Boundary dispute

[Corono]

Posted here for traffic.

We have a shared drive, moved in recently and want to redo our part of the drive. However the current next doors drive extends up to the edge of our garage. The garages have a small gap between them and the land registry just shows a straight 50/50 split. So we've lost space. There is two different types of concrete their currently. The neighbour says that's the divide the split in the concrete.

It makes parking on our side drive very tight as we've lost c. 6 inches of space.

To redo the drive we would need to cut back the concrete belonging to the neighbour.

Is this allowed? Don't want to fall out with them but don't want to pay £000s for a drive that's going to be down years and not get the full benefit of what's rightly ours.

If they had maintained said grass up to the new border and nobody had objected, then yes.

We need to see the land registry plans. If they are anything like ours, the boundary is shown by a line would be four feet wide in real life.

that would

For adverse possession they would have to show length using it (ages it seems) but also that they were claiming exclusive possession and were trying to exclude the world from that space. Fencing is usually a good example of This. The drive could always be used by you/past people, you'd just be driving over different coloured tarmac.
But then paving a parking space did count for adverse possession in a 2019 case. As the person was treating it like an owner would.
So an interesting one, but needs a solicitor to resolve.

shown by a line that would be four feet wide in real life.

That's the truth! Our old one (100+ year old property) looked like it'd been done with a red crayon by a 4 year old

I have name changed as my boundary dispute is still active. Mine is a different scenario. My neighbour was advised to build my his builder as he believed he was in the right. He is now currently trying to find the funds for my legal costs and to repair what he has done roughly £30k. The only winner are my legal team (insurance) and the boundary surveyor. If he does not pay he will be taken to court not only for the boundary dispute but aggressive build.
It was actually the boundary surveyor who was the most knowledgeable, much more than the solicitor or barrister. But to date his costs are £5000. There are lots of rules and lots of myths and advice floats between them. Even my solicitor got things wrong. All the advice will not be any comfort when in a nasty expensive legal dispute. My neighbour believed we would just accept and probably 90% of people would have.

I agree with those saying that it is something that you need to resolve. It obviously wasn't picked up when you bought the house but, if the drive were block paved, it would be really noticable that it wasn't quite right. I am fairly sure I would notice it if I were buying a house. I would be tempted to blame the builder and say that they have raised that it needs to be done to the boundary line or you will have problems then you sell.

When you sell

I would pass her a copy of the deeds and let her know that you will be paving up to the extent of your land. They can consult with a solicitor if they like, who will presumably support your perspective.

Land Registry title plans come with a caveat stating they do not reflect actual boundaries.

In practice, I’d just do the work and let them raise a dispute.

Technically, boundary disputes cost a fortune and drag on years. You need specialist surveyors and solicitors. You also need to be wary if they try to claim some sort of adverse possession. But I’d let them commence action if they wanted to.

I dont think a change in surface signifies a border. I'd just crack on with it, have the guy wet saw it and lay your driveway. Have the plan on hand to show her the legal boundary and just dont humour her.

Land registry typically records general boundaries - you cannot rely on achieving anything to accuracy of 6 inches based on this. You would need to apply to have the exact boundary determined. Do you deeds indicate the measurement determination to say that the line is exactly 50:50, or did you just infer this?

Warning though, if their drive has used that land for 12 years, they probably have acquired it though adverse possession even if it used to be part of the previous owners title.

Do not cut their drive - you have no right to do that even if it is on your land.

Your diagram does not show a 50 50 split between the houses. Your side is slightly small than your neighbour. If I can tell that from that small pic then it must be pretty obvious in real life! Do you have a scale drawing which is larger to check?

. Have the plan on hand to show her the legal boundary and just dont humour her

The problem is that she doesn't appear to have anything showing precisely where the legal boundary is.

That dotty line? It's surely supposed to show a 50/50 split isn't it? The thick red line has been drawn inside the dotty line just to show which property it's pertaining to no?

Are there other pairs of houses in the road with the same set up? How have they interpreted the split?

How old are these properties OP? Out of interest.

That dotty line? It's surely supposed to show a 50/50 split isn't it? The thick red line has been drawn inside the dotty line just to show which property it's pertaining to no?

That's correct

I agree with Hothammock that if the deeds are correct that it is not 50/50.

Repeating what pp have said. Land registry won’t deal with disputes to the inch. You bought the house as it is. All of this should have been sorted out before purchase. Her use of the land - if constant - will be very hard to displace. I would not want to take on this dispute that you are unlikely to win.

solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

Property litigation or dispute resolution solicitor.

Thank you @DrownedDuffers

If you did go ahead it is also worth remembering that any evidence of the boundary dispute prior to the removal of the concrete could invalidate your legal insurance if your neighbour does go down the legal route.

Just a thought, but do you think your garage could have been built on her side?

@LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood

Repeating what pp have said. Land registry won’t deal with disputes to the inch. You bought the house as it is. All of this should have been sorted out before purchase. Her use of the land - if constant - will be very hard to displace. I would not want to take on this dispute that you are unlikely to win.

They do deal with boundary issues and will clarify the boundary to the precise degree in this sort of issue (once a court case is resolved) and update the plans they hold, so the issue can't arise in future.

Just a thought, but do you think your garage could have been built on her side?

I really don't think that's the case.