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

Absolutely.

NOthing helpful to add except get to a lawyer ( or conveyancer) soon as and sorry but I can only give your diagram 1/10 because I can't work out what the 3 fat fingers in the right hand corner are. Good luck

Me too please!! 🍿🍿🍿

Except that this is an auction property, which means that the OP has exchanged. Exchange happens on the fall of the gavel.

Unless this is one of those ridiculous modern auctions. In which case the OP may not have exchanged, but will have paid a hefty fee of
many thousands of pounds. This fee will be lost if the OP doesn’t complete within the set deadline.

@MummyToBeAgain1
They do sound like chancers... But , that said, where I live our neighbours long ago and before we moved in , did similar.
We couldn't do anything because it was too long ago .
I'm truth it did sour relations as it makes access to our garden difficult.
But over the years this was the only problem and we are on cordial terms .
It may not be too bad living next to them.
And , if a loss of 2' wide strip wouldn't impact you much maybe the vendors could sell it to them and knock that amount of your purchase.

OP your solicitors are going to take forever to start looking at this so there is zero point in delaying asking them to start!

the only thing I would say is again to maybe not get too carried away with how awful they might be. I know loads of people who would take the opportunity of an empty property and having a new fence to steal a few inches. They would just do it as the opportunity arises and hope for the best. If they got caught out they’d just move it back

I was thinking more if their reaction was going to be absolute shock or something more resigned.......

Hmm, looks like my username might apply to your new neighbours!

This type of complete shenanigans would drive me crazy OP! Get tape measuring and keep us updated, I’m invested now!

Awaiting the updates this afternoon!

I'd also think there would be other signs you may pick up on when visiting the property, as to whether the neighbours will make your life miserable. There are different types of bad behaviour. I think I'd rather live next to someone who tried this than someone who smoked weed all day or made an unreasonable amount of noise. I might not leave valuables out where they could get at them (though a person who tries to shave a foot or two before property changes hands won't necessarily be the same type to swipe things with their own two hands), but I doubt they'll try to move the fence when you're on holiday. It's not like you wouldn't notice as soon as you returned home!

Are you sure you haven't exchanged already? Usually with auction properties, you exchange the minute the hammer falls and that's why you have to read the legal pack really clearly as you have exchanged. Completion is then normally 28 days after the hammer falling although this can be negotiated in some cases for longer.

You can speak to the neighbours though and ask them about the new fence line. You can also show them the deeds for the house you are buying and query the location of the new fence if its obviously wrong. If the neighbours deeds are different they should be willing to show you. If they refuse or are difficult you at least know who you will be living next to. Sometimes if people have lived next door to an unmaintained property for a long time then there can be a back story - they may have had to put up with a lot. There is nothing wrong with meeting the neighbours for a chat before you buy. Just leave the legal stuff to the solicitors but see if you can get any info out of them. Its going to be much quicker for you to talk to them than wait for lawyers to write to everyone.

Perhaps the NDN bought this strip of land from the vendors.

but that assumes that the legal pack is giving correct information?

If you haven't exchanged contracts yet - the fact is that part of the property you are planning to buy has been stolen. You are not unreasonable to require that the current owner obtains full possession of the property before you exchange contracts.

But I thought that the terms of an auction are that you are deemed to have exchanged contracts the moment the final hammer falls in the auction, and that part of the fees for participating in the auction include insurance because even if the house burns down on the auction day, you are still obliged to buy at the agreed price (and then claim on that insurance)

So it comes down to what is the actual contractual status?

Well, actually, you have some comeback. If, for example, the fireplace has been listed on the fixtures and fittings list (which is a legal document), and the vendors have taken it with them, you can demand its return. Likewise, if the neighbours help themselves to part of the garden, you can dispute this too post exchange/completion — the deeds show the boundary line(s) and that’s the land you’re buying, despite where the neighbours have decided to encroach.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea to check though, as you say.

Apologies, not RTFT. Could they buy it from you?

If they are going to be horrible, fast forward two years and you might wish you could pay £10k to be out of there

DO NOT EXCHANGE.

Probably run away screaming.

I suggest that it might be worth talking to the local police to see if they are aware of any disputes involving the neighbours

I would now be trying to get out of the sale altogether and to recoup the £10K on the basis of this. It's clear the neighbours will be trying all sorts if they have done this in the run up to the sale. In a way you are lucky it has come to light before you take on ownership.

The seller will want this resolved just as quickly as you but this is their problem to sort before you complete. If it looks like it’s going to drag on, then i’d get commitment from them that they will cover all costs associated with the boundary dispute and replacement of the original wall even after the sale completes.

Although, there is something to be said for claiming ignorance, moving in and then pulling the fence down and replacing the walk and just saying to the neighbour, “Oh, what so you mean that was your fence? It’s in the middle of the garden i just bought so came with the sale, we took it down to fix the wall and maintain the correct boundary.” And let them try and take action… because they can’t, they’d have to admit they tried to steal land and erected a fence in your garden.

Don’t be surprised if your solicitor is of no help whatsoever

Given how committed you seem, I think your options are to ask sellers to resolve in advance of exchange or demand a discount to compensate for you dealing with the dispute.

You should be able to get a free consultation with a boundary dispute surveyor who can explain how this can be resolved and the likely time and costs involved.

What a pain for you. If they'd taken a foot or so off the bottom of a long garden perhaps it wouldn't be worth arguing about, but the space at the side is important. Which is presumably why they nicked it. I agree: get on to your solicitor and be willing to take the fence down yourselves if the neighbours don't apologise and move it. Good luck.

I would also be concerned that there may be undeclared disputes with the neighbours and raise the point that the vendors may not be telling the truth on the auction paperwork

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

Honestly 10k will be a drop in the ocean if you continue with this purchase and then have an ongoing boundary dispute over a known issue so probably won't be able to claim in any insurance to cover costs. This could affect future re sale and quality of life as these neighbours are potentially showing you what they are like. Definitely do not continue for the sake of 10k now.