Extension encroaching on council land

[Tgeorge]

Me and my semi-detached neighbour have an odd boundary at the rear - rather than a rectangular garden, we have a triangular one sort of like shown in the picture (red area is council owned land and green is the neighbours - the council land is unused and overgrown and no one has access to the land).

It appears to me that my neighbours 4m rear extension may slightly encroach into the council land. Permission has been granted and works are underway. If it was a 3m extension it may have come in within the boundary.

My question - what is the implication of this given that the council has approved? When I do my extension, can I also do the same - encroach a little? What are the risks? Its unusable land and no one has access to it. Historically the council have owned it as there is a stream running behind the property and this may have been a drainage area. There are no obvious fences or markings, the title deeds show the odd-shaped ownership but ordinance maps do not.

 

[charliegolf]

Well you can apply for and get PP on land you don't own. There is no implied gifting of the land to your neighbour because PP is granted. Nothing would stop the council seeking enforcement action, if they chose to. And the issue may well rear its head on sale, too. The only failsafe way is to look to purchase the strip of land.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I'd be tempted to shift the fence

 

[IT Minion]

Sounds like some new fences, dated photos and a 10 year wait for adverse possession paperwork.

 

[jeds]

The main issue is that the outline of your boundary may not match the title plan registered with Land registry. This does come up quite regularly during property sales and can be difficult to resolve. My advice is check your land registry title and see what is shows. Sometimes the red lines are very thick (which would mean it covers a wide strip of land on the ground) and sometimes the line can follow a different line to that on the ground. I'd start there. you might be lucky.

 

[johnny2007]

Sounds like some new fences, dated photos and a 10 year wait for adverse possession paperwork.

This is exactly what you should do.
And to make it worthwhile take a good slice of the council land.
I thought adverse possession was 7 years though.

 

[charliegolf]

The thickness of the line is immaterial. The line is meant to be of no thickness, and only approximates the boundary. Unless a boundary has been determined, that is, which is a very accurate, agreed process that would not be missed in a purchase or search.

 

[jeds]

A line on paper at 1:1250 can represent a line on the ground at 800mm, 900mm, even a metre wide. I've seen lines on older LR title plans made with thick pens that could be a couple of metres on the ground. The actual, original, boundary line is not usually marked on title plans. It may be possible to locate it on the ground but very often it isn't. Not without special boundary line xray vision glasses.

 

[Tigercubrider]

is the council land effectively landlocked?