Know your legal boundaries

Properties in the countryside tend to have larger gardens, perhaps a paddock, or even more extensive land. 
This can often bring its own problems because boundaries sometimes pose questions which do not relate in the same way to smaller town properties.
As a solicitor, I am frequently asked for advice relating to boundary issues, and some of these can raise issues which cause considerable concern for home owners.
Clients, for example, ask who owns the boundaries of their property – do they belong to themselves, or to their neighbour? 
In many ways that is the wrong question to ask  because what they are usually concerned about is who is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the boundary. 
In a rural setting this can be especially important if there is a risk of livestock straying through a poorly maintained boundary, for example.
If you own a rural property, and your neighbour is a farmer, he will be legally responsible for keeping his livestock from straying, so it will be his responsibility to keep the boundary in a good stock-proof condition, whether or not it is his boundary.
Although that is the general rule, it is not safe to assume that it is always the case. Sometimes the deeds of the property can contain a specific covenant by the home owner to keep a boundary in good repair. 
This is often the case where additional land has been purchased from a neighbouring farmer, who has taken the opportunity to impose a covenant with the intention of limiting his own responsibility for repair. 
So, it is always important to check the deeds, or Land Registry entries.
Sometimes it is important to establish who actually owns the boundary. 
If the boundary is an old hedgerow, then it is very likely that the legal boundary will be the centre line of the hedge, and each half of the hedge is owned by the neighbouring owners. But this is not always the case, and disagreements over ownership can lead to strained relationships between adjoining owners.
Old hedgerows may have trees growing in them, and trees on or near a boundary are another matter which can cause friction between adjoining owners. 
If a tree has branches which reach over the boundary onto the neighbouring land, those branches are technically trespassing onto the adjoining property. 
This gives the neighbouring owner the right to trim off the branches that overhang his property even if the tree belongs to the adjoining owner – but beware, because the branches will still belong to the person who owns the tree, and should be returned to him – they may have a value as timber or firewood.
Of course, there is a danger that a tree is subject to a Tree Preservation Order, or TPO, and if that is the case you would not be able to cut or trim the tree without the consent of the Council Tree Officer.
These are all issues on which we, as solicitors, are regularly asked to advise, and boundaries in general can cause endless problems between adjoining owners, whether it is a question of who owns them, who is responsible for them, or indeed, whether they are in the right place! They are the one thing that neighbours can so easily fall out over.
For that reason, when you are buying a new property, especially if it is a rural property with more extensive boundaries, and perhaps varied boundary structures, it is crucial that  you make the proper enquiries about the state of the boundaries, and the responsibilities for maintenance before you commit to the purchase.

Jonathan Stephens is an Usk-based solicitor practising at Everett Tomlin Lloyd & Pratt’s Newport office. He specialises in agricultural work and has worked closely with the farming community in south east Wales and further afield for more than 40 years. He has been a leading member of the Agricultural Law Association since the 1970s and has been consistently recommended as an expert by the Legal 500 directory. Jonathan advises a department dealing with all aspects of agricultural law.