Home Purchase v Engineers Report

Cheesepuffs

Hi

We have recently gone sale agreed on a house of our dreams. We paid the booking deposit and have signed the first set of contracts.

My question is the engineers report stated the boundary wall was about 1/2 foot into the neighbours land. Should that case a problem and at what stage ?

C

Cerco

Have you spoken with your neighbours? I am not suggesting you raise this issue but I would always advise speaking with your immediate neighbours before completing a house purchase.
You need to get a feel for what they are like and if you are likely to face any issues è.g. Noise, parking, unruly children etc. etc. Etc. better to know now rather than later.
Speak with them on a general level, tell them you are proposing to purchase and see if they raise the issue. Ask them about the neighbourhood, any issues, local amenities etc. This will give you a good sense of what they are like.
In the final analysis you need to raise this with your solicitor for guidance...indeed they will probably raise it with you.

Darc19

Another engineer will tell you it's the other way.

6" is hardly noticeable.

How old is the property?

Ask your solicitor if they think it's an issue.

I think it's within a margin of error.

Former Former

I don't think you're in the right forum tbh, but ask yourself two questions:
1. If it came to it and the wall had to be moved, would you be OK with losing those six inches of land?
2. If it came to it and you had to pay for half of the wall construction costs, would you be OK with that?

If the answer is yes, then off you go.

My best guess is that there was a prior disagreement over building a wall on the actual boundary and your prospective neighbour said "f**k this, I'll just build it on my own land"

Xterminator

Its also worth mentioning you don't have any right to put so much as a screw or a coat of paint onto that wall.

daheff

you could offer the neighbours a small sum to regularise the situation and move the boundary to where the wall is actually situated.

Cerco

Op can you confirm if the alleged encroachment is 6” or 1 to 2 feet?
I cannot imagine an engineer/surveyor measuring your boundary to within 6”, unless it was glaringly obvious or there were other factors in play.
To accurately define land boundaries would require a geomatics surveyor to obtain high resolution maps and survey the property. This would not normally be part of a regular pre-purchase home survey.