be regularised and the person in adverse possession can apply to be registered as the title holder. You need a period of 10 years for registered land and 12 years for unregistered land during which the legal owner hasn't used legal means to recover possession of the land.

But just don't sell it like that? Take the back fence off, enjoy the extra space and then put the fence back when you want to move.

My neighbours managed to extend their land at the front of their house and get away with it - it’s been sold now.

The 'waste land' in our estate now has planning permission for 3 houses.
Someone has sold part of their land to the developer who us going to knock down their garage and use half of their garden and build a through road as there is currently no entrance to it.

I believe several homeowners were leasing some of the waste land to extend their gardens.

If someone owns the land, one day they will find a way to build on it or make money from it