If you don’t want costs to run away with you then you must first understand what goes on in a boundary dispute and then work out the tactics you need to employ to efficiently (in time and money terms) set about resolving your dispute.

Contents

 There’s no such thing as theft of land

 The Cost of a Dispute

 Behaviour types

 What is the real problem?

 Goals to aim for

 Tactics you might use

 Conclusion

There’s no such thing as theft of land

Any estate agent will sell you a house that, incidentally, has a piece of land attached to it. Your conveyancing solicitor will tell you that you are actually buying a piece of land that, incidentally, happens to have a house on it (and which may also enjoy the benefits of certain easements and be burdened with other easements and interests).

Either way, the land is likely to be the most expensive purchase you are ever going to make. The land itself has monetary value. So if your neighbour removes some of the land from your garden and places it within his (by moving a fence) then he is stealing from you – just as surely as he is stealing if he removes your car from your possession and assumes all of the benefits of ownership of the vehicle for himself.

So, you would think, the sooner the law recognises the concept of “theft of land” the better.

But why does the law not recognise theft in relation to land?

Think about the car. There is absolute certainty as to who owns the car. The car’s ownership is registered (according to the demands of the law) at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The agents of the law (police) can very quickly establish the identity of the true owner of the car.

Think about the land. Certainly, Land Registry unambiguously records title to land: but Land Registry is very unlikely to know precisely where your boundary is, unless the boundary is one of the pitifully few “fixed boundaries” or one of the very recent and still very few “determined boundaries”. So there is no certainty as to the precise position of the boundary and it would be difficult to establish whether “theft” of the land had actually occurred

Until such time as we have a record of the precise position of every property boundary in the country (and that time appears to be so far away that it can be called never) then it would be very difficult to fairly try the proposed crime of land theft.

So in the meantime you must accept that there is no such thing as the theft of land and get on with resolving your dispute with your neighbour.

There is no authority that can step in and tell you and your neighbour - quickly, cheaply and unequivocally - exactly where your boundary is. There is one authority, the County Court or the High Court, than can work out for you – at great cost of both time and money – where your boundary is.

If you want to resolve your dispute without unnecessary expenditure of time and money it is essential that you and your neighbour:

• remain on amicable terms throughout;
• accept that neither of you actually knows precisely where the boundary is;
• work together to understand (with the help of this web site) how the system of general boundaries operates;
• ascertain from each other the factors that have led to the dispute;
• negotiate with each other a settlement that mitigates those factors, and if necessary
• have Land Registry record in an appropriate manner the position of the boundary that you have agreed upon.

Contents

The Cost of a Dispute

How much does it cost to resolve a boundary dispute?

This can range from almost nothing to more than £100,000 (the higher figure assumes that the dispute is resolved at the court of first instance and is not taken to appeal).

Below is an extract from an email that I wrote in May 2006 in response to an enquiry:

How long does it take to resolve a dispute?

It can be done in half an hour with a discussion over the garden fence. It can take five years if you take the matter all of the way to court.

Are there other costs?

The emotional and psychological strain can be severe. It is not unknown for one of the protagonists to become very ill and for trials to be deferred pending the recovery of the affected person.

What sentence can the court impose?

The court’s role is to decide where the boundary is, and the court has discretion to make orders as to the future behaviour of one or both of the parties to the dispute. The court may also award costs in favour of the party that wins the case, but the court does not impose a custodial sentence on the party that loses the case. However, protagonists have been known to behave in a manner that is seen as a contempt of court and have been sent to prison as a result.

What influences the cost of a dispute, and the time it takes to resolve it?

There are many different ways of settling a dispute, and these are described below under the heading “Goals to aim for”. Some of these goals are inherently more expensive than others.

The goal you aim for may be determined by the behaviour pattern you or your neighbour chooses to follow, so I shall discuss behaviour types first.

Contents

Behaviour types

The type of behaviour that you and your neighbour engage in can greatly affect the cost of your boundary dispute. Here are the main behavioural types.

1.   Anything for a Quiet Life

It can be very tempting to just concede whatever your neighbour wants. It is quick, it is cheap, and it may minimise the emotional and psychological damage that you could suffer in a boundary dispute.

Disadvantages: How do you know that, because your neighbour was given such an easy victory this time, he won’t come back for more easy pickings in the future?

