New build: told 18mo after moved in, our boundary “temporary”

[Honeypot1]

We bought a new build & moved in 18mo ago.
When we purchased, it was nearly constructed. Our choice was made on the strength of its garden size. It’s a large development with two developers & the boundary in question is shared with the other developer.

We used the property developer’s legal team for the house sale. There was no conversation about temporary fences, boundaries or anything that prepared us for the position we now find ourselves in.

Anyway, next door has been the other developer’s car park all this time. They are coming to complete their construction now, so building will soon start to bring us neighbours, not cars.

When we moved in, we spent STUPID money on our garden to landscape it. STUPID money on garden furniture to fit the space. All pre-covid.

Yesterday we were told the fence had always been “temporary”. Now that the other developer needs to start building on their car park, the fence needs to be moved 40cm into our garden for the other house to fit. So along its whole length (31.5m), front to back of house, we’re losing ???. (not sure if im calculating right, despite all this homeschooling 🤣 40cm x 3150cm = 126,000cm = 1,260 square metres?! That seems a lot?!)

We lose planted beds. Our furniture will no longer fit on our gorgeous Indian stone patio. Storage units placed comfortably down the side of the house will no longer be able to be used.

Let alone the disruption of ripping up our garden, replacing fencing whilst we’re all home. 😣 I saw “we”, DH is emergency services keyworker so he’s out a lot.

We now have been surviving (barely) on one income for 6 months (I’m self employed, no Gov support) & more importantly, I’m financially & emotionally tired of fighting. (Long story short, I’ve also got a small claims court case in March as my last & long term client didn’t pay me, hence struggle to readapt to gearing up new clients during covid)

Also, I’ve a #MeToo background of taking on bullies, racists & sexists. But I’m just, you know, tired of fighting 😓 It’s actually a bit of a PTSD trigger. I feel like I’m about to get fcuked & ive no control of the outcome.

So, please mumsnet, hold my hand.
Any legal advice?
I assumed this boundary would have been laid out by one developer’s engineer, approved by the other. The same for the fence installation. The due diligence is both their fault, but now we will have to manage the consequences.

Posting on legal but bumping into AIBU if low on traffic. 🙏🏻

More like 12.6 square m.

Check your deeds for where the boundary was when you bought the house. Something that should've been made very clear to you at the time.

Check your home insurance policy for legal fees cover. A land grab like this will affect the value of your property so counts as something that potentially could be covered.

If there's something in the paperwork that allows them to do this then your solicitor has been negligent and you'd be able to sue them.

Or if there's nothing on paper that says they can grab this land then you need an injunction or something to assert your rights to your garden.

Either way, with any luck the legal costs would hopefully covered by insurance.

I know this won't help you but I think using the 'property developer's legal team' is where these problems can arise, as they often fail to highlight things like this or potential ground rent increases as they are not to the benefit of the seller.

Generally they operate within the law but are really working for the developer's interests not necessarily the purchaser's.

I hope you can resolve it satisfactorily but I think you need to engage a solicitor to get proper indépendant légal advice.
Good luck

Ad above, check your deeds carefully.
Post on the MSE site (Money Supermarket Experts) in the House Buying, Renting and Selling Section. There are some very knowledgeable poster on there.

Check your deeds, you can pay a local surveyor to check physical boundary against redline boundary. Also check the councils planning applications. They will have plans online of the proposed next door house.

It's 0.4 X 31.5 = 12.6m squared.

Even if you use the property developer’s legal team you were still their client. They still have professional duties to you. This would include highlighting if a boundary was temporary.
I would be going back to them and saying you have been told this and this was never told to you during the conveyancing process. What is their understanding of the situation?

Don’t be fobbed off with “oh if you had read everything you would have seen it in the back of...”.

Many thanks! 🥴

Oops, posted too soon!

Many thanks!

🥴🤣 for the mathematicians! I thought that sounded off!

🙏🏻💗 For the home insurance, money saving expert & surveyor advice!

Feeling I know my options & have some control over this really helps. Thank you! 👌

The red line on land registry deeds is not milimetre accurate. So if the boundary fence was in place prior to purchase and corresponding to the red line on your plan you have a good argument that this is your land and their mistake to rectify.

As others have said, raise with your solicitor and also via legal insurance on home insurance.

I’ve no idea if home insurance would pay for this as suggested upthread. Fencing the property in incorrectly sounds really dodgy. I’d be taking this to a solicitor dealing in land boundaries / disputes. You’re not likely to get free advice on this one as it’s a dispute. The cost will be maybe £150 plus vat, ie £180 and letters etc would be on top. If you need a surveyor to come out, measure and ascertain the boundary, I think you are unlikely to get much change out of a thousand pounds, possibly more. It sounds as if the developers have far bigger pockets than you.

