England and Wales
Information Guide
Boundary Search
One or more of the enclosed documents may be subject
to Crown Copyright, and may not be copied, reproduced
or redistributed without permission of the Crown.
UK Land Registry Services
! Copyright © 2011 UKLRS!
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Boundary Search
Contents
LR3 (LR3a) - All Deeds stored on Land
Registry computers
LR3b - Deeds stored as paper copies that
are referred to in the Register
LR3c - Deeds stored as paper copies that
are not referred to in the Register but that
you know to exist
LR3d - Edited Exempt Information
Documents
LR3e - Other paper Documents kept by
Land Registry
LR3f - Exempt Information Documents
Deed Plans
Alternative Options (Where you still can’t resolve
your dispute)
Sample Boundary References
Property Address
Amendments to Title Plan
Description in Deed
Reference to Deed Plan
Party Wall Declarations
Implied Boundaries
Boundary Provisions
Exact Measurements
Between Points A and B
Hedges & Ditches
Garden Fences
Relevant Law
General Boundary Rule
Boundary Presumptions
Two Sides to the Boundary
Title Register
Section A - Property Register
Section B - Proprietorship Register
Section C - Charges Register
Freehold and Leasehold Titles
References to Deeds
Schedules
Title Plan
Scale and North Point
Coloured Edging
Coloured Tints
OS Positional Accuracy
T & H Marks
Other Data on the Title Plan
Housing Density
The Old Deeds
Pre-registration system of
Conveyancing
Compulsory Land Registration
Deeds
Digitised Deeds
Associated Titles
Paper Deeds
Our Deed Searches
INTRODUCTION
Almost all boundary disputes concern small parcels of
land, often only inches wide, but despite the
narrowness of the land a substantial difference to the
enjoyment of the property may depend on who owns
which side of the boundary.
The frustration of property owners can be easily
understood when they turn to their Land Registry Title
Plan expecting to see clear boundary positions &
markings but do not.
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RELEVANT LAW
There are 2 ways of defining property boundaries:
The law relevant to boundary disputes is for the most
part contained within the Land Registration Act 2002
and Land Registration Rules 2003. However, there
are also many legal cases and common law
presumptions that may be relevant.
The Legal Boundary
This consists of a hypothetical
line drawn between 2 properties
in order to separate them. The
line has no thickness and usually
cannot be defined with any
precision when looking at the
Ti t l e d o c u m e n t s o r w h e n
examining the boundaries on the
ground.
Rule 5 of the Land Registration Rules states that the
Title Register for the registered land must contain a
description of the land and refer to a plan which should
be based on the Ordnance Survey map and should be
known as the Title Plan. HM Land Registry achieve
this rule by producing a large scale extract from the
2008 OS Master Map and overlay it with their own
data.
The Physical Boundary!
Physical boundaries are identified on the ground
and on maps and deeds by using physical
features such as fences, walls, ditches, rivers,
hedges, etc. Unlike a hypothetical line such
features, in actuality, have thickness. In the
case of fences, walls and hedges their thickness
will change as they grow. Rivers may change
their courses. It is preferred, but often not the
case, that such boundaries be described as
being either on one side of the physical feature,
or as running along the centre.
These two documents comprise the
Title documents, although they are
often supplemented with copies of
deeds that have been created to
formalise, or which include, agreements
between the buyer and seller, adjoining
land owners or third parties.
These Deeds usually relate to covenants, restrictions
and easements and can be very detailed.
GENERAL BOUNDARY RULE
now governed by section 60 of the Land Registration
Act 2002.
Because of differences in the legal and physical
property boundaries it became difficult to identify
boundaries with precision and this led to difficulties in
completing registration of title, often causing disputes
where disputes did not before exist, as registration
required serving notices on all adjoining land owners
and carrying out detailed surveys.
The application of the General Boundary Rule,
however, is subject to plain and clearly described
boundaries already contained within the deeds and
documents of a property prior to first registration. The
leading cases of Lee v Barrey 1957, Derbyshire
County Council v Fallon 2007 and Strachey v Ramage
2008 all confirm this to be the case. These cases
demonstrate the importance of looking at the preregistration deeds and documents whenever there is
an issue regarding property boundaries.
