Boundary dispute again

[Nimrod103]

This is not a big disputed area, but it is giving an opportunity to a set of unpleasant neighbours to do a bit of harassment of one of my relatives.

These are two identical suburban detached houses dating from about 1975. The boundary of my relatives property as shown on the Land Registry map is a dead straight line from the road to the end of the back garden. No ownership is shown for any of their boundaries, which leads me to think that the neighbours Land Registry map also shows no ownership. The front gardens are mainly open plan separated only by very low brick retaining walls. I'm not sure whether open plan is stipulated in any covenants.

On the ground, the front low wall is straight, following the LR plan, but takes a kink of about 1m by 3m in front of the side gate,while behind the side gate it kinks back to follow the LR line. This kink was obviously put into the low retaining wall in order to skirt a very large tree and its roots, of which a substantial stump remains on the LR boundary line. It is quite an important area because it is right alongside the side gate access. It is just a bit of shaded front garden, and is not used for anything by anyone, so the question of ownership has not come up before.

The LR map appears to be very clear indeed, that the kinked area belongs to my relative. The low retaining wall around the tree stump is not the boundary, and it seems very likely that ownership of the boundary is shared 50/50 between the houses.

Anyone think I am correct?

[ukmtk]

Not sure if this comes into play if necessary:

https://goodmove.co.uk/blog/10-year-rule-and-beyond-timeframes-and-their-significance-in-uk-squatters-claims/

My brother has dealt with property a lot.
He always points out that LR diagrams are not perfect and allow an interpretation of up to 1m.

[Lootman]

He always points out that LR diagrams are not perfect and allow an interpretation of up to 1m.

Yes although the LR maps usually show boundaries as straight lines, absent topographical features anyway.

In practice people assume that fences denote boundaries. I had one property where the existing fence "kinked into" my land, for no apparent reason.

I assumed that the 10-year rule had been satisfied. But then my neighbour moved out and put his property on the market. I took the opportunity, whilst that property was vacant, to replace the fence with a straight one, restoring the "kink" to me.

No problems arose and the topic never came up with the new neighbour. Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Another time I gained a couple of feet by "generously" rebuilding a fence. A lot of people either do not notice such things, or do not care.

[Nimrod103]

Not sure if this comes into play if necessary:

https://goodmove.co.uk/blog/10-year-rule-and-beyond-timeframes-and-their-significance-in-uk-squatters-claims/

My brother has dealt with property a lot.
He always points out that LR diagrams are not perfect and allow an interpretation of up to 1m.

Yes the LR diagrams are small scale, and therefore open to interpretation of a foot either way perhaps, related to the width of the line drawn on a plan. But if they show a straight line boundary from the road to end of the back garden, that must indicate that it is a straight line boundary, not with a metre kink in it. Otherwise the maps have no value at all.

[ukmtk]

My copy of the LR plan explicitly states:

This title plan shows the general position, not the exact line, of the boundaries.

[brightncheerful]

For about £135. you could buy a comprehensive book written by the late Trevor Aldridge QC, titled "Boundaries, Walls and Fences".