The quickest way to start a dispute is to rip out a fence and replace it with a new one the neighbours don't like
Walk the line
Jacinta Walmsley, head of residential conveyancing at Hatchers Solicitors in Shrewsbury, explains how property boundaries are decided
The recent wintry gales which blew down walls and fences across Shropshire reminded me that one of the questions I am asked most often by clients buying a house is, “Who owns the boundaries?” Most often, they want to establish whether they or their next-door neighbours are responsible for repairing the ramshackle fence between their two gardens.
Most people would expect to find the answer in the Land Registry title plan. In fact information about boundary ownership is rarely found on this plan, which simply shows the position of the boundaries based on the Ordnance Survey map at the time the Land Registry recorded ownership of the property.
The information is most likely to be found in a document in the title dating back to when the property was sold off from a larger area of land, eg when an individual plot was sold by a builder. Ownership may be shown by ‘T’ and ‘H’ marks on a plan attached to that document. If the plan shows a mark looking like a ‘T’ along one of your boundaries and inside your land, it indicates that the boundary belongs to you. A ‘T’ mark on your neighbour’s land means the boundary belongs to them.
JOINTLY OWNED
What looks like an ‘H’ along a boundary is actually a ‘T’ mark on either side of the line, indicating ownership is shared. If the plan does not contain any such marks then if the property is on a housing estate or residential street the document usually states that the boundaries are ‘party’ boundaries, meaning they are jointly owned and to be repaired jointly. If there is no clear information in the title deeds stating who owns which boundary, then it is best to assume ownership is shared.
If your house is out in the countryside, however, then the old common law rule relating to hedges and ditches may apply. Effectively, the landowner owns the hedge and the ditch, even though the ditch is on the other side of the hedge.
The quickest way to start a dispute is to rip out a fence and replace it with a new one your neighbours don’t like. So if ever a client tells me they want to replace a fence then, no matter who owns the boundary, I will always advise them to talk to their neighbour about it. If at the end of the day you cannot agree on who should replace that ramshackle fence, then you have the option to put up a new fence on your side of the boundary just inside the existing one.
PARTY WALLS
Do not forget that if your property is semi-detached or terraced then the walls dividing it from next door are boundaries too and are treated as ‘party walls’ because they support both properties. If you wish to do any work to your property which would affect such a wall or the support and protection it receives from the remainder of your property, for example removing your roof up to the dividing wall to have an extension joined to it, you must get your neighbour’s consent under the Party Wall Act.