In 1925 the Land Registration Rules (Rule 278)
introduced the General Boundary Rule, which is now
adopted into the law and is followed whenever a
property is registered. This rule provides that the Title
Plan shall be deemed to indicate the general
boundaries only, and that the exact line of the
boundaries shall be left undetermined. This rule is
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BOUNDARY PRESUMPTIONS
Common law boundary
presumptions, however, can be
rebutted where there is
evidence to the contrary.
Usually any such evidence
would be contained within the
Title documents or old deeds,
which illustrates the importance
for examining all of the
available documents.
Our common law provides that there are certain
presumptions that can be made with regard to the
physical boundary of a property, e.g. the famous “ditch
and hedge” rule that provides that where land is
bordered by a ditch and hedge the boundary is
presumed to be the far side of the ditch from the
hedge.
This presumption is made following the
pragmatic approach that a landowner, when making a
ditch, would leave the spoil on his own land and plant
his hedge upon it. Thus, both the ditch and the hedge
would be located on his side of the boundary.
TWO SIDES OF THE BOUNDARY
The Title documents to every property are unique, even though often they contain similar property rights. It is
imperative, therefore, that when there is a boundary dispute the documents for each property are examined. Where
the dispute involves more than two ownerships then the documents for the other ownerships should also be
examined.
TITLE REGISTER
SECTION A
Rule 5 demonstrates the importance of using the title
register and title plan together in looking at the
description of a property. Where a property has a full
property address the exercise is fairly straight forward,
but where the property consists of a field or similar the
importance of describing the property by reference to a
plan is of major significance.
Rule 5 of the Land Registration Rules dictates the type
of information that should be stored in the property
register (Section A), which is the first section of the
register.
It contains:
•
•
•
a description of the land with reference
to the title plan
details of any exclusions from the title
of mines and minerals
matters that benefit the land such as
• easements
• rights
• privileges
• conditions
• covenants
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Mines and minerals are often excluded from the title as
these may either be owned by the Crown or have been
sold off with a separate title.
Likewise, the rights, privileges, conditions and
covenants recorded in section A are all matters that
benefit the land.
Section A is the part of the register that details matters
that benefit the land. Easements are private rights to
use another’s property without owning it, such as a
right of way over adjoining land, a right of light, right of
access or right of support. So a right of way recorded
in section A is one in favour of the owner of this title. If
it were referred to in section C instead, then it would
be a right that would encumber the land.
Where the property is of a leasehold tenure section A
will also contain sufficient particulars of the lease to
enable it to be identified (Rule 6). Copies of the lease
can be obtained by the leaseholder or freeholder of the
property (see our LR5 search).
SECTION B
they have been destroyed, e.g. by fire. This class of
title is also given following a successful claim for
adverse possession, i.e. where someone has used the
property as their own for a continuous period of at
least 10 years and where their use thereof has not
been interrupted.
Rule 8 of the Land Registration Rules defines the
contents of the B section of the register, known as the
proprietorship register.
It will contain the following:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
class of title
name of the owner
address for service of the owner
restrictions
notices
positive covenants
price paid (or value declared)
Qualified title is the least desirable title to have and is
given where the title to the property is defective, e.g.
on first registration the purchaser may not have been
able to show a good root of title.
Registration of the owner’s name under Rule 8 applies
whether the owner is an individual or company. In the
case of a company the company’s registered number
would also be recorded.
There are 4 classes of title:
•
•
•
•
absolute freehold or absolute leasehold
good leasehold
possessory freehold or possessory leasehold
qualified freehold or qualified leasehold
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Absolute is the best class of title available and is
equivalent to outright ownership. Most classes of title
will fall under this category.
A property with an
absolute title is one that can be described as safe to
purchase, as the purchaser should obtain an
unfettered title.
The address of the owner is the address where that
owner can be served with documents. Not all property
owners reside in their property; many are landlords
and reside elsewhere.