2.         2.   The Man (or woman) of Principle

The Man of Principle knows what is right and what is wrong, and he won’t tolerate wrong-doing in others. He knows where his boundary is, he believes in justice, and he won’t quit until he sees that justice is done (or until he finds out that justice is, on this occasion, not on his side).

Don’t be a Man of Principle when you could be a Negotiator and resolve your dispute much more quickly, cheaply and with far less bother.

If you find yourself in dispute with a neighbour who is a Man of Principle then everything becomes very black-and-white and you probably have only two options:

• adopt the Anything for a Quiet Life mentality, or
• settle in for a potentially long and expensive resolution of the dispute conducted in a formal manner, such as mediation or a county court trial.

3.   The Negotiator

The Negotiator will first of all try to establish precisely what the problem is (see below for some frequently encountered problems). He will then want to understand the problem and the means of rectifying it. Next he will consider both what he is seeking from a resolution and what he is prepared to concede in order to resolve the problem.

The Negotiator will then make an opening offer to the other party. If the other party is also a Negotiator, then he will make a response and a counteroffer. The Negotiator will consider the response and counteroffer, and make a further offer.

The aim is to arrive at a settlement that both parties can accept, and preferably a settlement that allows both parties to feel that they have gained something from the negotiation (the win-win situation).

The purpose of negotiating your way out of a dispute is to achieve a settlement quickly and cheaply and to get on with your life.

Being a Negotiator is by far the best way of settling a boundary dispute, but it only works if your neighbour is also a Negotiator.

4.   The Bully

The Bully is someone who won’t see any point of view other than his own and won’t negotiate – he wants his own way and nothing less.

The Bully is quick to tell you what horrors will befall you if you do not concede to his every demand. The Bully will not expect you to stand up to him – experience tells him that most people are afraid of him, and it is other people’s fear that encourages him to continue using bullying as a tactic.

There are two ways of dealing with a bully:

• present him with an unanswerable case that you are in the right: to do this you need a professional opinion (but note what I say below about professional opinions);
• treat him as if he was a Poker Player, and become a Poker Player yourself – which takes nerve.

5.   The Poker Player

For many people, poker is a difficult card game to understand. Poker is not about holding the strongest hand, but about making the other players think that you hold the strongest hand.

To play poker, one player lays a bet (or stake) that he holds the strongest hand. Each player in turn then has to decide whether to quit, to meet the stake or to raise the stake.

• A quitter decides that he has a weak hand and that he will be unable to bluff his opponents that he has a strong hand. He forfeits any stake that he has already placed on that hand and plays no further part in the hand.
• A player (who is one of only two remaining players) meets his opponent by matching his opponent’s latest stake but demanding that both players show their cards in order to determine who has the stronger hand.
• A player who goes on and on raising the stake is a player who has the nerve, or the resources, to continue playing until all his opponents quit.

A poker game usually ends when it becomes clear that none of the other players have sufficient money with which to continue playing against the player who is able to continue raising the stakes.

There are analogies to be made between a boundary dispute and a poker game.

• The owner with the best case as to the position of the boundary is the player with the stronger hand.
• The neighbour who tries to convince him otherwise is the card player who is bluffing.
• The owner who hasn’t the stomach, or perhaps the money, to take the dispute further is a quitter.

If you find that your neighbour is a Poker Player then you have little choice but to play along with him.

It is not all bad news though. You can try to “meet” him and call his bluff.

• For example, you could do this at an early stage by saying to him, “I’ll make a copy of my title deeds to show to you if you will show me a copy of your title deeds.”
• If that doesn’t resolve the issue then you can try again at a later stage: “Now that we have both received our respective surveyor’s reports it is time that we exchanged those reports.”
• Or again, you can say, “Let our respective surveyors meet and agree between themselves a solution that will be binding upon us.”

If you have a strong case and know that your neighbour’s case is weak then you have to summon the nerve to make your neighbour think that you can go on and on raising the stake. Your hope will be that your neighbour will either quit or meet you. But raising the stakes is a dangerous game that could end up in an expensive court case.

Having read this description of behaviour types, you will hopefully conclude that by far the most sensible behaviour to adopt is that of The Negotiator, and that it is necessary to persuade your neighbour to be a Negotiator too. That way, there is a chance that you both may win, and you will certainly reduce the cost, the time and the distress that would otherwise attend your boundary dispute.

