Seller completed TA6 incorrectly over boundary issues and possible overhang

[NotChained]

Hi just wondering what people's thoughts are on a TA6 being filled out incorrectly.

We moved into a detatched property, it is surrounded by large hedges and greenery.

We had a 15 minute viewing, mostly inside with a brief look out the garden and front.

When we moved in I have noticed that the fences are irregular. When I tried to access either side of my property I am unable to. One side has a utility built up to boundary. The other has a hedge and behind it a fence but rather than following the plan in a straight line a fence cuts off access down the side of my property.

The back fence is also not aligned with the side back fence. The Ta6 said there was no overhangs but the utility room gutters overhang onto next doors property so I would never be able to access this without going onto next doors land and there is nothing in place for this.

The seller was asked if any boundary features had been moved they ticked no despite:

Removing a boundary hedge, placing it in what I believe to be the wrong place and not lining it up with the back fence.

I spoke to the neighbour they think it's in the wrong place too and this could be cause for dispute which the seller ticked no to. He was told that's just the way it had to be and deal with it.

The seller has come back and said they removed the hedge and could see the old fence so they knew where it was so ticking no to any features moved was wrong. The seller also said they trimmed all the hedges so would have known ahout the fence cutting off land behind the hedge.

None of this was visible at viewing without crawling behind hedges or peering over fences.

None of the fences line up with some cutting off land, some being further in and some being out of the boundary line.

The seller marked on the Ta6 form

Are you aware of any boundary features being moved: no
Do any parts of your property overhang the boundary: no
Are you aware of anything that may lead to a dispute: no

However there could be a dispute if I try to move the fences, the property does overhang and they were aware of fences sitting within the boundary and moved a boundary feature themselves.

The seller has frustrated me leaving the property in a dirty state that took two days to deep clean, not among good replacement lighting leaving holes in ceiling and the light flickering, the oven was so bad I had to replace it as it was so dirty and not working. But I looked past them as minor as I was decorating anyway, but even stupid things like service done late and benchmark booklet not filled voiding warranty have annoyed me.

The seller then lied and said I visited the property multiple times so had plenty of chance to spot this and ask, which is also untrue.

Did your survey pick any of this up?

I don’t think they have said anything wrong. They could see the fencing as it was and had not created a dispute. By “property overhanging” that usually refers to structural things like guttering or roof eaves jutting over the boundary. Have you got the deeds and any pictures to clarify what you mean?

@LIZS yes but they have ticked no to overhang and there is guttering and eaves overhanging the boundary. With relation to the fencing they were asked if they were aware of any boundary features being moved, that should have been ticked yes as they moved one, and the rest are not on the actual boundary line cutting off access to part of my land to maintain which they have admitted they knew about as they knew where the original fence was. I agree the dispute could be a bit of a stretch there isn't an open dispute, but the boundary being off could lead to a dispute.

Did they move anything or was it a previous owner? Surely some of this was obvious visually on your viewing, did you really only go once?

@LIZS yes they did move boundary features, we went once as it was a very quick sale we were both chain free and it was done in a few weeks. Not obvious at viewing lots of greenery, unless you went under a massive hedge or peered over fencing to see the actual boundary. As a buyer surely I wouldn't be expected to crawl under large hedges to check the fence is in the right place, or walk the boundary line with a tape/peer over fences to make sure they all line up. This is beyond what I saw at a viewing, buyer beware does not apply here as the seller has falsely filled out the TA6 form.

I don’t really understand - has the fence been put in at angles so you have less garden than you should? If they’ve just followed the fence line with the hedge that seems ok?

I’m finding your OP confusing. It sounds like the hedge you are calling a ‘boundary hedge’ had a fence running behind it? If the fence runs along the boundary then the hedge was use a hedge surely.
Any chance of either photos, a diagram or a plan to show what the situation is. Is the boundary clear on your deeds? Do you own the fences?
Have you looked on historical aerial shots on Google Earth.

But the overhang should have been evident. Did you not look at the legal paperwork showing the plot and boundaries then query that it did not match the alignment you had seen? Are the vendors the first owners as if not they might have inherited the fence and hedge.

It's very confusing so sorry if it doesn't make a lot of sense, imagine a big 6/7 ft hedge hedge running down the property, behind that is a fence that follows the boundary line that fence is following a straight line right up to the property then sharply angles in cutting off access as the property is fairly close to the boundary line. You could see the fence behind the hedge running straight. However when I went to trim back a tree I then discovered a fence at an angle attacued to my property cutting off access so rather than going in a straight line it cuts in at an angle. My title plan shows straight lines and you can see the actual line it should have followed. On the other side another large hedge has been removed, the fence has been placed in the wrong place, and the fences don't line up with one being further in than the other, but again we only discovered this when we trimmed back vegetation.

This is where it get confusing. In some places I have no access to my land at all as the fence is cutting it off. In some places I've lost access to part of what should be my garden, and in others the fence is actually taking some of the neighbours garden. Basically the whole boundary at the front, down each side and at the back is wrong in one way or another.

Can you annotate a copy of your title plan as it is not making much sense where you say it cuts off access. Have you gone back to your solicitor?

@LIZS I was aware the utility room was right up to the boundary, but didn't realise due to the hedge on the other side of the property that there was a fence blocking access. It wasn't until we started cutting back vegetation we noticed every fence was in the wrong place. The seller has admitted to knowing about the lack of access, the seller has admitted to knowing the fences were not in the right place and said if you go behind the fence you can see the old fence. That surely makes their answers incorrect on the Ta form?

Hindsight is a great thing but to be honest I wasn't thinking at viewing you know what why don't I crawl behind a 6ft hedge to make sure the fence was in the right place, or pulling back vegetation to make sure the fences aligned. I would expect the seller to answer the forms truthfully and thought it would just be part and parcel that everything was in the right place. Maybe I'm too naive and trusting 🤷🏻‍♀️ I've never had this issue before.

If you can see the original fence can’t you just remove the one on front?

@LIZS so I'm not overly worried about that fence, I don't think I would have issues removing that fence and placing it correctly. What I have issue with is the whole boundary will need a survey as its all wrong. All the fencing will need replacing which I don't feel I should have to foot the bill for as the seller was dishonest.

And the fence that is blocking access on the other side the neighbours are using this as their garden so if I try to reclaim this is may end up with a dispute.

A boundary survey and fencing will be expensive. Then what if there are neighbour disputes when I try to mvoe the fences back into the right place.

Have you contacted your conveyancers about this yet? They would be able to advise if you have any legal recourse here. Or maybe your home insurance provides legal support.

@WonderingWanda yes the sellers just gave a lot of excuses but admitted to filling the forms incorrectly.

I've been advised about litigation but not sure if it's worth it, but it's just really frustrating to have forms you rely on to be completely false. I do have legal on my home insurance I haven't investigated if they will cover it yet.