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

And sacrifice a £20k deposit?

before exchange no deposit to lose

Fascinating thread.

You've done most of the hard work by getting evidence of the land grab as it happened.

I'd be reclaiming the land on day one. The issue with your agreement with the Sellers is that you could have asked them to commit to act as witnesses - that the land was grabbed. If, as you say, you've agreed to hand over the land to the CFs (not that the Sellers will enforce it) then they have no interest in supporting your claim. I don't think you'd have much trouble getting the land back anyway.

You will still have bought the land including the disputed strip.

The family members may not live nearby and were letting the Estate Agent handle it all, and unless they've got viewings, an Estate Agent isn't going to be keeping a close eye on the place. I'd be willing to bet the CFs made their move the minute the "Sold" sign went up. At least the OP got a reduction fairly easily and is now in the home they wanted.

Auction property, deposit already paid and yes would be forfeit if op pulled out.

You're right, I've checked. Just the nearly £10k auction fee.

We can't back of from buying the property because we'll lose the nearly £10k auction fee we've paid. March 26 10:02

Not everyone can afford to lose that much money. Glad you're in a position to write that much off.

Rather than live next to people like that, any day. If it's a forever house I'd just think of it as spread over the time we lived there. And with a change in boundary she'd have had a decent chance of getting it back.

Fuck me! Nearly £10k loss? Lucky you! It takes people years to save that much. Maybe the OP would not be able to afford a deposit for a new purchase if they lost that much. Or didn't that occur to you?

Much better to buy it then put it up for sale again immediately.

The boundary had changed. She likely wouldn't have lost it.

It's not as easy as asking for the 10k back because of this boundary issues. It would be a whole process to verify our claim and would take time. We don't have time right now because we need to leave the property we're at in the next few weeks. We can't afford to take that risk.

In regards to whether the change has been made legally, I've no idea. It hasn't yet been changed on Land Reg though? Also, alot of the communication was between me - auction person - sellers sol. The final email was sent from the sellers sol to my sol confirming they acceptance.

Also, I don't intend to take it back because I'm happy with the price reduction.

Maybe move then when they're on holiday take the land back and post a photocopy of the relevant bit of the deeds through their door.

It was fantastic quality built on strong foundation, proper post installation and bracing. It must have easily cost them a few thousand to put up. It would take some effort and cost to take out and then put in again.
I think the sellers and agent instantly realised this and using the court would take months and further cost so it wasn't worth it for them.

I've no idea what the sellers will do moving forward. I very much doubt it because they wanted a quick sale!

@MummyToBeAgain1 look, the vendor just wanted the sale to go through so he reduced the price!! it is now up to you once the property belongs to you, to go ahead and reclaim the land which has been stolen! no money needs to be returned to the vendor if you do this!! just do it and stand up for yourself!! you know they stole it and you are letting them off by going on about 10k. the money side is nothing to do with the cf neighbour. he hasnt paid the vendor 10k!!!

What I don’t understand is why they would convey to the neighbours who stole it. They can give you the price reduction for the loss of amenity to that strip of land. Doesn’t mean it isn’t yours still though. Ultimately it doesn’t make any sense for them to give that land away.

Sucks to be the land stealers if they spent that much on a fence in the wrong spot. Please take your land back from them @MummyToBeAgain1 . Don’t let them get away with it. It’s your land and you know it and they know it. What’s next? Your backyard?

Get a chainsaw and cut the posts off at ground level. Fuck them. It’s on your land therefore it’s your fence.

FFS everyone - OP is happy with the outcome - we need to let go of the idea that the CF's must pay.

We all know life isn't fair - acceptance is key.

Let's stop hassling OP to have a grievance with them when the better choice is to enjoy the excitement of moving to her dream home.

Look, everyone, OP is happy with the outcome and has given you all an update. Stop trying to give her a downer.
Well done for holding your nerve and steering the right people through the right course. I'd just make the fence between you and the neighbour nice and tall and never think of them again.
Until they want to sell their property, then find a way of dropping a few hints to potential buyers about what happened....

The world is full of CFers (we had one who did a very similar thing when we were selling. The buyers are perfectly happy with the outcome, the neighbour is still a CF, but they're not allowing him to live rent free in their heads).

I’m pleased you have come to an arrangement you’re happy with.
I think however, that you’re being incredibly naive and this will come back to haunt you. This will not be the first incident choosing to live next door to these CFs
Good luck in your new home 🏡

OP's had a hell of a 6 weeks or so. Land grabs are an absolute nightmare to resolve and very difficult to win as the injured party. She kindly updated with the pragmatic resolution and she's had pages of people telling her to ignore all the legal stuff she has been sweating over for weeks, pocket the money and kick off the whole dispute again. This could easily cost her many thousands, and make her house more difficult to sell to boot, potentially without a very high prospect of winning, and return her to high levels of stress about her own home for many months.

Yes it's shitty, no it's not fair, and no I don't think I'd want to live next to these people either. But the vendors have still realised a lot of money from the sale and OP has still bought her dream house with a still large garden. They have picked pragmatism, and I imagine they now know a lot more about the legal process and what is practically, economically enforceable than most of us on this thread now.

Congratulations OP. Enjoy the dream house.

Change the land reg to reflect what you own- DO NOT add the strip you lost to the neighbour.

In future, the seller could use the strip against the CF neighbour, or let it cause them trouble when they want to sell and the docs don’t match up.

It isn’t your place to add the strip to the neighbour’s plot. Simply to remove it from yours.

How much was the price reduction as a percentage of the price of the house?

I don’t think you should change the land registry either. But I do think you should give the sellers a few quid back when you have established ownership- nothing like the full amount of the price reduction, just a gesture, they were had

It's no problem if you don't intend to take it back, but you DO need to work out exactly what has gone on, and you don't seem sure at the moment. Has the land been sold to the CF (for a nominal fee)? have the sellers given an license to the CF to squat on the land? are you legally obliged to update the land registry post-sale (i.e. has this been written into the sales contract)? has the process already started at the land registry? could you do nothing for now, and then in the future when you have the appetite start the process to get your land back, etc etc? You need to know the exact position of the property you are buying before you sign the contract.

Without knowing, you have no idea the implications of this moving forwards which could affect the value of your property - for example lots of us here are super cautious and would not buy a house whose boundary was different to that shown on the title deeds, or (even if the boundary was updated in the CF's favour) got a whiff that this was achieved through a land grab. It reduces the pool of buyers for your property, thus affects the value.

"The day you buy is the day you sell"

The quality of the fence and difficulty moving it isn’t your problem, it’s the CFs’.

I do not understand giving up actual property that you rightfully own. To thieves. It seems incredibly passive.

The sellers cannot stipulate that you cede to a third party part of the land you legally purchased.

All of this weeks of faff basically accomplished nothing other than a price reduction. The boundary dispute still exists.

It might be prudent to find out who the current insurance is held with and stay with them for continuity… I foresee future issues with the your CF neighbours.