Contents

What is the real problem?

A boundary dispute may arise when a technical problem is uncovered relating to the position of the boundary:

• incompatibility of title deeds: yours and your neighbour’s tell different stories as to the position of the boundary;
• inadequacy of title deeds: the boundary descriptions are so poor as to be difficult to understand, or even meaningless;
• errors in title deeds: his deeds carry a dimension that your neighbour holds as the gospel truth when anyone can see that the dimension must be wrong because it just doesn't fit any physical features past or present;
• failure to understand general boundaries: your neighbour swears blind that the boundary is where Land Registry says it is;

Very often, such technicalities may be aired in pursuit of a dispute, which isn’t actually a boundary dispute at all, but a dispute in which your neighbour has another agenda, such as:

• he is trying to regain a few inches that he feels were lost when your predecessor erected the ancient fence that you are now proposing to replace;
• he is trying to take control of your hedge because, although you would like it to remain in place, he wants to replace it with a fence so as to maximise the space within his garden;
• he is trying to take control of your hedge because he would like it to remain in place whereas you would prefer to replace it with a fence so as to maximise the space within your garden;
• his current needs exceed the old specifications to which his house was built 
  [eg. his drive is not wide enough to allow him to park a car beside his Victorian house - but there weren't any cars in Victorian times!]
  [eg. he now wishes to drive wider vehicles than his access way was designed to accommodate];
• he is trying to overcome the totally inadequate design of his small front garden (an increasing problem in areas of high density modern housing), particularly the contorted access onto his driveway or into his garage, and he needs some of your land to be able to get his car in and out without damaging it;
• he lacks the land to satisfy his development plans [his land simply won't accommodate the minimum sized garage or extension between the side of his house and the boundary];
• avarice: he has tried to grab some land whilst he thinks no-one is looking, either by occupying some apparently waste land, or by erecting or moving a fence onto his neighbour's land whilst it is unoccupied;
• avarice after the event: he has spotted that the title plan puts the boundary in a different place from where his fence is, ie. he thinks he is entitled to more land than he actually purchased;
• he is trying to avoid responsibility for maintaining the retaining wall that supports your land;
• he is trying to get you to pay for necessary repairs to a retaining wall (that you think he owns) that supports his land;
• he is a NIMBY (not in my back yard) who has been unsuccessful in objecting to your planning application and is now trying a boundary dispute as a means of thwarting your plans;
• he is treating you as the new kid on the block and is subjecting you to painful initiation rites before being accepted into the community;
• he is sticking to his principles, even though it would be better for all parties if he were to enter into a negotiated settlement (removal of antagonism, reduced expense, quicker resolution);
• he is suffering from a terminal breakdown in neighbourly relationships: relations between you and your neighbour are at such a low ebb that he will do anything to annoy you, even to the extreme of tying you into a boundary dispute to prevent you from selling up and moving when it would clearly be in his best interest to do all that he can to facilitate your move.

Once you have ascertained what it is that drives your neighbour's thinking you are in a better position to start negotiating with him, or to decide what other course of action to take if negotiation is not a viable action.

Contents

Goals to aim for

The Starting Point

It is so important that it needs repeating:

If you want to resolve your dispute without unnecessary expenditure of time and money it is essential that you and your neighbour:

• remain on amicable terms throughout;
• accept that neither of you actually knows precisely where the boundary is;
• work together to understand (with the help of this web site) how the system of general boundaries operates;
• ascertain from each other the factors that have led to the dispute.

From this starting point you can aim for any of the goals that are listed below. It may be that you aim for one of the low-numbered goals early on the list below, but fail nevertheless to achieve a settlement of the dispute. In this case you will need to aim for a higher-numbered goal lower on the list. In general terms, the further down the list you go, the more expensive and time-consuming your dispute will be.

Goal 1 - Neighbourly Agreement

This is an action to be undertaken jointly with your neighbour.

Given that that there is no authority that can tell you precisely where your boundary is (short of the expense of asking a county court or high court judge), and given that the boundary affects only you and your neighbour, then the cheapest, quickest and easiest way to resolve your dispute is to sort it out between yourselves.