In an attempt to combat
property fraud HM Land Registry now allow up to 3
different addresses for service for each owner of the
property. This can include an email address and an
address Abroad. Upon an application to change the
register the Land Registry will contact the owner at all
addresses for service registered with them. They
produce an information booklet (pictured here) that is
available free from their website and provides more
Good leasehold title is given where the title from which
it derives (the freehold title or superior leasehold title)
has not itself been examined by the Land Registry (as
where the freehold title is itself unregistered); thus the
Land Registry are unable to guarantee that the lease
creating the good leasehold title was validly granted.
Possessory title is given where the owner of a property
with unregistered title has lost the deeds, or where
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The purpose of registration of Restrictions and Notices
is to put third parties on notice that the right of an
owner to make a disposition may be fettered.
detail on how to protect your
property from fraud.
Restrictions on an owner’s power to
sell will also appear in this part of
the register. An example of such a
restriction would be where there
are joint owners who hold the
property as tenants in common. A
restriction would be recorded to
show that a disposition of the
property cannot be registered without the consent of
each owner, unless authorised by the court. The
wording would appear as follows:
Positive Covenants do not run with the land but affect
only the current owner. It is for this reason that they
are distinguished in their placement within the register
from restrictive covenants that appear in the C section.
A vendor’s conveyancer would normally require a new
purchaser to enter into a similar positive covenant to
ensure that the covenant continues, and to indemnify
the vendor against any future breach or nonobservance thereof.
From April 2003 the purchase price of the property is
also recorded. If the consideration for the purchase
was something other than money, e.g. the natural love
and affection of the vendor for the purchaser, instead
of the purchase price the purchaser would instead
estimate its value and that would be recorded. Prior
to 1993 the purchase price was not recorded.
Sometimes the purchase price is omitted, e.g. where
many properties were purchased and have been
recorded on the same title, and where it would be
difficult to determine the purchase price or value of
each separately.
RESTRICTION: No disposition by a sole proprietor of
the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under
which capital money arises is to be registered unless
authorised by an order of the Registrar or the court.
An example of a Notice is where a creditor has
obtained a judgment against an owner of the property
and then obtained a charging order to secure a debt.
This would be registered as a Unilateral Notice.
Another example is a Bankruptcy Notice, which would
be applied for by the trustee in bankruptcy.
SECTION C
property from dealing with the land without notice to
them.
Section C deals with matters that incumber the
property.
Rule 9 of the Land Registration Rules
determine the content of the C section of the Register,
also known as the Charges Register. The following
appear under this section, where they exist:
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•
•
•
•
leases
charges
other interests adversely affecting the property
restrictions relating to charges
notices relating to charges
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Where a lease has been granted in respect of the
property details of that lease will appear in this section.
Charges include mortgages. The name and address
for service of the chargee or mortgagee will be
provided, sufficient to enable identification of them.
Mortgages and charges often contain restrictions,
which are also noted here. For example, a mortgagee
may enter a restriction to prevent the owner of the
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FREEHOLDS AND LEASEHOLDS
will show the name and address of the owner of the
freehold title, and it will be that owner to whom
payment of the ground rent should be paid.
Where a property has both a freehold title and a
leasehold title, people looking for certain information
may be undecided as to whether to obtain a copy of
the leasehold title or whether to obtain a copy of the
freehold title.
The individual leasehold title registers will contain
details of that title’s lease only. This will appear in the
A section and will contain the date of the lease, its
length (term), the amount of ground rent payable, and
the parties to the lease. If the landlord’s title is also
registered there will usually be a statement to this
effect.
This is of particular relevance where a person wishes
to know who to contact for details of a ground or chief
rent, or for details of a lease.
As will be seen from the above, freehold titles will
include details of any registered leasehold titles in the
C section of the register. The freehold title, of course,
REFERENCES TO DEEDS
The Land Registry do not always iterate all of the detail contained in deeds that affect the property. Sometimes only
brief details of the salient points will be provided, and beneath the paragraph containing those details will appear
wording similar to “copy filed” or “copied into the certificate”.
