Incorrect Position of Boundary Wall

I am involved in my Resident’s Association. I was recently talking to a neighbour, and he asked me to help him with a problem. I would help him if I could, but I think that really, this is an issue for professionals such as his solicitor, an engineer and the local Council, (even though the Resident’s Association would help him in any way we could).

The problem is that the boundary wall that separates his property from one of the green areas was built 1 metre too far into the green area. No engineer will sign off to say the property is compliant when it isn’t. He has lost potential sales of the property because of it.

I don’t know if it is in any way relevant that the local Council has not taken the estate in charge yet, but this will happen later on this year for definite. The building company became insolvent years ago, and the Resident’s Association ‘pulled together’ and finished the estate themselves. Because of this, no resident minds the green area being 1 meter smaller, and everyone would very much like to see this man get the issue resolved in the most convenient way for him.

I would greatly appreciate any advice on how such a matter may be resolved.

(I know he could probably knock the wall, and rebuild the wall in the correct position, but it is a fairly long and high wall and this would cost quite a lot of money).

The easiest solution is to reposition the wall in the correct position. Would this cost more than the legal costs of conveyancing he extra land? Since the estate is not in charge of the local authority & so is essentially owned by a private company, there is the possibility of him having to pay the going rate for this extra land also.

Another solution (if planning permission allows) would be just to knock the wall and put up a cheaper wooden fence along the correct boundary and leave it up to a new owner to build a brick wall if they wish.

1. The absolutely simplest and most cost effective thing to do is to simply knock and rebuild in the correct location.

2. He could locate the liquidator of the development company and try and buy the land. He could be lucky or unlucky.

3. He could claim long possession if he is there more than 12 years.

mf

OP,

If the owner's concern is to facilitate a sale he could try title insuring the issue. The insurance would mean that the purchaser would be insured against the risk of someone claiming ownership of the 1 metre portion.

"The problem is that the boundary wall that separates his property from one of the green areas was built 1 metre too far into the green area. No engineer will sign off to say the property is compliant when it isn’t. He has lost potential sales of the property because of it."

Perhaps there are circumstances specific to this site( maybe the wall in wrong place causes diffulty with sight lines or reduces green area below required minimum), but I find it hard to believe that this problem is so significant as to prevent an engineer certifying substantial compliance with planning.

I also find it hard to believe that this problem - absent extra complicating factors - would cause any reasonably pragmatic buyer ( advised by a reasonably pragmatic solicitor) to refuse to buy the property. Comlicating factors may exist: If the extra metre-wide strip has a septic tank, or house extension or garage on it, then this is certainly a problem.

But if it is just an extra piece of garden, then the position outlined to any prospective buyer is simple: You are getting registered ownership of area X. You are getting posession of an additional strip of ground. You take the additional strip as is without warranty.

I sold an entire row of houses with such a 'problem' at the back boundary It was disclosed up front and no buyer balked. ( A row of houses backed onto an older row of houses - the builder of the older row had built a back wall tight up against a ditch, though his ownership extended to the centre of it. My builder had to take out the ditch, and it obviously made no sense to do a new back wall - so the registered property boundary is now up to a metre from the physical property boundary. Time will cure the problem....)

I'm with MOB on this one. I'm really surprised that he has lost multiple sales because of this problem. The engineer should be able to certify substantial compliance, and just flag the boundary issue.

Perhaps a stupid question but how did his solicitor not spot this when he purchased it initially? Could he have recourse against his original solicitor?

It isn't the solicitor's job to go out and survey boundaries - they woulnd't be qualified to do it even if they wanted to! The solicitor most likely got a certificate from the builder's engineer or architect certifying boundaries and compliance with planning permission. I suppose there's a chance you could sue the engineer or architect if they did provide a cert that turned out to be incorrect, but you would have to prove that you suffered a loss ...and again I can't understand why he is losing sales over this.

Kate10 said:

It isn't the solicitor's job to go out and survey boundaries - ...

Click to expand...

+1.

Did he not get a surveyor in to check maps and boundaries before purchase?