This of course requires a will on both sides to act jointly.

If you have difficulty in understanding the technical issues surrounding the boundary, such as a difficulty in interpreting the title deeds, then why not jointly instruct a chartered land surveyor to assist you with this? A surveyor who is jointly instructed cannot be prejudiced towards the interests of only one party, and will have access to all of the background information held by each party. The assistance of a chartered land surveyor is likely to cost somewhere between £300 and £1,000.

If the settlement that you agree places the boundary in a position different from the position shown on the Land Registry title plan then you should ask the chartered land surveyor to draw up a plan for a Determined Boundary to be recorded by Land Registry. This will prevent any future disputes by recording the precise position of the boundary. A chartered land surveyor is likely to charge up to £1,000 to survey and draw a Determined Boundary.

There is the possibility that Land Registry will insist on a Transfer Deed being drawn up to record the transfer of land if they consider it to be a significant amount of land. There will clearly be solicitors and Land Registry fees associated with this.

Goal 2 - Rectification of title plan

This is an action that is usually undertaken by one side only, and frequently results in the scoring of an own goal, so is best avoided.

In cases where the general boundary recorded by Land Registry is clearly misleading (I have put at least three examples on this web site), it is tempting to apply for a rectification of the title plan. The logic of this approach is that once you have Land Registry on your side it will be easier to convince your neighbour of the strength of your case.

From experience, I would advise against this. Land Registry has only to record the general position of the boundary, and they are required to do this using the Ordnance Survey map. Ordnance Survey makes no enquiries as to where property boundaries are located and simply maps the physical features that it finds. Land Registry will resist making changes to a title plan, and will sometimes seek to refute even the most consistent of professional arguments as to why they should do so.

So, having applied to bring Land Registry onto your side and having failed in the process, you will have wasted valuable time and money, and you will have given your neighbour the opportunity to taunt you with the “fact” that Land Registry do not believe in your case. That’s rather like scoring an own goal.

You must remember that Land Registry are concerned only with the general boundary and not with the precise position of the legal boundary. You and your neighbour are fighting over the precise position of the legal boundary. So if you should gain Land Registry’s support, it is support for something other than what your dispute is centred on. In other words, even if you get Land Registry’s support, it may not help you win your case.

Goal 3 - Boundary Agreement

This is an action to be undertaken jointly with your neighbour.

As far as I am aware, Land Registry will still accept a Boundary Agreement (as opposed to a Determined Boundary) for noting on the register.

The requirement is that the landowners on both sides of the agreed boundary must make the request. It seems that any drawing of the boundary is acceptable provided that it allows any person to unambiguously locate the position of the boundary. Thus a sketch map drawn by a layman is acceptable, provided that there are enough enduring features shown, and enough dimensions to indicate where the boundary lies relative to those features. However, a layman may have difficulty in knowing how much detail is needed to make the plan unambiguous. In this case you would be well advised to get a chartered land surveyor to draw the plan, and it would then be foolish not to opt for a Determined Boundary.

Goal 4 - Determined Boundary by Agreement

This is an action to be undertaken jointly with your neighbour.

This is an action that can be taken if you and your neighbour are in full agreement with each other and if the precise position of the boundary is somewhere other than where the Land Registry title plan shows the general boundary. You and your neighbour should jointly instruct a chartered land surveyor.

You and your neighbour should simply point out the position of the boundary to the chartered land surveyor and leave him to get on with the surveying that is necessary.

You and your neighbour might not know precisely where the boundary is but still be on amicable enough terms to take the advice of a chartered land surveyor and to agree the boundary on the basis of that advice. Seeking the surveyor’s opinion before settling on the position of the boundary will cost a few hundred pounds more than if you are in a position to simply tell him where you and your neighbour have agreed the boundary to be.

Goal 5 - Determined Boundary by application to Land Registry

This is an action to be undertaken unilaterally, but it has little track record yet.

Land Registry will accept an application for a Determined Boundary from a landowner who does not have the agreement of his neighbour as to the position of their boundary. A suitable plan is required (prepared by a chartered land surveyor or other surveyor of equal professional standing), together with form DB.

Land Registry’s first action will be to contact the neighbouring owner for his opinion as to the position of the boundary. If they obtain your neighbour’s agreement then they will presumably go ahead and process the application.