Where this is the case the Land Registry are obliged to keep copies of the deeds and these are usually held on their
computers. These deeds are available for purchase where one wishes to view their entire content. Using our LR3
search you can obtain copies of all the deeds referred to in this manner.
SCHEDULES
The property, proprietorship and charges registers may
contain one or more schedules before the
commencement of the next section, e.g. the
proprietorship register may contain a schedule of
personal covenants. It is often more convenient to list
matters such as these in a schedule at the end of the
section. The charges register may contain a schedule
of restrictive covenants, a schedule of leases and/or a
schedule of exceptions and reservations.
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TITLE PLAN
SCALE AND NORTH POINT
Title Plans are provided to a scale of 1:1250 in urban
areas and 1:2500 in rural areas. They are oriented with
north to the top and a north point is embedded on the
plan to show this.
COLOURED EDGING
The curtilage of the property is highlighted by red
edging around the inside of the black boundary line. It
is not precise, following the General Boundary Rule,
but is reasonably accurate.
Where part of the land has been sold to another party
it is removed from the title and given another title
number. This is shown on the Title Plan from which it
has been removed by surrounding the sold off portion
with green edging. The new title number is also shown.
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COLOURED TINTS
The amount of information on title plans differs
according to location, housing density and the rights &
burdens affecting the property. Using coloured tints,
hatchings or markings, the title plan will differentiate,
between different areas of land that are affected by
various rights and burdens, and such markings will be
explained in the title register.
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OS POSITIONAL ACCURACY
Physical boundaries are determined by inspecting
what is on the ground, but this will always differ, in
some small respects, from the legal boundary, even
with the best technology today available. Accordingly
OS map specifications allow for tolerances in accuracy.
Because of improvements in GPS mapping, errors
have become increasingly detectable and this has
resulted in the OS Positional Accuracy Improvement
programme which has improved OS plans (and
therefore title plans), by using aerial photography in
rural areas and ground surveys in urban areas.
Physical boundary features that are very close
together may not be shown, e.g. a fence and hedge.
Wall boundaries may only be inaccurate to the extent
of an inch or less and hedge boundaries a yard or
thereabouts.
The Land Registry make every effort to produce a title
plan as accurate as possible.
T AND H MARKS
Contrary to most people’s expectations, T and H marks do not usually appear on the title plan. Rather, they are
often to be found on deed plans
T marks indicate boundary structure ownership or responsibility, the cross bar indicating the responsible side of the
boundary. H marks indicate shared boundary structure ownership or responsibility.
T mark
Land A
H mark
Boundary structure owner is
the land owner with the bar of
the T
Land A
Joint boundary structure
owners
Land B
Land B
OTHER DATA ON THE PLAN
Contrary to most people’s expectations, T and H marks
do not usually appear on the title plan. Rather, they
are often to be found on deed plans
side of the boundary.
H marks indicate shared
boundary structure ownership or responsibility.
T marks indicate boundary structure ownership or
responsibility, the cross bar indicating the responsible
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HOUSING DENSITY
The Title Plan of properties in low density areas will differ considerably from those in high density areas. For
example, properties with large gardens or areas of land attached to them may contain rights of way in favour of the
adjoining land owner, there may be a shared drive, or there may be covenants affecting part of the land but not
other parts. Such will be represented on the title plan by different tints and/or hatching.
Conversely, a town house with a small garden will not normally have sufficient land for there to be any necessity for
such easements or covenants, in which case the amount of detail shown will be minimal.
In the case of flats, communal areas will normally be shown with a blue tint, and a garage and/or dustbin store
owned by the flat owner but situate within a communal area with be shown as a separate island of property bounded
by red edging.
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DEEDS
PRE-REGISTRATION
established by proving a good root of title of 15 years,
and documents were typed instead of handwritten.
