NEIGHBOUR CROSSED THE BOUNDARY BEFORE EXCHANGE

[MummyToBeAgain1]

Hi

I need some advice please.

We're buying a semi detached property and due to exchange and complete in a week or 2.

Over the weekend we drove past the property to find a fence being built between our garden and the property on the right. I suspected they had come in to our garden at a glance so drove past again yesterday.

The fence had fully been up and clearly it crossed in to our garden (to be). I've attached a quick drawing which shows what I mean. The red line is the fence the neighbour has put up.

Just for some context this is a auction property as the owner has died and the children wanted a quick sale. This means that we have a deadline for completition which makes things more stressful.

What do we do now?

Tia

I just can't see why in the world you'd want to live next door to these people. I'd be backing out on that basis.

Absolutely. It beggars belief that anyone would want to live next to people who have done this and could accept starting off neighbourly relations amid such a poisonous atmosphere.

In your place, OP, I would have contacted the auction house the minute I found out what was happening, demanded my fee back on the grounds that the property we had bid on was not the property we were sold. Then I'd have started hunting for a place without completely batshit next door neighbours.

I can't help thinking you're seriously going to rue the day you ever exchanged on this property.

they haven't exchanged yet i think?

Have you read the thread? Even just the OP's posts? 🙄

Drives me nuts does that. Good call out 👍🏻

That sounds really stressful, I'm glad you're on the other side of it now!

With ours there's no chain either side and the property is vacant. We're in no rush from our side so can give them as long as it takes.

Also, from a good place people have mentioned if I want to live with neighbours like this. The thing is apart from this boundary line - there's not much else that would cause issues.

The CFs house isn't directly joint to ours - and they main space garden is further up - in such a way we won't even see them. It's hard to explain.

If you read earlier you'll see that the boundary is a direct line and the CF neighbours haven't moved the whole boundary but have taken a chunk to widen their access to the back. Google maps and the plans show.the boundary has been the straight line for some time. Probably since the property was built.

I have read earlier. Google maps is hardly definitive and plans change over time if people have sold bits off.

And you really think it's coincidence that the neighbours waited until the house was empty, before sale went through to claim "their" land by stealth? 🙄 Bullshit!

This was my immediate thought when I first read the OP, the neighbours took the first possible opportunity to change the boundary to their advantage, immediately the house was empty and before the new owners moved in, in the hope that nobody would notice and they would get away with it. If it was legit, they would have been asking via solicitors to change the title deeds, surely?

This 100% is connected to a probate empty house sale.

It is not uncommon.
It is why people with cop on video clearly the property they bid on during the bidding process.

The video is dated and is a clear proof of it matching the particulars of the property.

CF's like this are the lowest of scum by virture of their clear intention to take advantage of the probate situation.

In the 3 cases that I know about personally, neighbours around the CF's were clearly informed of the hassle and upset they caused, gossip which caused them maximum embarrassment.

Even though some would describe them as shameless, CF's would actually rather their skullduggery wouldn't be exposed.

@MummyToBeAgain1

So have you backed out now?

.

I can imaging them planning their move, waiting for the perfect moment to get a bit more garden. Absolutely pathetic.

Ah, but this is a dispute between the sellers (who now cannot sell until resolved) and the neighbours. Not really anything to do with the buyer 'at this stage' , as if not resolved they won't be buying/moving in.

So neighbours may be fine with the buyers or ignore them. Because neighbours were being CF and know it.

Omg as if the OP’s current stress isn’t enough?! Ridiculous!

Not sure what your intentions are with this question but it maybe comes across more that you are settling in with popcorn in the hope of more drama than from a place of support

How are you going to handle this when you move in OP? Pretend it never happened? Ignore the neighbours? Raise it, saying you’re happy it’s been resolved?

This

I wouldn’t live next to these people without at least working out HOW bad they are. You need to go talk to them and suss out if they are monsters or just ignorant cheeky fuckers. Go knock on the door.

I agree that these people try to take advantage of others.

We bought a house and the seller explained to us that the neighbours tried to put a shed partly onto a shared area and he went round with a crow bar and moved it.

In an ideal world the seller would rally a couple of guys to knock the wall down and return the bricks to the neighbours land (or at least take a lump hammer to it) but for most people it's not that simple. The kind of people that built the wall to steal a strip of land are the same that wouldn't stand for it and would take matters into their own hands I expect.

I can't see any consequence of the owner removing the wall as people can't just build stuff on your land. Obviously there could be a cost to removal or a difficulty in finding people willing to get involved.

I'd cancel the cheque

a double RTFT

Amazing isn’t it. 23 pages in and someone comes along to say ‘speak to the solicitors’. We’d all just been sitting here dribbling.