If your neighbour does not agree then Land Registry will refer the application to the office of the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry, a separate organisation within the Lord Chancellor’s Department that is independent of Land Registry. The Adjudicator’s role is to decide the application, but the Adjudicator has the power to refer the matter to the County Court.

It thus appears that a unilateral application for a Determined Boundary may turn into a one-way ticket to legal proceedings – and there are other, more palatable, goals to aim for in preference to legal proceedings.

Goal 6 - Arbitration

This is an action that can be undertaken only with the agreement of your neighbour.

Arbitration is a dispute resolution process that is carried out by an independent third party who has expertise in the matters to be decided upon. Arbitration can take a number of forms, ranging from a desk exercise (in which papers relating to the dispute are considered by the arbitrator in isolation) to a semi-formal hearing (rather like a court case).

The arbitrator’s decision is binding upon the participants, and is likely to be upheld by a court if either you or your neighbour should be sufficiently upset by the outcome to want to take the dispute further.

The advantages claimed for arbitration are: that you gain expert input to the resolution of the dispute (provided that you choose an appropriately experienced arbitrator); that the process is quicker and cheaper than taking the matter to court.

Goal 7 - Mediation

This is an action that can be undertaken only with the agreement of your neighbour.

Mediation is a dispute resolution process that is seen as a way to achieve creative solutions whilst leaving the decisions in the hands of the parties to the dispute (unlike arbitration and the courts, which take the decision-making away from the parties to the dispute). A trained mediator will be capable of uncovering the real issues underlying the dispute. The mediator will facilitate negotiation between the parties, usually by physically separating them from each other whilst exploring with each of them in turn the strengths and weaknesses of their standpoints and carrying offers and counter-offers back and forth until a mutually acceptable solution is arrived at.

The costs involved in mediation usually include the hire of three rooms in a conference centre, the mediator’s time and (if you involve them too) the time of your solicitor and your professional expert (surveyor in the case of a boundary dispute). It should be possible to complete a mediation in a single day.

Mediation should be quicker and cheaper than going to court, and it should result in a settlement in which both parties feel they have gained something (the win-win situation that contrasts with the winner-and-loser scenario imposed by a court).

Goal 8 - Legal Proceedings

This is the action that you and you neighbour will get dragged into if you are unable to reach a settlement by other means.

Going to court is likely to be bad news.

Most lawyers will tell you that, no matter how strong your case, it is notoriously difficult to predict the outcome in court of a boundary dispute. Some go so far as to call it a lottery.

You can expect to spend somewhere between £20,000 and £50,000 in taking your case to court. If you should lose the case, then the judge has discretion to award costs, up to 100% of costs (although 70% is more usual), in favour of your neighbour. Thus, if you lose, your total bill could come to £100,000.

If you win the case then your neighbour has the option of taking the case to appeal. This will prolong the agony and increase the expense.

If you lose then you need to think extremely carefully about appealing the decision: it is very rare for an appeal to overturn the decision of the court of first instance.

The mechanics of a trial: the Claimant’s solicitor will apply to the court and will be given a date, probably six months away, for an initial hearing.

There are likely to be one or more hearings before the trial itself. There are a number of reasons for this. One is that since the Woolf reforms of the 1990s, judges are encouraged to manage cases more directly, and will often urge the litigants to undertake some form of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation. If this fails to resolve the matter then there is likely to be a directions hearing at which the judge will ascertain whether both parties have completed all of the preparations (statement of claim, statement of defence, bundle of evidence) and are ready for a trial. Then there is the trial itself.

Boundary dispute trials tend to take about three days. If the trial overruns then the judge will set a date, often a few months on, for the continuation of the trial. If time runs out on the final day of the trial then the judge may declare yet another date for the delivery of his or her judgment.

If your boundary dispute is settled in court, then you can expect a total elapsed time for the dispute (from the day you first realised you had a problem to the day on which judgment is given) of between two and five years.

From all of the above it should be evident that the best way to resolve a boundary dispute is by Neighbourly Agreement (Goal 1). If this fails, then the best way to resolve matters is by Mediation (Goal 7). Once you have achieved resolution of the dispute you would be well advised to apply to Land Registry for a Determined Boundary (see Goal 4)

 If you have resolved the dispute in court then the judge is likely to direct that his or her decision is recorded (usually by the expert witness/es working on the case) in the form of a plan to be lodged with Land Registry.