Before the introduction of compulsory Land
Registration the whole conveyancing process was
carried out using deeds to convey the property from
the seller to the buyer. The actual purchase deed was
called a Conveyance, and many times during the
ownership of a property there would be various deeds
drawn to reflect changes made to the manner of
ownership, e.g. a trust might be declared, a mortgage
may be taken out or terms in the conveyance may be
varied. In the past such documents were handwritten
and upon a sale a solicitor would often provide yet
another handwritten document in the form of an
epitome, summarising the documents and contents of
the title root.
As improvements evolved to the conveyancing system
(most notably with the Law of Property Act 1925),
conveyancing was simplified, ownership was
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COMPULSORY LAND REGISTRATION
The Law of Property Act 1988 made it possible for all
members of the public to be able to obtain a copy of
the Title documents without the consent or knowledge
of the owner. The Land Registration Act 2002 and the
Land Registration Rules 2003 have extended access
to Land Registry documents further to those
documents listed later in this guide.
Land Registration was eventually introduced, but this
was voluntary at first. It provided a much simpler
means of transferring ownership of a property, and
eventually Land Registration became compulsory.
Compulsory land registration was phased in
throughout the country over a long period of years, but
now all areas of England & Wales are subject to
compulsory land registration.
DEEDS
Notwithstanding that all properties sold or mortgaged
are subject to compulsory land registration, the old
deeds and documents left over from the preregistration system of conveyancing remain with us
and still have a vital role to play in many aspects of
property ownership.
modern Transfer or old
Conveyance may contain many
pages containing voluminous
details of the same. There may
also be other deeds recording
agreements entered into
between the parties, again
containing much detail.
As a
general rule the Land Registry
will try to produce a Title Register
(the main document proving
ownership under Land Registration) that contains all
this detail. Where it is too much, however, a reference
will be made to the deed containing it and the deed will
be retained by the Land Registry so that it can be
provided to people requiring further detail, e.g. on the
sale of a property, where there is a dispute about the
boundaries of the property or where there are issues
relating to rights of way, rights of access, rights of light,
etc.
Post-registration
conveyancing is
governed by the Land
Registration Act 2002
and requires most
deeds to be in a form
approved by the Land
Registration Rules 2003. The purchase deed is now
called a Transfer. A simple transfer of the whole of a
title is in Form TR1; a transfer of part only of the title, in
form TP1, for example.
Some parcels of land are subject to many covenants,
easements, restrictions, agreements, etc and the
DIGITISED DEEDS
Where Deeds are kept by the Land Registry on their
computers (electronic or digitised deeds), the Title
Register reveals their presence by referring to the
deed and then using words similar to “copy in
certificate” or “copy filed” at the end of the paragraph
referring to it. Such documents are always available
for purchase. These are the Deeds that we include
with our Boundary Search. Non-digitised or paper
deeds need to be purchased separately.
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ASSOCIATED TITLES
For various reasons, some of the deeds affecting a
property are kept on a separate Title. Where they are
held on a separate title the main Title contains a
statement to that effect, and provides the Title number.
PAPER DEEDS
An example of a deed referred to indirectly is where
there is no reference to a purchase deed, but it can be
seen from the Register that the property was
purchased on a particular date and by a named
person. In order to give legal effect to such a purchase
(which must be evidenced by Deed) there must have
been a Deed of Transfer or a Deed of Conveyance,
and so its existence is known.
The Land Registry retain many deeds that have not
been scanned into their electronic system but remain
as paper copies. These deeds will often be referred to
in the Register, either directly or indirectly. A paper
deed referred to directly will not contain a statement at
the end of the paragraph stating that it has been
“copied into the certificate”.
OUR OLD DEED SEARCHES
We provide the following type of Deed searches:
•
LR3 (LR3a) - All Deeds stored on Land Registry computers. This Deed search is included with our
Boundary Search. The Deed Searches below, if required, must be purchased separately.
