A boundary dispute is a dispute, usually between neighbours, as to who has rights over a particular area of land, typically on the boundary of the neighbouring properties.
We have been fortunate enough never to have been involved in such a dispute ourselves, but we have friends and relatives who have and we have observed it can push SMI stress levels through the roof - see our post entitled "Have an SMI™ (Stress Management Index™) to accompany your BMI" for a full definition of what we term SMI.
After all, a home is a place of sanctuary and any perceived threat to it is felt incredibly personally. Thus a boundary dispute can illicit huge emotion and upset, meaning the parties to it can come at the issue from extremely polarised positions.
Centralised Land Registries often provide a conclusive indication as to who owns or has rights to what, but problems may often arise where a right for example has been granted historically between prior owner neighbours by contracting personally, or where one neighbour assets rights over a part of next door's property as a result of prolonged, unchallenged usage.
Given the level of high emotion, these disputes can often escalate quickly. But this doesn't help anyone and instead only increases the risk of having to go to court to resolve the issue, which can cost thousands of pounds on both sides.
And no amount of posturing or bullying is likely to solve the problem either.
So constructive communication between both parties is key - the parties are best served trying as best they can to detach from emotion and validate one another's views in the hope of identifying common ground and a compromise between them.
If that fails, a more cost effective alternative to going to court might be for the neighbours to agree to appoint a specialist independent mediator to help resolve the matter between them. This may not succeed in finding an acceptable solution that both parties consider satisfactory and agree to be bound by, but it may help narrow down the key issues in a manner that enables the parties to make progress themselves subsequently or reduce costs if the dispute regrettably proceeds to court.
And finally, if a house owner ever suffers an unexpected boundary challenge which cannot satisfactorily be resolved by consulting relevant Land Registrations, it could be worth contacting any professional services provider such as a registered solicitor or conveyancer who represented them on the purchase of the property before engaging with the other party themselves to see if they can shed any light on it first.
For a further exploration of considerations alluded to above, please see our earlier posts entitled "The Dangers of Litigation to Stressbusting™", "Break Time Quickie - Don’t try to be a Police Chief!", "There is nothing to be gained from a "Mexican Stand Off" & "5 Key Steps to Stressbusting™ Decision Making".
Love as always,
MikeyM™&LouLoU™
Xxxxx