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

Better to spend a few pennies and get a solicitor to do it. With the promise that if this cannot be resolved you’ll be instructing barristers and the costs would be reduced satiated to he 50k - payable by the losing party. Make sure the case is out that the deeds are clear.

you could also get a signed statements from other neighbours who’d probably be happy to dob in the CF.
we used all these weapons against our own CF. And the boundary is now in its rightful place.

if you can be arsed of course. It’s exhausting dealing with these people

…. But sweet when you win

Why were the vendors concerned about you changing the deeds at the Land Registry? Surely it makes no difference to them? If it were me I'd be happy to leave it to you as the buyers, rather than just give the land to the neighbours.

This is why I said upthread that I think the sellers have also been CF. Made it OP’s issue to resolve. Potentially the seller is in cahoots with the neighbour too, maybe they even sold the land cash in hand, saying ‘it’s an auction property and there’ll be no time to fix it/we won’t be inclined to fix it.’ The seller’s unwillingness to take ownership of the problem seems off to me.

Helloo

I'm back again - due to speak to the neighbour in the next few days. I did go around today but seemed like no one was in! Or maybe were avoiding me?

On a side note, does anyone have a water meter? If so, what would you say are the benefits of having one? Is there something you don't like about them?

Tia

We have a water meter and have never had any problems; I prefer to pay for what we actually use.

I think the received wisdom is if there are more bedrooms than people in the household, a water meter is the way to go.

I like my (smart!) water meter but that's because my water use is very low - only 2 adults and I rarely water the garden (treat 'm mean - the plants). If there are more of you and you regularly wash cars, water the garden, fill ponds and swimming pools - don't have a meter.

It was some time back now, but during college and Uni I worked part time for United Utilities. The general guidance was based around number of bathrooms, people in the household (particularly children) and habits such as washing cars/watering lawns etc.

If you have a number of school aged kids, with lots of washing of school uniforms etc, prefer baths over showers and usually wash your car every weekend with a hose, it will likely be more expensive to move to a metered supply vs being on a rateable value.

I suggest calling your local water company as they will be able to give you the latest guidance, pros and cons etc. Although just be aware, similar to smart meters for gas and electricity, water companies do seem to be pushing the adoption of meters more and more - I think due to regulatory pressures, encouraging customers to use less to conserve water for security of future supply and to get better visibility of supply issues (e.g. leaks) so they can intervene sooner and save themselves getting hit again with multimillion pound fines!

I’m happy with our water meter. We use water when we need - we flush our toilets every time; at least three showers (power shower) are taken every day (3 adults); washing machine 4/5 times a week; dishwasher everyday; automatic irrigation system in the garden; flush tanks with water changes…..

BUT our bill is still lower than my neighbours in identical house on old water rates system!

Interested to see how meeting them pans out.

Have you exchanged & completed now?

We live in a very expensive area for water. The water rates were massive and our water bill approx halved when we switched to a meter. It's gone up massively since - we are home a lot more, the small children are now teens who no longer share bathwater. But the meter and rated charges are designed to motivate you towards a meter, and we had many years of saving hundreds of pounds a year by switching.

When we switched you could switch back again in the first 2 years. I don't know if this is still the case.

When I switched last year, I was told I could switch back within the first year if the bills were higher. As it turned out, they were about one third lower. We have the same number of bedrooms as people.

For a bit of fun, here is a water meter calculator www.ccw.org.uk/save-money-and-water/water-meter-calculator/

I believe that in most places you have to have a meter when the bill payer changes

I’ve only seen this thread today and became very invested in the outcome.
I was very disappointed.

10k seems like a very small reduction, especially if you are expected to pay for land reg. Obviously this reduction is dependant on the value of your property, but regardless it seems low.

The amount of land that has been stolen is actually very large.

I am very happy you have the property of your dreams but I am concerned this will cause you more issues in the future.

Any news, @MummyToBeAgain1 ?

@MummyToBeAgain1 Did you finally sort this out?
Have you moved in?

Going to guess this all fizzled out @MummyToBeAgain1 ?