This can't be right, can it?

[NotSayingImBatman]

Bought a house 18 months ago from a developer. It's become apparent that they've given the neighbour a strip of my garden roughly 1ft x 20ft.

They've admitted this, in an email but have said it is "within tolerance", they won't correct the mistake and tough tittie to me.

Surely, SURELY, if I paid for the plot as outlined with the land registry, they're obliged to actually, you know, provide me with that plot? Anyone know if this could have repercussions when I come to sell?

Have you spoken to your neighbour?

I have no expertise at all but you might be better posting in property with a title that reflects the substance of your post. Not a criticism, someone in the know could very well miss your question.

Or post in legal ?
I wouldn't be happy

If the land registry says it's yours then it's yours right? Why would they do that?

Do you mean that they've put the fence 1ft into your garden?
Can you just move it back a foot?

Well we would cakes nut the neighbours have built a patio flush with it. Understandably, the thought of having part of their patio dismantled irks them somewhat.

I've asked the builder to move the fence and put right the neighbours patio but nope. Within tolerance. Quite who's tolerance I'm not sure, I certainly don't feel particularly tolerant about it.

I was under the impression that land registry titles aren't actually definitive to that kind of distance because of the scale used. They might only be accurate to 2-3m depending on the scale used, thickness of the lines of the plan etc.

So what the developer is trying to tell you is that the difference between where you think the boundary should be and where it is is less than the accuracy of the plans so the plans don't actually disagree with where the boundary is.

It would be unlikely you'd be able to get the developers to move the fence without spending a buttload of money on solicitors. And even if you won you'd have to declare a boundary dispute when you came to sell which would affect your property price.

But the developers have said the fence is in the wrong place. It should sit flush with the gable end of my house, but actually sits a foot down the wall. The houses are detached, there was literally NO reason for them to put the fence where they did.

I suspect that if it technically matches the plans (because a 1ft difference in position won't show on plans) then no they don't have to change it even if their original intentions were to put the fence in line with the gable end.

To be honest though, the best person to ask would be the solicitor who handled your property transaction. They'll be able to give you an idea about any legal ramifications when you come to sell and how much it would cost to challenge the boundary.

I work for a major house builder. If this were us, it would be put right. I can't see how a foot in width can be within any tolerance. Deffo speak to the sols but I would escalate it with the house builder and use Twitter if necessary. This makes the company I work for jump.

Thanks peoplepleaser that's useful to know. They have a facebook page as well so might utilise that as well.

Good morning everyone

The OP has asked us to move this to the Legal matters board so we'll be doing that very shortly.

Was the fence in place when you exchanged contracts with the developer? If so, you need to speak with your solicitor asking why they didn't query the issue. If not, they should be able to help you and direct you to the best way to a resolution.

Sounds as though the developer is fobbing you off. They don't want to incur any costs. Get your solicitor on to it.

It's not for the solicitor to have raised. It's for you to have raised. No one these days pays the solicitor to do a site inspection. They should at some stage have sent you a plan and asked you to confirm that that's in accordance with what's on the ground.

Are there any builders plans that are more accurate? Often there will be more detailed plans of the house showing where the boundary should be.

I suspect what happened is that the fencing contractor made a mistake. The builder should get it corrected. They will have to liaise with your neighbours though.

This happened to me. I didn't even notice. The builders flagged it up themselves and insisted on correcting it so it reflected the plans. Neighbours weren't pleased but the developer said they didn't want issues later down the line if either of us came to sell.