Unless you and your neighbour achieve an amicable resolution at a very early stage, then you will probably need to instruct a solicitor and also a chartered land surveyor to act as an expert witness.

Contents

Tactics you might use

Personal research

Hiring professionals to research your boundary for you is expensive. They will rely on you to provide much of the documentary evidence for the boundary. So it makes sense to assemble as much of that evidence as you can (see the Researching Boundaries page of this web site) before engaging professional help.

It also makes sense to understand the principles behind boundary demarcation and to disabuse yourself of the commonly held misconceptions. Make use of this web site, and follow up on some of the books listed in the Further Reading list on the Researching Boundaries page.

Land Registry assistance

Land Registry staff are usually very helpful. As well as the services they offer (of principal use are their information leaflets and the official copies of documents that they can supply) they will often advise on legal concepts and make statements concerning the accuracies of the positions of the boundaries they show.

You should however exercise caution in interpreting the information they give. If they tell you the accuracy of the position in which they show the boundary, this is at best based on their understanding of the published statistics of the accuracies of Ordnance Survey maps. Some Ordnance Survey maps are particularly accurate, others contain positional errors of a few metres: you won’t know which of these accuracies applies to the map covering your land unless you engage a land surveyor to check it for you.

More importantly, you should bear in mind that Land Registry’s thinking is geared to the recording of general boundaries whilst you are interested in the precise position of the legal boundary. It is perfectly acceptable – if unhelpful towards a landowner whose boundary is in dispute - for Land Registry to show a general boundary a few metres away from the precise position of the legal boundary.

Free advice from Citizens Advice Bureau or a Legal Helpline

You can get free advice form Citizens Advice Bureau. You may be entitled to call a legal helpline that is operated by your bank or your insurance company. Again, be careful when accepting their advice. Boundary demarcation is a specialised area and the generalist advice given by these sources may be, in spite of their best intentions, wide of the mark.

Legal Expenses Insurance

Perhaps you have legal expenses insurance, or you home (buildings) insurance includes legal expenses cover. If so, then use it. If you make a legal expenses claim, your insurers will charge you their excess, and all of the remaining costs of resolving your dispute will be met by your insurers.

However, please bear in mind that the first thing your insurers will do is make an assessment of your chances of winning your case. If they believe you have a weak case they will tell you so and they will decline to pursue the matter. If they do so you would be well advised not to try and pursue the matter yourself.

Surveyor’s opinion

A surveyor’s opinion is often a very valuable element in the resolution of a boundary dispute. Indeed, a court will often insist that a surveyor’s opinion is obtained.

Because boundary demarcation is a specialised discipline, it is essential that you engage a surveyor who specialises in, and has much experience of the topic. Because precise measurement and comparison with old maps and plans, and even aerial photographs, is likely to be a feature of any boundary dispute, it is advisable to engage a chartered land surveyor rather than any other kind of surveyor.

A surveyor may be instructed by one party to a dispute, or jointly by both parties. The advantages of joint instructions are:

• it reduces cost - each party pays only half of the fee;
• the surveyor has full access to all of the evidence obtained by both parties and is more likely to get to the truth of the matter than if each party instructs their own surveyor;
• a jointly instructed surveyor will not have to have a meeting with the other side’s surveyor (because there is no other surveyor engaged) in order to try and agree as many issues as possible and explain remaining differences – again saving cost, and time.

A surveyor’s input can assist at any stage of a dispute (ie, with any of the Goals listed above), eg. by

• giving preliminary advice to aid the understanding of the problems associated with the dispute,
• proposing a suitable alignment for adoption as the agreed boundary,
• mapping a boundary that has already been agreed,
• giving a professional opinion as to the true position of the legal boundary,
• providing a professional opinion in the form of an Expert Report compatible with  the requirements of the court,
• appearing in court as an expert witness.

Please bear in mind that, when giving his opinion as to the true position of the legal boundary, a surveyor is conscious that his opinion may later be used in court, and that in those circumstances his overriding duty is to the court even if that runs counter to the interests of the client who is paying his fees. There are two conclusions to draw from this observation:

• if your own surveyor is doing his job properly, he will advise you if he thinks your case is weak and he will withdraw;
• if your neighbour’s surveyor is doing his job properly, then you can be assured that he is not unconditionally prejudiced towards your neighbour’s interests.

