Critchley Hall News
Boundary Disputes - Words of Caution
Boundary Disputes – Words of Caution from the Court of Appeal
In the case of Bradford v James CA (2008) EWCA Cir 1151, Lord Justice Mummory opened with the following:
“There are too many calamitous neighbour disputes in the courts. Greater use should be made of the services of local mediators, who have specialist legal and surveying skills and are experienced in alternative dispute resolution. An attempt at mediation should be made right at the beginning of the dispute and certainly well before things turn nasty and become expensive. By the time neighbours get to court it is often too late for court-based ADR and mediation schemes to have much impact. Litigation hardens attitudes. Costs become an additional aggravating issue. Almost by its own momentum the case that cried out for compromise moves onwards and upwards to a conclusion that is disastrous for one of the parties, possibly for both.
The extreme acrimony between these neighbours is nothing new. As far as this court is concerned the dispute is about title to a cobbled area of land 3.7m wide (the cobbled area) and its use for parking and access…..”
And closed with the following:
“For reasons I would allow the appeal, set aside the judge’s order and make a declaration of title to the cobbled area in favour of the Bradfords.
I close, as I commenced, with a practical suggestion. More land is becoming available for residential development. More permissions are given to change the use of urban and rural buildings to dwellings. Partition into plots and units increases the potential for this kind of damaging and costly neighbour dispute. The risks can be minimised at much less cost than litigation by the use of surveyors’ larger scale, detailed plans showing what is sold and what is retained and recording vital measurements and physical features.”