Norton Boundary Consultants
Boundaries - why are they so difficult to identify?
The Romans started but left before completing it, the Anglo Saxons made a fair attempt, but it was left to William the Norman, in 1086, to make the first detailed record of title or ownership of land – The Domesday Book. The reason anybody would want to know who owned the land was simple: taxation. If the King knew who was buying and selling a piece of land, he could tax it (and taxes were what the King wanted most, especially Henry VIII!).
In 1535, a law was passed whereby land (property) could be passed from seller to buyer (conveyancing) by way of a "deed", and so that conveyancing was not done in secret - thereby avoiding the taxes - another law was passed which required every deed to be registered.
In the hope of improving the situation during the time of the Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell referred to this "ungodly mess", but had little success in resolving the situation. Unfortunately, as with so many laws passed with good intent, a way round registration was discovered. It was not until December 1990 that it became compulsory to register throughout England and Wales.
Many good attempts have been made to regularise the ownership of property, and in October 2003 the latest act of Parliament came in to force: the Land Registration Act 2002.
Since the Domesday Book, all land is owned by somebody, whether an individual, an organisation, the Government or the Crown. There are no gaps, and perhaps because registration of property was started so early, England and Wales now have a system that differs from much of the rest of the world.
In England & Wales, there exists Her Majesty's Land Registry, founded in 1862 to record the title deeds of all property. However - and here is the most important point - except under certain circumstances, the exact boundary of each property is not defined in the Registry document.
The boundary of property, as shown at HM Land Registry title plans, is based upon the Ordnance Survey maps: but the Ordnance Survey Act of 1841 specifically stated that the surveys did not identify private boundaries.
In much of Europe, North America or regions of the old "British Empire", a system known as Cadastre exists which allows the boundaries of a parcel of land to be defined exactly, using a national coordinate system.
In England and Wales, HM Land Registry defines the boundaries as "General Boundaries", i.e. sufficient to distinguish one parcel of land from the next. A court may rule that an invisible line can be described as a "Legal Boundary" - but what we see surrounding our gardens is a "Physical Boundary". The difficulty is that these three boundaries may not, and most probably do not, lie in exactly the same place.
Boundaries are usually, but not always, described in the title deeds of a property, and may be in words or in the form of a plan or map. Deeds may be relatively new, as with a modern housing estate, or old as with an ancient manor - unfortunately, because of the method by which property deeds are created, both old and new may be equally inaccurate.
The only real way to be certain that you can identify your boundary is if it has been "determined" and properly recorded at the Land Registry. A determined boundary is one that can be easily measured from fixed points on the property, e.g. the corner of the house.
The initial benefit from properly identified boundaries is simply a saving, for both the buyer and the seller, of money during conveyancing. In 1956 it was believed that, even considering the cost of land registration fees, the saving on the cost of conveyancing to the seller was 30% and to the buyer 20%.
Most land is now registered and the savings from this are well recognised. The use of the "General Boundary", however, can still be the cause of great expense to some property owners.
For example, when considering minor property extensions, such as a porch or conservatory, or even a simple matter such as replacing an oil tank, under revised building regulations you may be constrained by the distance from your boundary, and if you do not know exactly where your boundary is your planned extension may not gain approval.
For further information please contact NBC.