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. 🙏🏻

Seeing those pictures...that is a permanent fence..not even a marker fence.

They really are trying it on. That's what you bought!

Take @Collaborate advice but I would also suggest you consider taking it higher up with the builder to avoid the legal fight as otherwise the local on site staff might not realise the consequences of starting to rip down your fence.....I assume as well it is yours given you have the posts and all the new builds we have seen the boundary you own tends to be on the right hand side.

So are they suggesting taking away your side entrance? Or are they going to make the fence into some sort of dog leg?

I would contact the builder and tell them that as far as you are concerned it is your fence and your garden, and unless they can prove otherwise no-one is to touch it.

OP some great advice upthread. I'd also advise not accepting (in any capacity) what they are saying in writing or verbally. Don't muddy the waters on where your argument lies. You fully reject what they are saying.

That's the least temporary, temporary fence I've ever seen!

Seems like they fucked up. Looking at the side of the house, I suspect it was only meant to be the width of a standard back gate making the back garden access to both houses even. That now means when they build next door their side path will be too narrow. Not your problem though.

Get a copy of your land registry title deed from the land registry. That will show what’s been registered. There is a small cost but you can do it online and download straight away

@Chloemol

Get a copy of your land registry title deed from the land registry. That will show what’s been registered. There is a small cost but you can do it online and download straight away

and get next door's as well.

Were you not provided with the outline of your plot op?
I didnt use the solicitors when I bought my newbuild as I read online you were better to get your own, and I am glad I did he was really thorough and I knew exactly what I was buying next door neighbours were told part of my plot to the front was theirs by sales staff and were annoyed when they found out otherwise.

But what does your paperwork say? Where is the line on the plan?

We used the property developer’s legal team for the house sale

In the name of all that's holy, why ?

First step is to download the plans for your property and next door from teh Land Registry site. You may well find a conversation with the LR very helpful but 40cm may not be identifiable from the scale of their map. Your registered title may have greater detail on measurements etc.
Notify the solicitors you used on the purchase so that they can inform their insurers if necessary. Use a different solicitor for dealing with this, and use one with a property litigation specialism, not conveyancing - they are different beasts, and you don't want a conveyancer dealing with a dispute.
Bear in mind that if this is a cockup by your developer, you hold some very expensive cards which the builders for next door really need.
If it is a cockup by the conveyancing solicitors, they hold insurance which will cover your patio / furniture / etc costs.

If it is a cockup by the conveyancing solicitors, they hold insurance which will cover your patio / furniture / etc costs.

If they are insured. They've already demonstrated a remarkable dedication to evading ethics by not declining the job in the first place. So from this point, nothing would surprise me.

Warning to casual readers: Never use a solicitor that is acting for the other party as well in a case. It rarely goes well, and when it doesn't you have very little comeback.

jesus, slocombe, I naively assumed that "developer's legal team" meant those recommended by the developer, not the same ones acting on both sides of the transaction. That makes my teeth itch - surely that can't be the case?

@EuroTrashed no I don't think that's legal, I assume she meant recommended not their actual legal team.

[quote user86386427]@EuroTrashed no I don't think that's legal, I assume she meant recommended not their actual legal team.[/quote]
Rule #1 of law is never assume

OP: We used the property developer’s legal team for the house sale

If I have misunderstood, it's because the original information was incorrect.

Doesn't bode well for a thorny issue such as this.

In general, a good solicitor will immediately decline a case based on conflict of interests. But they are plenty of rogue ones that wouldn't. (Because there's little risk involved.).

@ProfessorSlocombe I'm not a lawyer I'm just making an assumption which I think is much more likely to be accurate, I thought it was illegal to use the same team, our EA checked we didn't have the same solicitors as our buyers due to the conflict of interests. Hopefully OP can confirm.

What do the deeds say ? Surely this should be on them ?

I agree that I think a mistake has been made here, however you really need to look at the title plan for your property as that is what is legally registered to you.

If it's any consolation, I've always engaged "reputable" and "independent" conveyancers and had bad experiences.

@ProfessorSlocombe

We used the property developer’s legal team for the house sale

In the name of all that's holy, why ?

Sorry, maybe poor use of communication.

Agree with other poster (💐), we used the ones recommended by the developer (we were moving long distance, it’s our third new build purchase and we’ve never had problems before) 😔

UPDATE: we are covered by Home Insurance. We’ve been assigned a solicitor & they’re 🤯. This is epic failure on both developer’s parts. So many people should identified this error, & have not done their jobs properly!

Eg, if it was our developer that marked the boundary out & got it wrong, the developer didn’t spot it. Both will have signed it off.

Same again with whoever installed the fence which is NOT temporary.

So, we’ve been advised to email our developer informally, summarising our interpretation of the issue, outlining our expectations: they will return to us within ten working days with the options available to resolve this. Each must stipulate timeframes.

Those alluding to us being in a strong position are right, but honestly, I’m just sorry to be managing this on top of everything else.

I’ve done no work today & barely said two words to the kids.

There are so many other things I’d rather be doing than navigating squillionnaire property developer’s fcuk ups! 😓

UPDATE: we are covered by Home Insurance. We’ve been assigned a solicitor & they’re 🤯. This is epic failure on both developer’s parts. So many people should identified this error, & have not done their jobs properly

That's brilliant news. I know it's a shit situation but at least you are covered.
Look at it this way. That 12.6 square metres might just turn out to be worth quite a bit. Especially if that 40cm strip is vital to next doors build.

phew! I hope the outcome makes re-landscaping and new furniture a drop in the ocean of the inconvenience. I wonder whether it's worth tracking the amount of your time that you spend on this? (toggl is abrilliant free time tracker) Just to show how much inconvenience it really has been to you when the financial reckoning comes

Thank you! My PTSD is gang raped, so the non-consensual appropriation of what I think is mine by two powerful developers is hurting.

I can’t afford to be unwell RN. I’ve just started to make progress in building my business. Global pandemic aside, I’m inches away from closing two great contracts.

It’s the poor kids I feel sorry for though too. I’ve still given them zero attention today. 😔

Just to reinforce the point - they cannot come on to your side of the boundary to build the property next door. The Access to Neighbouring Lands Act only applies to repairs and renovations.

Stand firm. Name your price if they ask to be able to put scaffolding on your land.

Also, Land Registry title plans are a general guide. But do they show the boundary as being where the fence is?

Honestly, I just don’t know?! I’m just off the phone to the landscaper and he said they’re having a laugh.

BUT (he’s a builder by trade, we hired him as he could PM the whole thing) he said it’s far easier for them to split the 40cm difference between the works not yet built. (Two homes and then pavement). He highlighted the fence itself was worth £3.5-4K and they’d need a LOT of remedial work to remedy the soil issue we now have, and the concrete in place along the fence (all posts are cemented deep, deep into the ground).

About the width of the ride access - your second photo could be of the side of our new build house too, we have enough width fir a gate and bike/bin passage at the side if we made it so but the fence is closer to the wall on the far side and our neighbours only have about 60cm width.

@Honeypot1 did you get a response from the builders or developers yet?