•
LR3b - A specific paper Deed referred to in a Title Register
•
LR3c - A specific paper Deed that you know about but that is not referred to directly or indirectly in a
Title Register
•
LR3d - An Edited Exempt Information Document
•
LR3e - Other Paper documents kept by the Land Registry
•
LR3f - An Exempt Information Document (authorised persons only)
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LR3 (LR3a) SEARCH
All Deeds scanned and stored on Land
Registry computers
At the end of the paragraph describing the Deed there
may be a statement similar to “copied into the
certificate” or “copy filed”. This means that the Land
Registry have scanned a copy of the Deed and are
now storing it on their computers. This in turn means
that a copy of the Deed is available to the general
public if they wish to purchase it.
This is our basic Deeds search. In the Title Register
for a property there are often references to Deeds,
such as Conveyances, Transfers, Agreements,
Declarations etc. The reference will usually provide
the date of the Deed, state the parties to it and then
provide brief details of the salient parts of the Deed.
Our LR3 Searches provides a copy of ALL the Deeds
that are referenced in such a manner for a specified
Title. This may sometimes amount to scores of Deeds,
sometimes only 1 or 2. Every Title is unique and
contains a different number of and different types of
Deeds.
If the reference to the Deed
appears in the A section of the
Register then it will be referring
to rights benefiting the property,
e.g. easements such as rights
of way in the owner’s favour,
rights of light and rights of
support.
If the reference
appears in the C section then it
will be referring to
encumbrances that burden the
property, e.g. restrictive covenants, rights of way in
favour of a neighbour, etc. Often a deed is referred to
in both sections.
Sometimes the Land Registry will allocate a different
Title number to some of the Deeds. If they do so the
Title Register will contain a reference to this effect and
will provide the Title number. If copies of these Deeds
are also required then a separate search fee is
required, and it will be necessary to quote the Title
number on the application form.
LR3b SEARCH
•
A Specific Paper Deed referred to in a Title
Register (but not scanned)
The Land Registry hold many paper Deeds that have
not been “copied into the certificate” but which are
expressly or impliedly referred to by date within the
Title Register. Such may still be available to the public
and can be obtained by virtue of sections 66 and 67 of
the Land Registration Act 2002. All correspondence
relating thereto takes place by post and so the search
may take a week or so longer.
Another example of a Deed referred to by implication
is where, in the B section of the Title Register, one of
the subsequent paragraphs begins with a date in
brackets and refers to a Restriction. That Restriction
must be incorporated into a Deed from which the short
particulars of the Restriction have been derived.
sometimes the above documents are actually held on
Land Registry computers, but where they are not, it
may be assumed that the Deeds either do or did exist,
and may therefore be available for purchase.
A Deed referred to by implication may be one of the
purchase Deeds:
•
The first date in brackets referred to in the
A section of the Register demonstrates a
first registration of the property, which
would normally arise on the purchase of a
property and so there must be a
conveyance or transfer;
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The first date in brackets in the B section
of the Register is the date the current
owner became registered following his
purchase, so again there must be a
conveyance or transfer.
We include with this search a copy of the Title
Register, as we have to refer to this to identify the
relevant document.
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LR3c SEARCH
A Specific Paper Deed that you know to exist
but that is not referred to directly in a Title
Register.
We include with this search a copy of the Title
Register, as we have to refer to this to identify the
document you require.
Deeds that are not referred to in the Title Register
either directly or by implication, but that you know
about, may still be obtained, e.g. there may be an
agreement between a former purchaser and vendor in
which personal covenants were given by the
purchaser. As personal covenants do not “run with the
land”, i.e. they do not bind a subsequent purchaser,
then there is no need for the Land Registry to refer to
them in the current Title Register. If you know of the
Deed creating them a copy of that Deed may be
obtained.
LR3d SEARCH
Other Documents kept by the Land Registry
relating to an Application to them
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•
Examples of documents falling under this heading are:
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Application for a Restriction submitted to
the Land Registry
Counsel’s Opinions or other such
evidence in support of an application for
We include with this search a copy of the Title
Register, as we have to refer to this to identify the
relevant document.
LR3e SEARCH
An Edited Exempt Information Document
When an application is made for a document to be
classified as an Exempt Information Document (EID) it
must be accompanied by a redacted copy that has the
sensitive information blocked out. The edited EID is
available to members of the public.
