Questions about boundaries and rights of way

Usually not. Most registered titles show only “general boundaries”: the red line on the title plan shows the approximate position of the boundary, not its exact line on the ground. On a plan drawn at 1:2,500 — the usual scale for rural land — a line half a millimetre wide covers more than a metre of ground.

To find the legal boundary, the starting point is normally the conveyance or transfer that first divided the land, read with its plan and with what was on the ground at the time. It is possible to apply to HM Land Registry for a “determined boundary”, which fixes the exact line. The Land Registry will notify your neighbour, and if they object and the objection cannot be resolved, the matter is referred to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide.

The deeds come first. Where they do not settle it, the courts have long applied the “hedge and ditch” presumption: a landowner digging a boundary ditch was assumed to dig it at the very edge of his own land and throw the soil up on his own side to form a bank, often planting a hedge on top. So where a hedge or bank has a ditch beside it, the boundary is presumed to run along the far edge of the ditch — and whoever owns the hedge owns the ditch too.

The presumption can be displaced by the wording of the deeds or by other evidence, and it applies only where the ditch was dug as a boundary. On the broad hedgebanks of Cornwall and Devon, where the difference can be a strip a metre or two wide along the length of a field, it often matters a great deal.

Record it straight away: dated photographs of the new fence and of anything left of the old one, measurements from fixed points such as buildings or gateposts, and the names of anyone who saw the work being done. Old photographs — family snaps, estate agents’ particulars, aerial images — can be surprisingly valuable.

Then take advice before responding in kind. Pulling a fence down yourself can put you in the wrong, and an angry exchange of letters tends to harden positions. A measured letter setting out your position, backed by the deeds and plans, resolves many disputes; if it does not, the evidence gathered at the start becomes the foundation of the case. Do not leave it too long: over time, occupation of land can come to support a claim to it.

Possibly, through adverse possession — but it is harder than many people think, particularly where the land is registered. The person claiming must show that they have been in factual possession of the land, intending to possess it, without the owner’s permission.

For registered land, a squatter can apply to be registered after ten years, but the registered owner is notified and can usually defeat the application by objecting — unless the squatter can show one of a small number of special conditions, such as a reasonable mistaken belief about where the boundary lay. For unregistered land the period is twelve years, after which the owner’s title can be lost. If you think someone may be building up a claim, take advice early: giving written permission, or taking the land back, stops the clock.

Act quickly. The notice means someone has applied to be registered as the owner of part of your land, on the basis that they have been in adverse possession of it for at least ten years. It sets a deadline for your response, ordinarily 65 business days from the date it was issued. If you do not respond in time, the applicant will usually be registered as owner, however weak their claim.

Your response can object that the applicant has not in fact been in adverse possession for the full ten years, and can require the application to be dealt with under the statutory conditions, in which case it will succeed only if the applicant can show one of three narrow grounds, such as a reasonable mistaken belief about where the boundary lay. A disputed objection is referred to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). Even if the application fails, the occupation still has to be dealt with: if the applicant remains in adverse possession for a further two years, they can apply again. Gather what you can about the history of the land, including photographs and when fences were put up, and take advice well before the deadline.

A written agreement between neighbours recording where the boundary runs. A well-drafted boundary agreement with an accurate surveyed plan can end a dispute, and can be recorded at HM Land Registry so that it protects both owners when either property is sold.

The courts have long recognised informal agreements between neighbours about where a boundary lies, but a clear written agreement avoids arguments later about what was actually agreed.

First, establish what right you actually have: whether it is written into the deeds, and what it covers — on foot, with vehicles, for agricultural purposes, at all times. Then gather evidence of the obstruction and of how the track has been used, and put your position to the neighbour in writing.

If access to your home, land or livestock is being prevented, the court can grant an injunction — in urgent cases, an interim injunction within days. Speed matters: delay in going to court can count against you. Not every interference is unlawful; the usual question is whether it substantially interferes with the reasonable use of your right.

You may. A private right of way can be acquired by “prescription” — use as of right for at least twenty years. “As of right” means without force, without secrecy and without permission. Use with the owner’s permission, however long it continues, does not create a right.

The use must also be of the kind now claimed: a right established by walking a path will not normally support driving vehicles along it. Evidence from long-standing users, old photographs and aerial images is often decisive. A right acquired this way can be registered at HM Land Registry, though a disputed application will be referred to the First-tier Tribunal.