Even when you engage the country’s leading surveying expert in boundary demarcation, and when he furnishes an expert report that contains the best research, the best analysis and is the best written report you could ever hope for, you are not guaranteed a favourable outcome.

Your expert’s professional opinion is, in law, no more than an opinion: as such it is open to challenge by anyone, even the most ignorant moron - and your neighbour is likely to challenge it simply because he doesn’t want to concede defeat.

Further, even when your expert is completely and absolutely correct in his opinion as to the position of the boundary, there may be matters of law on which a surveyor is not permitted to form an opinion (such as adverse possession and estoppel). Such legal matters may override the surveyor’s opinion.

Solicitor’s opinion

Your solicitor’s role, whilst it includes giving you legal advice, is to manage your case in your best interests. It stands to reason that a solicitor who has much experience in boundary disputes is likely to serve you better than one whose practice is more generally based.

A good solicitor will know when to advise you to obtain a surveyor’s opinion. A poor one will become involved in a long, costly and inconclusive correspondence with your neighbour’s solicitor before advising you that you need a surveyor’s opinion (which you should probably have sought month’s earlier.

If you do not engage a solicitor but are looking after your own affairs, then treat your neighbour’s solicitor with caution. His job is to look after your neighbour’s interests, and that doesn’t include giving you free or dependable legal advice: he may be trying to persuade you to accept your neighbour’s terms without any reference to the rights and wrongs of the case.

Counsel’s opinion

If you find yourself in the position of having to take your neighbour to court (ie. if you are potentially the Claimant) your solicitor may advise taking counsel’s (ie. a barrister’s) opinion as to the strengths of your case. If counsel’s opinion is that you have a weak case then you should consider proposing a settlement to your neighbour rather than risk the misfortunes that may befall you in court.

Self-representation in court

You can save a fortune by managing your case yourself and by representing yourself in court. Solicitor’s and barrister’s fees are the major expense in a court case. You may, however, be unable to avoid the expense of an expert opinion from a surveyor. If neither party has engaged a surveyor then the judge may insist on a single joint expert appointment. If the other side has used a surveyor and you haven’t then the judge may insist that you engage one.

If you are going to represent yourself, then you are setting yourself an awesome task. You will need considerable time for preparation, and you will have much to learn.

Firstly, you will need to understand the law relating both to boundaries and to all of the other things that may feature in your case, such as adverse possession, estoppel, contract law, planning law, etc. Next you will have to understand how the law is applied in legal argument in court. You will also have to understand the limitations imposed on an expert witness, who is entitled to give his opinion only on matters within his expertise.

For example, a land surveyor may say, “The fence is in my opinion two feet away from the true position of the legal boundary, and I have found evidence to suggest that the fence has been in that position for fifteen years.” He is not entitled to say, “Because the fence has been in its present position for more than twelve years, I have decided that the boundary is now two feet away from where it used to be.” It is a matter for legal judgement, not for a surveyor’s opinion, as to whether the position of the boundary has been moved by the operation of adverse possession.

You will also have to know when legal considerations and witnesses of fact are to be preferred over expert opinion.

Finally, if you represent yourself in court, you will have to be very quick thinking and able to express yourself accurately and concisely.

It is by no means impossible to represent yourself in court, but to put the matter into perspective, would you jump into a Formula 1 car and challenge Michael Schumacher to a race? Taking on your neighbour’s barrister in a courtroom is a comparable exercise.

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Conclusion

If you want to resolve your dispute without unnecessary expenditure of time and money it is essential that you and your neighbour:

• remain on amicable terms throughout;
• accept that neither of you actually knows precisely where the boundary is;
• work together to understand (with the help of this web site) how the system of general boundaries operates;
• ascertain from each other the factors that have led to the dispute;
• negotiate with each other a settlement that mitigates those factors;
• use surveyors and solicitors wisely,
• try to avoid taking the matter to court – if you cannot resolve your dispute between yourselves then use mediation, and if necessary
• have Land Registry record in an appropriate manner the position of the boundary that you have agreed upon.