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Property boundary
designer - 17/3/17 at 07:47 AM

One for the collective.
My semi has it's own drive, so does my neighbour. The problem is that my drive is 4ft above there's. The retaining wall is leaning and needs sorting out as it will eventually collapse, along with the earth under my concrete drive.
My question is; does this wall qualify as a boundary, or is it shared? It's below my drive so it' certainly not a fence!

Ugg10 - 17/3/17 at 08:05 AM

What do the deeds say, the land registry map will show you where the boundary is and who owns it (and is therefore liable for its upkeep).

loggyboy - 17/3/17 at 08:29 AM

From my experience the boundary will be centered, but the wall will be under the demise of the property which land it is retaining.

benchmark51 - 17/3/17 at 09:40 AM

Are you willing to undertake or pay for the work to be done yourself?
Do you feel your neighbour should contribute half?
Do you think your neighbour has a right to expect you to prevent your drive collapsing onto his?
Talk to your neighbour, it could be the simplest thing to do.

nick205 - 17/3/17 at 09:52 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
From my experience the boundary will be centered, but the wall will be under the demise of the property which land it is retaining.



On the face of it I'd agree with this viewpoint. However most adjoining plots of land have a rule in place where the property itself is liable for maintenance of the wall/fence to one side and not the other. I live in a semi too and the rule in our street is each property is liable for the cost of the boundary to the left when viewed from the front. That said we get on with both neighbours and open discussion is by far the best way of managing the process. In short, speak to your neighbour and find out what his view/understanding is first.

loggyboy - 17/3/17 at 10:16 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
On the face of it I'd agree with this viewpoint. However most adjoining plots of land have a rule in place where the property itself is liable for maintenance of the wall/fence to one side and not the other. I live in a semi too and the rule in our street is each property is liable for the cost of the boundary to the left when viewed from the front. That said we get on with both neighbours and open discussion is by far the best way of managing the process. In short, speak to your neighbour and find out what his view/understanding is first.


Yes and no - the deed is the only way to be sure - however the rule of thumb is not a rule at all, there is no fixed rule. Its almost an urban myth, Its all down to the decision of those who prepared the deed.
However, when I prepare deed plans for some of our clients, we as company will generally apply the 'Left hand boundary' to the plot concerned. But we will rarely be asked to go to the level of detail to check where retained land is involved, this would be in the written description prepared by the developers solicitors.

nick205 - 17/3/17 at 11:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
On the face of it I'd agree with this viewpoint. However most adjoining plots of land have a rule in place where the property itself is liable for maintenance of the wall/fence to one side and not the other. I live in a semi too and the rule in our street is each property is liable for the cost of the boundary to the left when viewed from the front. That said we get on with both neighbours and open discussion is by far the best way of managing the process. In short, speak to your neighbour and find out what his view/understanding is first.


Yes and no - the deed is the only way to be sure - however the rule of thumb is not a rule at all, there is no fixed rule. Its almost an urban myth, Its all down to the decision of those who prepared the deed.
However, when I prepare deed plans for some of our clients, we as company will generally apply the 'Left hand boundary' to the plot concerned. But we will rarely be asked to go to the level of detail to check where retained land is involved, this would be in the written description prepared by the developers solicitors.



Noted and happy to stand corrected on that rule!

I guess that steers it back to speaking with said neighbour and agreeing a route forward. It may be worth getting some quotes for the work before approaching the neighbour so at least you have and idea of the costs involved for the work.

David Jenkins - 17/3/17 at 12:13 PM

As above - talk to the neighbour. It may be that they're as worried about the wall as you are.

designer - 18/3/17 at 10:53 AM

It's going to cost around £2000 and the neighbours Mrs insists they are not paying anything!!

SteveWalker - 18/3/17 at 11:06 AM

Was the wall there from when the houses were built? If so, the deeds may state who is responsible.

If it was built later, was it because your land got built up - in which case I'd say it was your responsibility - or was theirs dug out - in which case I'd say it was theirs?