It depends on how the right was created. A right granted in a deed is interpreted according to its words, read in the light of the circumstances when it was granted: a right “for all purposes” may well cover new uses, while a right granted “for agricultural purposes” will not cover access to a holiday let. A right acquired by long use is more limited. More traffic alone will not usually exceed it, but a radical change in the character of the property it serves, which substantially increases the burden on the land crossed, can take the new use outside the right.

This is a frequent source of dispute across Cornwall and Devon, where old rights over farm tracks now serve converted barns, holiday cottages and glamping sites. It should be checked before buying, converting or objecting — not after.

No. Planning permission and private property rights are entirely separate. A council can approve a barn conversion or a new dwelling without deciding whether its access is lawful, and a neighbour can still object in the civil courts to the access being used for the new purpose. Anyone buying or converting a rural building should check the legal access before committing — ideally before exchanging contracts.

Sometimes. Gates are common on rural rights of way, and a landowner is generally entitled to put one up provided it does not substantially interfere with the right. Much depends on the circumstances: an easy gate on a track used a few times a day is very different from a locked gate, a heavy gate on a slope, or a gate across a busy access. If a gate is locked, those entitled to use the way will usually need to be given a key or the code.

Disputes about gates are among the most common in this area of law — and, for what is at stake, among the most expensive. They are usually better resolved by agreement.

Start with the deeds: many transfers say who repairs and who contributes. Where they are silent, the general rule is that the owner of the land crossed has no duty to keep the track in repair for others, while those entitled to use it may carry out reasonable repairs themselves — at their own cost, unless there is an agreement to share it. Informal cost-sharing arrangements often work well until one of the properties is sold, which is a good reason to put them in writing.

No. Public rights of way — footpaths, bridleways and byways — can be used by anyone, and are recorded on the “definitive map” kept by the local council. Private rights of way belong to particular properties, usually under the deeds, and can be used only by the owners and occupiers of those properties and their visitors. The same track can carry both. The two are governed by different rules and resolved in different ways, so it is important to identify which is in issue at the outset.

It varies more than most people expect. Many disputes are resolved within a few months, through correspondence, a meeting of surveyors or a mediation. A case that has to go to a final hearing will usually take well over a year from the issue of proceedings, and longer when the court lists are busy.

The pre-action stage — when each side sets out its case and exchanges key documents before any claim is issued — is where most disputes are either settled or shaped, and where early, careful work saves the most money later.

Costs depend on how far the dispute goes. Early advice and correspondence cost a small fraction of a trial, which in a contested boundary or easement case — with surveyors’ evidence on both sides — can run into tens of thousands of pounds for each party.

In court, the general rule is that the losing party pays a large part of the winner’s legal costs as well as its own. That risk runs both ways, and it is why well-judged settlement offers matter: a formal offer under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules carries costs consequences for a party who turns it down and then fails to do better at trial. It is also worth checking whether your home or farm insurance includes legal expenses cover. Many policies do, but they often have strict time limits for notifying a claim.

Yes. Laurence can take over a dispute at any stage, including after proceedings have been issued or after a Land Registry application has been referred to the First-tier Tribunal. If there is a deadline — a hearing date, the time for filing a defence, or a Land Registry notice, which often has a short response period — mention it when you first get in touch.

Mediation is not compulsory in every case, but the courts now expect parties to consider it seriously. In 2023 the Court of Appeal confirmed in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council that judges can order parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution, and since October 2024 the Civil Procedure Rules have said so expressly. A party who unreasonably refuses to engage can be penalised in costs — even if they win.

In practice, mediation suits boundary and access disputes particularly well, because it allows solutions a court cannot order: an agreed line with a surveyed plan, a new route for a right of way, shared maintenance costs, or a payment in return for a release.

He can — but he cannot do both. As Laurence Gray Mediation he acts as a neutral mediator between the parties; in this practice he acts for one party. He will never act for anyone in a dispute he has mediated, or mediate a dispute in which he has acted, and he checks for conflicts before taking on any matter. If both sides would like a neutral mediator, see laurencegray.com.

His practice is focused on Cornwall and Devon, where he is based and where rural boundary and access disputes are especially common. He can act in disputes about land elsewhere in England and Wales, and meetings can take place on site, in person or by video call.

Whatever you have — in particular your deeds or title documents and any plans; the Land Registry title register and plan for both properties, if you have them; photographs, old and new; any surveyor’s report; and the correspondence so far. A short written timeline of what happened, and when, is invaluable.

Please also give the name of the other party, so that Laurence can check for any conflict of interest before discussing the detail of your dispute.