We include with this search a copy of the Title
Register, as we have to refer to this to identify the
relevant document.
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an entry or cancellation of an entry on a
Title Register
Correspondence relating to an application
An application not to display the purchase
price of a property
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LR3f SEARCH
A Non-Edited Exempt Information Document
(authorised persons only)
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•
•
Where a document contains prejudicial information an
application can be made by a person so affected to
classify the document as an Exempt Information
Document (EID). If the application is successful the
document can only be obtained in its entirety in
respect of criminal matters, receivership & insolvency,
and Inland Revenue investigations.
•
•
•
•
Authorised personnel are:
A policeman authorised by his chief officer
A director general of the security service
A person authorised by the Secretary of State
for Work and Pensions or the Department of
Trade and Industry
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) or a
member of the Crown Prosecution Service
with the DPP’s authority
The Director of the Serious Fraud Squad
The Director of the Assets Recovery Agency
A person authorised by the Commissioners of
HMRC
For criminal matters:
DEED PLANS
Many of the deeds of transfer or conveyances,
particularly where the property is part of a developers
estate, will have Deed Plans annexed to them. These
may be at a greater scale than those provided by the
Land Registry and may contain accurate
measurements, dimensions and/or angles.
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ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
In the event that none of the documents we have
provided to you are sufficient to help you resolve your
dispute we would suggest that you proceed as follows:
4
Consider applying to the Land Registry for a
Determined Boundary.
5 Make application to the Court.
1 Check to see if there are any non-digital documents
referred to that you have not yet obtained and make an
application for them, using search LR 3x.
The above have been listed in ascending order of cost.
Please note that the first step to any of the above is to
obtain the documents that we have just sent you, so
even if they have not helped you yet, they are an
essential first step to any steps that you take to resolve
your dispute.
2
Consider entering into a formal Boundary
Agreement with your neighbour. The agreement will
have to be registered against the Title to your property
and your neighbour’s property.
3 Offer to purchase the relevant disputed parcel of
your neighbour’s property, if relevant.
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1 PAPER DEEDS
Please browse our LR3x searches. The type of documents we may be able to obtain for you consist of:
•
•
A Deed referred to in the Register but which has not been scanned by the Land Registry
A Deed that has not been referred to in the Register, but which you know to exist. You will need to provide
the date and type of document.
2 FORMAL BOUNDARY AGREEMENT
f you can come to an agreement with your neighbour about who owns which part of the boundary this can be
encapsulated in a formal boundary agreement. This will have to be supported by a detailed survey plan from a
surveyor who is experienced in Boundary Surveys. The surveyor would also prepare the Boundary Agreement and
would register this with the Land Registry against both adjoining property Titles. The Agreement denoted on the
Title Register for the properties is that both neighbours have agreed that the boundary positions are as indicated.
This is a Boundary Surveyor who operates nationally and whom we can recommend.
Boundary Surveyor
David Doughty
SDA Architecture & Surveying
The Old Post Office
Wellington Road
Oxton
Birkenhead
CH43 2JF
0161 651 1789
[email protected]
3 PURCHASE
If it has not been possible to agree the boundary positions with your neighbour, and it appears that the relevant
parcel of land may in actuality belong to your neighbour you could ask him to sell the said parcel of land to you.
This would then proceed as a normal sale but supported by a detailed plan, again, drawn by an experienced
boundary surveyor.
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4 DETERMINED BOUNDARY
You can apply to HM Land Registry for a Determined Boundary. Before doing so, however, you will have to have
agreed the precise position of the boundaries with your neighbour, and your neighbour will have to consent to the
application. The Land Registry, will more precisely describe on the Register the boundary position that has been
determined.
5 HIGH COURT (CHANCERY DIVISION)
If all else fails then all that remains is to apply to the court. The court will only hear the case once all relevant
documents have been disclosed and surveyors reports agreed (or attempted to be agreed). Litigation can be very
expensive and this course of action should only be taken as a last resort.
