In this article, Trainee Solicitor, Chelsea Jeffs outlines everything you need to know about non-molestation orders.
Recently, a case has been reported in Colchester where a homeowner has been unable to sell her house due to a boundary line which splits the ownership of one room of the house with a neighbour. The case is detailed in this report.
As a brief summary of the situation, the house is on an estate which was built by a national developer in 2006. The deeds show the boundary line overhangs a shared driveway between two neighbouring houses, which effectively divides one bedroom in the house in question. This is clearly an error made when the plans were drawn up and missed by the conveyancers at the time. The homeowner was not aware of it until she tried to sell the property recently, and the issue unfortunately led to the sale falling through.
Frettens Conveyancing Executive, Juliet Powis, says that this issue is quite rare, but it does demonstrate how crucial it is for Conveyancers to be thorough and precise, even when this seems laborious for clients who want to be in their new property, so they want the sale to go through quickly.
She comments “When the lady in question bought her property, it was a new building purchased from the developer. New builds can be particularly complex because the plans are all new and all of the utilities and amenities, such as underground pipes for your water, form part of what you are purchasing. It is vital that the documentation makes it clear who owns what and whose responsibility it would be to maintain those utilities and boundaries. In theory, the neighbour does not have to ‘give up’ the ownership of that section of property, and it may require some negotiation or purchase of that part of property.
“A conveyancer will always check the plans supplied with a contract pack and ask their client to ensure that the boundaries in the plan match those their client has inspected at the property. It is also an idea for clients to talk to their proposed new neighbours at an early stage in the transaction if possible, to identify the position of and responsibility for maintaining the boundaries and then to check this corresponds with the information supplied by the seller. In this case, I hope that the developer and their solicitor will be able to rectify the information held at the land registry and enable the homeowner to sell the property on. It is a useful reminder of why we are meticulous with all the paperwork in your purchase.”
Our Conveyancing Team, based in Christchurch, also cover Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest. If you have any questions, you only have to ask us at Frettens. Please call 01202 499255 and Juliet or her team, will be happy to chat about your situation and you particular requirements.