If you can, I would get some preliminary advice from a solicitor. It will probably be a telephone consult atm. You can send them the documentation in advance by email so that you’re all set up for the meeting. So I’d get the purchase docs together along with the costs of what you’ve paid for and purchased based on the boundary being 40cm wider and anything else the solicitor advises you to do in advance of the phone meeting.

One thing for sure, if you do not succeed, I’d be looking for financial compensation from the developers / their solicitor for the loss of value to your property. I would want this amount to include having your garden made good with a landscaper of your choice and compensation for the now unusable items purchased. I would also not allow the developer’s contractors to step one foot on your property whilst moving the fence. Who does the boundary fence belong to btw? If it’s yours, they also need to ensure that isn’t damaged.

Red line boundaries on modern estates are accurate, albeit not to mm but should be easier to determine. I've never heard of a temporary boundary before and am wondering if there is some confusion between the legal boundary on the Land Registry documents and the features on the ground i.e. a temporary fence.

First port of call are your legal documents and your house insurer if you have legal cover. They will appoint a panel solicitor if they think you have a good case.

While the boundary is in dispute they won't be able to sell any property abutting the boundary anyway.

Your solicitor wouldn't have personally gone to the site to check the line on the documents matched up with where the fence is - that's your job. Start with the drawing of what you bought. What does that show?

agree with the others. look up the planning permission, land partition of the estate, you and your neighbouring properties deeds (online), your contract of sale, marketing material etc. pay close attention to mentions of boundary or fencing.

what kind of fence is it? a plain builder's fence or a garden fence?

check if the developer needs a party wall agreement as they are building very close to the boundary.

I don't understand why a builder would put in an incorrect boundary even temporarily? More like they have made a mistake.

Examine the deeds and the sale paperwork for any clauses they would do this.

Sadly another example of why it is dangerous using the builders recommended solicitors. They have an incentive to not be very diligent despite law society rules.

Once you have done this take stock and discuss with the builders. Sadly you are likely to need your own legal advice which will cost a lot and something that isn't welcome for you at this time. However not doing so could be costly. At least a solicitor will give you an independent view of your legal position ...if nothing else depending on what your contract says it sounds like it was mis sold

Definitely go back to your solicitor. You were their client regardless. Developers have recommended solicitors in their list for buyers but you are still the client and can expect suitable and independent advice. If the solicitor didn’t advise you correctly re the boundary then follow their complaints procedure, then go to the Legal Ombudsman

Builders do make mistakes on propert deeds. I was buying new build 20 years ago at short notice as developer wanted completion before their year end after a previous buyer pulled out at the last minute. ie in a week from offer accepted to completion. (It was a good price). I didn't need to sell so agreed. My solicitor (also my Dad so had been on site) noticed that the plot marked on the deeds was on the wrong side of the boundary fence to the one we were buying. We still managed to complete within the week although the handover of the house from the builders was another matter entirely.😮.

I think someone has made a mistake here and that the fence was never meant to be temporary. They have just realised that they don't have enough space to build the last house and are clutching at straws. See a solicitor and whilst you may end up in a negotiation to loose a bit of garden you should be adequately compensated for it.

@Mumski45
I suspect you are right, but if the builder has wrongly conveyed a portion of land they didn't intend to, then it is their fault. I think they will struggle to force the Op to give it back

I suspect they realise their mistake and probably haven't admitted to HQ so are trying to resolve locally by just moving the fence and hoping the OP will acquiesce. However, she bought it based on that footprint and frankly all the building sites I've looked at, the first thing that gets laid out are boundary fences to mark each plot out, not just for the builders but also buyers so they can see the boundary. Some are temporary fences and get replaced by brick etc.

take photos of bothe sides of that boundary.
ideally fish out photos when you first saw the property or first moved in.

Pressed return too soon!

It is easily done. Our house is 1970s detached with hedges. Hidden within the hedge is the old marker fence and one one side is clearly wrong compared to the deeds but isn't really a problem for us....is a benefit to us but wouldn't be great for the neighbour if we ripped down a hedge and installed a fence

The fence in place when you bought it is where your boundary is. Check your home insurance for legal cover and instruct a solicitor to advise. Put the builder on notice that they must not move the fence. Take lots of photographs to document the present position of the fence.

The fence hasn’t changed from “Ooh, look how big this plot’s garden is!” (sales team), to now.

It’s cemented in.

Same fencing as that at the back of our property (also a boundary with the other developer)

It’s freehold.

It looks like Home Insurance won’t cover legal fees 😨

the fence posts are on your side, indicating (not proving unfortunately) that it is your fence.

Have you got the drawings with boundaries to hand?