SAMPLE BOUNDARY REFERENCES
PROPERTY ADDRESS
The A section of the Title Register describes the
address by reference to the Plan
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AMENDMENTS TO TITLE PLAN
The Title Plan is sometimes updated, and this will be
referred to in the A section of the Register. The sample
below is a further extract from the Title Register
referred to above. The area in red edging has been
extended from what it previously was. This entry
clarifies that the present Title Plan shows the extended
plan.
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DESCRIPTION IN A DEED
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REFERENCE TO A DEED PLAN
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The above conveyance continues the property
description by referring to a Deed Plan that is
attached to another conveyance. Sufficient
details of that conveyance are provided to
obtain a copy.
PARTY WALL DECLARATIONS
This extract from a transfer deed refers to one of the walls of the property, declaring it to be a Party Wall, and states
that it shall be maintained at the joint expense of the owners on each side of it.
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The following extract from a title register expressly states that the boundary walls and fences are not party walls and
fences but are maintainable by the owner of that property. This is supported by a deed plan which has been filed
and would therefore be provided with our Boundary search.
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IMPLIED BOUNDARIES
In this Title Register extract found in the C section the owner has the right to enter adjoining property in connection
with drains and sewers. The part of the adjoining property marked in brown and yellow on a Deed Plan, which is
referred at the end of the paragraph, belongs to the adjoining land. The said sewers and drains are on the adjoining
land and the border must fall short of them. The Deed Plan will almost certainly contain more detail of the boundary
positions.
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BOUNDARY PROVISIONS
The A section of the register will sometimes contain provisions as to boundary structures. The provisions will benefit
the property. In this example the C register also refers to the deed containing the provisions and states that a copy
of it has been filed, which means that it would be provided with our Boundary Search. This Deed would make an
important contribution to the determination of boundary rights between the adjoining owners.
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EXACT MEASUREMENTS
Because of the wording of this covenant that has been cited in a Title Register there is a clear implication that any
such boundary wall or building that is built lies further out than 20 feet from the back edge of the footway in Earlton
Road, and further out than 15 feet of the back edge of a footway on Rose Mount Drive.
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In the above sample a copy plan has also been filed, which will illustrate the positioning.
BETWEEN POINTS A AND B
The following extract from the B section of a title register lists a personal covenant that affects only the current
owner. It does not run with the land and will not affect a subsequent purchaser unless he enters into a similar
covenant. The purchaser has covenanted to erect a fence between points marked A and B on a deed plan, a copy
of which has been filed by the Land Registry and which would form part of our Boundary Search.
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HEDGES AND DITCHES
Common Law Boundary Presumptions are common law (case law) rights that only apply in the absence of contrary
agreement or where an Act of Parliament supersedes that right. Therefore it is very important to look at any
documents that may constitute a contrary agreement before attempting to apply a Legal Presumption.
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If there is a Contrary Agreement it will almost certainly be evidenced in the property’s title documents. These are
the documents that we supply to you as part of our Boundary Search. You should read these first, before reading
our enclosed guide on Common Law Boundary Presumptions.
Where two properties are divided by a hedge (or bank) and a ditch the boundary is presumed to be on the far side
of the ditch from the hedge. This presumption is based on the premise that the owner of the land, standing on his
side of the boundary looking towards his own land, dug his drainage ditch within his own land and planted a hedge
on the mound of earth removed from the ditch. This presumption can be rebutted by evidence to the contrary. In any
event it only applies to man-made ditches and does not apply if at the time the ditch was dug the land on either side
was owned by the same person.
GARDEN FENCES
If the title documents are silent then in the case of a fence with posts or struts on one side the general presumption
is that the owner on the side with the posts or struts owns it and is responsible for its upkeep.
Fences should normally be on the boundary line and the cost of erecting or repairing should normally be borne
equally between the adjoining owners.
If the fence is supported by upright posts on one side, there is a presumption that it belongs to the owner on that
side.
Fences that detrimentally affect adjoining land or obstruct the view can be removed by obtaining a court order under
the Property Law Act 1952.
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