Most registered titles only represent “general boundaries” unless the owner of the registered land has entered into a boundary agreement or has determined the boundary line by a court or land registration office. This means that the land registration plan provides an approximation of the range of properties rather than an accurate depiction.
In a recent Court of Appeals decision in Clapham v Nagaga, the court confirmed that the plan for land registration is usually irrelevant to establishing where the boundaries lie.
The incident was a long-term controversy between property owners in Leicestershire's neighbouring Leicestershire. Lined with each other and separated by streams: the owners of 24, 25, 26 are on the south side of the stream (running east to west on either side with a steep slope), and Mrs. Nagra is on the stream The barn I owned in the north. Mrs. Nagra purchased the property, believing that her boundaries ran south of the stream and through the gardens of her neighbors. This belief was based on a land registration plan that she said clearly marked her boundaries.
The court in Clapham v Nagra's decision stated that the title plan “does not pretend to be accurate” and that the purpose of the plan is to identify the property involved and not to identify where its boundaries lie.
If the land registration plan does not identify boundaries, how do you check where the boundaries are? The boundary can be determined by examining the pre-registration act and its location on the ground and looking “below” of the register. The starting point is the title deed, the old communication and planning. If the action and old plan are insufficiently clear to a reasonable amateur to determine the position of the boundary, other “extrinsic” evidence, including physical features on the ground, can be considered. Also, legal estimates that may support, such as “hedge and groove rules,” that if two properties are divided by hedges and grooves, the boundary is along the edge of the groove that is furthest from the hedge or bank. There are also. It is presumed that the landowner is digging a trench and placing it against his boundaries, bringing the earth back to his land and planting a hedge above.
If there is doubt, the neighboring owner may agree to the exact location of the boundary, which can be recorded in the boundary agreement. If this is not possible, the exact boundary can be determined by either the land registry, courts, or a variety of alternative dispute resolution procedures.
If you are concerned about establishing a place where boundaries exist, contact Johanne Spittle, Director & Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution on Malton 01653 692247, or email johanne.spittle@warekay.co.uk .
