Border dispute on agricultural land.

tfish · 25 Jun 2012

I’ve got some agricultural land in Scotland and recently the land owner to one side erected a deer fence dividing the land. He was instructed to do this as part of his purchase and its possibly in his deeds.

The issue is the border on the land registry plans is along a stream that goes from south to north along the land. Obviously you can’t put a fence in the middle of the stream so it has t be put about ten meters back from it, which would be fine but hes put it on my side of the border so it’s on my land. Along the border I must lose acres.

Who do I speak to, to get an official verification that this fence is in the wrong position?

Do I speak to the council, a solicitor or a land surveyor first?

^woody^ · 25 Jun 2012

Where a stream divides land, the boundary is deemed to be along the centre of the stream. UNless you have a defined boundary to one side of the stream

Either way if a fence is put up on your side of a boundary, then it is clearly on your land.

You can remove it, licence it or just tell the other landowner that you acknowledge the fence but it does not change the land boundary

You would normally see a Solicitor, who then may or may not need a surveyor to verify land ownership and the fence

As this is Scotland, see a Solicitor anyway as the above may be a bit different

tfish · 25 Jun 2012

Thanks

tfish · 26 Jun 2012

Am I right in thinking any solicitors/surveyors fees etc can be claimed back from the 'offender' if its proven hes acted illegally?

maltaron · 26 Jun 2012

I cannot be certain of the situation in Scotland but here in Cornwall if it is a stock fence it has to be 4ft (1.2m) back from the boundary, this is to prevent your neighbours deer from eating the grass on your side of the river.

^woody^ · 26 Jun 2012

tfish said:
Am I right in thinking any solicitors/surveyors fees etc can be claimed back from the 'offender' if its proven hes acted illegally?

Normally cost are only recoverable from the losing side in court action - at the direction of a judge. Again I'm not sure about Scot law but I would presume it to be the same

^woody^ · 26 Jun 2012

maltaron said:
I cannot be certain of the situation in Scotland but here in Cornwall if it is a stock fence it has to be 4ft (1.2m) back from the boundary, this is to prevent your neighbours deer from eating the grass on your side of the river.

I don't think that is actual law. And the deer would need to be giraffes with the size of some rivers

tfish · 26 Jun 2012

^woody^ said:
tfish said:

Am I right in thinking any solicitors/surveyors fees etc can be claimed back from the 'offender' if its proven hes acted illegally?

Click to expand...

Normally cost are only recoverable from the losing side in court action - at the direction of a judge. Again I'm not sure about Scot law but I would presume it to be the same

If you make a "money claim", which is the way you claim for such things it becomes a court action with your claim going to county court.

maltaron · 27 Jun 2012

^woody^ said:
maltaron said:

I cannot be certain of the situation in Scotland but here in Cornwall if it is a stock fence it has to be 4ft (1.2m) back from the boundary, this is to prevent your neighbours deer from eating the grass on your side of the river.

Click to expand...

I don't think that is actual law. And the deer would need to be giraffes with the size of some rivers

You may well be correct Woody.I mentioned this because my neighbour grazes horses in the field next to my boundary, which is a river (allbeit narrow). He recently told me that he has to move his fence to 4ft back from the river bank to comply with a new law.

^woody^ · 27 Jun 2012

I'll have a look if anything new has come out, but it does seem a bit odd - and very onerous for all land owners. Perhaps he's doing it for another reason as opposed to a an actual regulation

tfish · 2 Jul 2013

This is still ongoing I have had to contact the Land Registry & get a better plan of the land. It shows my border to be "the stream" so he is in the wrong.

Land Registry say there is no chance two plans would contradict each other so he had crossed onto my land (side of the stream) to wack the fence up.

It should only take a firm letter from a solicitor (which I will make him pay for) to get him to see he is fighting a losing battle.

freddiemercurystwin · 2 Jul 2013

Thanks for the update.

Goodluck ......

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Border dispute on agricultural land.

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