Purchasing house… boundary issues!

[HRR107]

We are in the process of buying our dream forever home. We have run in to a couple of snags and we aren’t far from exchange. Things have got a bit muddled in translation so this is only just flagging up now.

Basically the house we are buying is on a plot that used to be very large and was split in to two. The other part of the land got sold off around 15 years ago. When they sold the land, the title was split in to two different colour sections. When I examined the title plan, I could see that an outbuilding that the sellers told us is the neighbours, is actually sitting on our land and taking up quite a bit of room on our driveway, which is small to begin with. So we could really use that extra land. We went for a second viewing and they told us that this had been an error when plans were drawn and they are arranging for a transfer over to the neighbours for it to be changed to their land. They worded it as if it was a done thing and we didn’t really have a say. That was that. We wasn’t too pleased but really want the house so swallowed it. Now we have been sent the revised plans to agree to and they are now trying to add a walkway alongside the outhouse within our boundary so they can access the gate next to it. All I really want to know is, can we dispute this transfer of land or do we not get a say?

There is more however! In the title it shows that they have right of way onto our land to another gate that leads to their garden, whenever they want. We were planning to put up a security gate with intercom and we believe we now won’t be able to do that as we would be hindering their access? We have spoken to the estate agent to ask the sellers if they would be willing to change this, but they aren’t willing to and apparently our solicitor can’t do anything unless they agree?

Pushing the boundary back isn’t an option as the driveway is tiny already. I don’t know if I should fight this or just allow it? I don’t want to start on a horrible note with the neighbours but at the same time the sellers seem to be allowing everything the neighbours want, and we aren’t happy with this. What to do in this situation?!

Thank you to anyone who has any advice on this kind of thing 😊

I’d be tempted to walk away. The neighbours won’t like you if they don’t get their own way.

Walk away if you don’t like the new plans or demand a reduction

I second this. Put your final proposal to the seller but on the full condition you will walk away. But be prepared to walk away. Is it really the house you want if it now has all these conditions attached and no walkway?

The only way in which you have a say is by walking away if you don't like the proposed arrangement.

Walk away in fact run!

Unless you would be happy with it as drawn up at a (much) lower price.

It’s not your house- the current owners can do what they want. Equally you can say “well if you do x, y and z we’re not interested, sorry”.

But in reality wasn’t this all agreed ages ago when the land was split? Won’t the current plans just be reflecting what was agreed (and paid for!) at the time? In which case I’d imagine that your chances of getting it changed are slim (obviously still try if you like the place).

In the title plan the land is shown as our land, so I think we can happily dispute this? As for the right of way, I think that will be very hard for us to fight against unless they agreed to allow it unfortunately.

If the right of way is on the title then it exists and you can't reject it. The only way is to buy the right of access from the neighbours and have the title redrawn. But if the neighbours won't sell it then there's nothing you can do. You do indeed need to keep the right of way open and accessible at all times and not block it.

How often will they/ do they use it? I bought a house where my neighbour had right of way through my garden, it was never used apart from once in 20 years. We bought it from him eventually- too risky for when new neighbours arrive.

Thanks everyone. We’ve been quite timid in saying things as we have never done this before but I think we need to put our foot down a bit and maybe prepare ourselves to the possibility we may have to walk away. It took us over a year to find this house and the only reason we are so keen is it is such a rarity where we are to find anywhere with land. Which it has to the rear of the house. The front driveway is so tiny, it just seems silly in comparison and I do believe will bring down the value of the house in the future.

Honestly, I know it will hurt but walk away. 🚶‍♀️

I thought this would be the case. It seems they use it quite regularly, as they use the access to get their ride on mower through to cut their grass. Is this something we can talk to the estate agent about renegotiating on price? Are they likely to pull out if we suggest this??

I’m not sure TBH. The title plans are only as good as the person who drew them up and it sounds as though they were quite inaccurate to start with. Mistakes happen which can need to be rectified. The real test will be what plan was agreed when the land was split- because that’s what the person paid for. Hopefully there was a plan and not just a verbal agreement.

Either that or next door and your sellers have agreed recently to a new walkway and right of access and they’ve made some money on the side- but again as neither property is yours the only thing you can do is say that if those plans are the property and it can’t be changed, you’re not buying it.

Well, you could try to negotiate as it's a different proposition to what you thought. As with anything you can try and see what they say.

Walk away. I had a boundary issue, where my neighbour was claiming they had access and it was very stressful.
Neighbour was trying it on in my case.

IANAL so ask your lawyer, but would it be possible to still have the security gate, giving them the code/a key so they still have access?

I would start looking elsewhere tbh... your seller isn't keen to sort it in any satisfactory way, neighbours want what they can get, and everyone is relying on you to just accept a duff proposition due to time constraints...

Sounds like it will affect saleability in future too so honestly I wouldn't bother - there will be other houses!!

OP what happened in the end?