What is a Boundary Line?
A Boundary Line looks at the separation of ownership of two or more lands; this is an invisible line which divides one person’s land to another’s. This does not include the thickness or width and usually falls somewhere in or along the physical boundary. The physical boundary can be a feature such as a wall, fence or hedge. The exact legal boundaries are not shown on registered title plans and not shown on ordnance survey maps either.
England and Wales usually operate a general boundary system of land registration. A title plan shows the boundary of a property in relation to a given physical feature on the ground as well as the wall or hedges.
What is a Line of Junction?
The line of junction is an imaginary line which divides the lands of two adjoining owners, unlike the Boundary Line, the line of junction extends upwards. If you are building a new wall up to the legal boundary line but on your own land you will need to serve a line of junction notice under the Party Wall Act 1996.
If you don’t want to serve notice, you can keep the wall slightly back but if you want to serve a Party Structure Notice, it will help you to access your neighbours land to build the wall. This section of the Party Wall Act applies where land of different owners adjoin and are not currently built on the line of junction. It will also apply if it is built on the line of junction to the extent of the Boundary Wall.
Here are some advantages of building on the Boundary Line:
– You will require a Party Wall Agreement for rear extension if you are planning on building on the Boundary Wall. This will help to achieve more floor space when you are
extending your home.
– A Party Wall Agreement loft conversion will benefit from the Boundary Line because you will be able to access your neighbours land/property for the purposes of building the wall.
– When you build on the Boundary Wall, it allows the adjoining owners to think about future developments, the adjoining owner will need to pay a portion of building the wall when they want to use it.
– Another advantage of building on the Boundary Line is that it is much neater if there is one wall built. This is also a cost effective way because both the neighbours can share the cost of building the wall. It is important to obtain a Party Wall Surveyor to formalise this into an Award.
Need help serving the correct and appropriate Party Wall Notice? Contact us to find out more and get assistance with your project.
I live in a terraced house.withe a stone boundry wall front elevation. In a previous life an old conservatory ran across both properties and the dividing conservatory ran on over the stone boundry wall.i havereplaced my conservatory with a new one .building the side elevation inside the stone wall.indipendant. next door has damp because the existing conservatory is built on the party wall with no proper weather construction. His idea is to build a new block conservatory and demolish the stone wall and build a new block wall on the party wall . Compromising the party garden wall . Rather than moving the side elevation to his inside . Can he do this.