To be annoyed that neighbours have stolen a foot of my garden?

[LeopardPrintFleece]

I live in a mid terrace cottage with a long narrow garden. I recently had some work done on the roof and the roofer commented that the boundary of our garden is different to where the roofs join - it’s obvious when you look.

Turns out that before I lived here neighbours had a conservatory built so decided to borrow a foot of my garden so that it would fit.

I’ve no idea why this never came up on a survey and there’s clearly not much I can do now but AIBU to be annoyed that my quite small garden should actually be a foot wider?

In a previous house, there were 'boundary hedges' with a few trees. The trees were mostly on my side. The neighbours had clearly re-routed a flimsy fence that was hidden within the hedge, so that a cherry tree was on their side of it. The house had been empty for three months before I moved in, so perhaps they did it then.
The tree then fell down in a storm, smashing up their conservatory. I was quite heppy that it was so obviously 'their' tree.

This happened to me and all the comments here are wrong as you can do something about it now ( depending on how long it is since it happened)

It will cost you thousands in solicitors fees but if they have 'stolen' land that doesn't belong to them you can get it back if you have deep enough pockets.

I was the neighbour in your scenario and before I moved in ( so more than 30 years ago) the boundary was changed by someone putting up a new fence. So my house 'stole' 6 inches from next door. So believe me I know all the law on this as it consumed my life for over 6 months. Suffice to say my neighbour (who had just bought the house) got his 6 inches back.

The Garden Law website and forum will help you with the legalities. But in the first instance you can get a specialist RICS boundary surveyor to do a survey of the boundary.

Boundary disputes are absolutely notorious to be an total pain. I ended up moving from my beloved home.

It must have been 10-15 years ago so way before my time (I've been here for 5). I do have some paperwork particularly as the neighbour has right of access across my garden and then we both have access across the third property in the terrace but the boundary never came up.

@Alicorn1707 wow and that was only a foot as well 😳

You have two choices. Yo ucan either forget about it and get on with living there.

Or you can take action, consult the plans and then a solicitor. You could take legal action and potentially force your neighbour to rectify the situation, demolishing the conservatory if necessary. But expect that road to be very epxneisve and to spend the next 2 years having arguments with the neighbour.

But if the house and garden (and conservatory) were like that when you viewed and bought the house, what difference can it make to you now? Your garden is as it's always been as far as you know. If the deeds don't show any irregularities then you just carry on as you have been.

Over the hundreds of years my cottage has been standing, all kinds of nonsense could have gone on with our boundaries - my house has the smallest and narrowest garden of the four. But I bought it like that so I'm not going to go on an expensive trawl through old documents to try to prove something that doesn't make any difference.

So you need to check your deeds first, OP, but, as others have said, be prepared for it to be very expensive if you decide to do anything about it.

Ok, so with the right of access there is no time frame limit as there is no exclusive use. That is the exact reason I ended up 'giving back' 6 inches after 30 years

If you want the land back you'd have a case. And the whole legal thing is like a game of chicken, costs rack up very quickly. My neighbour was wealthy and was not going to stop (which would have cost us more and more money trying to defend his claim)

If you put a post in Garden Law forum there are surveyors etc who reply who know what they're talking about

And just to add, the deeds mean fuck all in a boundary dispute as the scale means that the pencil line denoting the boundary can represent over a foot. So when it's small amounts of land in dispute the deeds don't help, especially in old properties.

Do you want to fall out with your neighbours over a small bit of garden? Really?

That does depend on the plan. Some plans have very clear points of reference which can assist. When I was a trainee solicitor many, many years ago we had to be extremely careful with drawing on the coloured lines to ensure we didn't create plan anomalies. I can recall telling my parents that my infant school colouring in skills had come in very useful.

You just couldn't make it up! The repeated similar photos and comments got me.
She is obviously known for being a bit of a cow locally.

I was just trying to clear up the 'just look on the deeds and that will sort it' comments. It's not as simple as that as I know to my cost.

Old properties, as this is, tend to have deeds without measurements etc.

No I have no intention of doing anything about it, I'm not rich plus peace and a good relationship are worth more to me. I'm just a bit gobsmacked that a) they went ahead and did it and b) the partner then told mine as though it was no big deal!

If the roof line doesn’t match the boundary line because their conservatory crosses the boundary then surely part of their conservatory is also attached to your house? That’s a bigger problem and I’m surprised your surveyor didn’t pick that up.

We had similar at our old house. There were two areas in our garden where it was never established who owned them 🙄 Then, our neighbours in the attached semi definitely stole some land when they built an extension, knocked down the party wall and started chopping up our patio.

I would take a foot back at the end of the garden just wait till they’re out for the day and move the fence, cheeky fucks!

No I think it's that the conservatory would have been right up against the fence so in terms of assembling it and then living in it they clearly wanted that extra foot.

Sounds like your roofer enjoys stirring things up.

Ah, I see. Honestly I’d want to get this sorted out - either by having them move their fence back to the correct position on the boundary, or arranging to sell them the land they’ve taken and have it formally recorded on the property title. It’s not just about being annoyed about a foot of your garden width, you know that your neighbour has taken part of your garden and as such this is now something you’ll have to declare when you sell your property - you can’t conceal the fact that you know (and even if you did, as your neighbour has been so open in admitting it, they’re equally going to tell any future new owner that you were aware.)

Is there a brick fire wall between the properties?

No just a wooden fence then the glass conservatory which I think may be brick at the base.

This would mean the title plan is incorrect and needs correcting with land registry. It could become an issue on re sale if anyone questions it. I’d let it go but request the neighbours pay for new title plans for yours and their properties to put records straight with land registry.

I’d make sure they have something in writing to say if the conservatory is torn down then you get your land back.

Yes the reality is that you have god grounds for proposing that the land is sold to them and the land registry documents then updated. They should pay all the costs. Otherwise it could cause significant issues for both you and your neighbours when either party comes to sell. Particularly since you are now on notice of the problem. I would tell them that you are prepared to do this (for a few thousand pounds plus your costs covered) or else the other option is that they can reinstate the fence into the correct position.

You could say to your neighbour that you feel awkward about knowing this as it may give you future problems when selling. Ask him what he thinks can be done to avoid that. He might reveal something he hasn’t said before regarding the previous owners knowledge of it.

I think you need legal advice.
What if either of you want to sell?