Boundary Disputes

Boundary disputes can cause immense stress to residential homeowners – and resolving disputes over boundaries usually requires the services of a boundary dispute solicitor to trace the history of each property.

Many boundary disputes are caused by one neighbour’s incursion onto another property – ether unknowingly, or by deliberately to gain a right over a piece of land. A right of way over a piece of land can be established if the route has been used unchallenged for 20 years, for example.

The defining of land boundaries is also an imprecise science because of the way in which boundaries were identified and recorded historically – in the case of listed buildings, resolving a boundary dispute can be complex and involve researching boundaries back to the start of the Land Registry in 1862.

More commonly, refurbishment of a residential property is the cause of boundary disputes, with ground and upper floor extensions – as well as basement extensions beneath a neighbour’s property – frequently resulting in a boundary dispute or a party wall dispute.

However, hedges, fences, plant tubs and other garden chattels which stray across a perceived boundary between neighbouring properties can also result in boundary disputes.

Because boundary disputes can escalate, it is advisable to seek legal advice as soon as possible from a property dispute solicitor to minimise legal costs and take effective action.

LAWTEC Solicitors can also instruct a land surveyor or surveyor with expertise in boundary disputes – including mapping and a background in preparing reports for the courts – to assess the disputed boundary.

LAWTEC Solicitors also advise on boundary disputes involving:

• nuisance neighbours
• adults or children regularly intruding on neighbouring property and causing damage
• pets fouling a neighbour’s property.

These cases may be dealt with under different legislation, however, such as the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Taking Legal Action in Boundary Disputes

LAWTEC Solicitors have a wealth of experience in handling cases and claims involving boundary disputes – and can act swiftly to protect a client’s interests, including sending a pre-action letter to an opponent in a boundary dispute, setting out the details of any claim.

LAWTEC Solicitors has a successful litigation department and our property solicitors regularly handle property cases involving boundary disputes in the county court or in the Appeal Court.

LAWTEC Solicitors can advise homeowners, landowners and commercial property owners on issues surrounding boundary disputes – and can also advise on dispute resolution and mediation in boundary disputes.

The Land Registration Act enables the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry to adjudicate in boundary disputes – which may be an option in dispute resolution.

In property cases, time can be of the essence and LAWTEC Solicitors recommend that clients get in touch as soon as possible to discuss a boundary dispute so that the appropriate action can be taken against the opponent, including preventing financial loss if the value of a property or piece of land would be diminished by a boundary being moved.

Funding Boundary Dispute Claims

LAWTEC Solicitors offer clients who wish to take legal action in boundary disputes a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to fund their case.

LAWTEC Solicitors also offers a fixed fee arrangement for the initial assessment of a case involving a boundary dispute, so our clients know exactly how much they will be paying from the outset – including any land surveyor fees needed in the assessment of a boundary dispute case.

LAWTEC Solicitors

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