Moving into your new home and meeting the neighbours is an exciting time in any homeowner’s life. In some cases, however, concerns and disagreements over property boundaries between your own property and that of a neighbour can occur, causing fallouts that may be difficult to resolve.
If you have a boundary dispute with a neighbour, there are some easy steps you can take to help resolve a dispute with neighbouring properties.
How to resolve property boundary disputes
Although the steps you should take to resolve a dispute about your property boundaries depends on your individual case, these tips may help you to solve your disagreement.
- Read your property deeds
- Conduct a land registry search
- Hire a surveyor
Read your property deeds
When you purchased your property, your solicitor will have given you an official copy of your property deeds. These documents contain details of your property, including an indication of the general position of your property boundaries. Property deeds may also contain details of any boundary agreements that have previously been reached with neighbours.
The boundaries indicated on your deeds can be used to give neighbours a general indication of where your property boundaries are, which may help to resolve your dispute.
Conduct a Land Registry Search
If you’re still having difficulties with your neighbour, you can apply for a copy of the Land Registry property boundaries online. This may help to further narrow down where the exact boundaries are between your two properties.
Hire a surveyor
If you’ve been unable to reach an agreement with your neighbour, the next step is to seek expert advice. A solicitor will normally advise you to hire a surveyor, either independently or with your neighbour, to offer an unbiased and professional decision on where the boundaries lie, as well as what amount of land the two of you are entitled to.
If your neighbour refuses to hire a surveyor to settle the disagreement, there’s the option of sending an application to the Land Registry, who will conduct a thorough survey of the land and make a decision on where the boundaries lie.
Speak to our Boundary Dispute Solicitors
Boundary disputes can sometimes become quite heated, so it’s vital that these disputes are dealt with in a calm, collected and appropriate way.
If you’ve tried reasoning with your neighbour, but struggle to see any resolve, it’s well worth getting in touch with our expert solicitors, who specialise in the resolution of boundary disputes. We can offer advice on how to reach an agreement with your neighbour, whether that’s before or after making an application to the Land Registry or appointing a surveyor.