Buying a house and your neighbours: your rights at property boundaries

Questioner

We bought a house 15 years ago and recently found out that about 200 m2 of our back garden is used by the neighbours. We never found out because our garden is separated by a (low) stone wall (placed by the previous residents whose house we bought) and we logically assumed at the time that this wall was on the plot boundary. The previous residents and selling agent did not tell us at the time that this piece of land is used by the neighbours and is therefore no longer part of our garden. However, we did buy the entire plot (including those 200 m2) and also pay property tax on it. My question is whether we have the right to get this piece of garden back?

Lawyer

You are entitled to a refund of the 200 m2, unless the current situation has lasted longer than 20 years. In that case, there is a good chance that you have lost the piece of land by prescription. It is best to discuss this with your neighbours in good consultation. Things like this can turn a good neighbourly relationship into a nightmare.

Questioner

Many thanks for your answer. It is very likely that the situation has been like this for 20 years. We are indeed afraid of a change in the contact with the neighbours that is now good. If it was a small piece of land, it wouldn't have been a problem at all and we would certainly leave it as it is and never say anything about it, as we have always been very easy-going with everything and have always done a lot for the neighbours, but given the size of the garden it is really a large piece of land (about 1/4 of our back garden), if you see a cadastral aerial photo you can see it straight away (that's how we saw it too). And we did buy it and are paying for it and there are also mortgage rights on the land (our mortgage). If we ever sell the house we will of course get into trouble if we want to sell this piece of land that is actually used by the neighbours, the house is also worth less because of it (valuations are not correct in terms of plot size because the piece is in our land registry). It is also of course a strange situation that we have paid and continue to pay tax on the entire plot while we do not use a considerable part of the land ourselves. So something has to be done anyway and we think that a conversation about this will unfortunately have to happen and we are really dreading this. We of course very much hope that the neighbours, given the good contact, will be prepared to give the piece of land back. Especially since they simply use it as a piece of pasture of a much larger plot where some animals walk around, there are no buildings or anything of theirs on it, only a very old fence that is already on the point of collapsing. The piece of land in question also borders directly on our/house's backyard and not on theirs, it would be worth a lot to us to get the piece back because our garden is not that deep and the dividing wall also slopes very strangely (because of this of course). But suppose that there is a prescription and the neighbours really want to keep the piece, is there still any legal chance given this story that we could get the piece back anyway? If not, what should we do? Because this situation cannot continue: On paper we are still the owner and we continue to pay, we receive a WOZ assessment on the entire plot and the bank assumes that this part also belongs as collateral for the mortgage. Many thanks in advance for your answer.

Lawyer

If you want to do something about it, you will have to have a conversation. It is wise to see if you can come to a solution before taking legal positions. For example: - that the neighbors take over the land from you for a reasonable price; - that the neighbours accept that it remains your land, but that as long as they continue to live there they have a right of use until they sell their house. Then you also think in solutions. If you cannot reach an agreement with the neighbours, it depends very much on the situation on site whether the neighbours can successfully defend that they have acted as owners for more than 20 years and have therefore become owners by prescription.

Questioner

Again, many thanks for your answer. We are certainly in favor of a peaceful and good solution for both parties, but it is also useful to know what the rights/rules are. So a final question: Suppose the neighbours can successfully argue that they have owned the property for 20 years and have acted as owners for 20 years, have they also become the legal owners purely by the fact of prescription, as you indicate? How about the fact that we as the owner of the land are registered with the land registry? This seems to be contradictory?

Lawyer

Yes, the law states that 'possession' (acting as an owner) for 20 years leads to acquisition of ownership by prescription. The Land Registry must be adapted to this new reality.

Questioner

Thanks for the answer, although for us all very unsatisfactory. I still find it a very strange legal process that is very disadvantageous for the owner and we still hope that there is no question of prescription or reasonableness of the neighbors. Sorry, I still have one quick question that I hope to get an answer to, then I won't bother you anymore ;) Changes in the land registry mean having new measurements carried out by the land registry to determine new plot boundaries and drawing up a new notarial deed, etc. I assume that we have nothing to do with this and will not have to bear any costs for this? Many thanks for all the answers.

Lawyer

If there is a prescription, it is up to the neighbours to arrange for registration in the land registry and, if necessary, to engage a notary for this purpose. The costs are then for their account.