House deeds versus Land Registry

[Cribco]

The deeds of our house, which was purchased in 1974, states that the property extends six feet beyond the back fence of the garden, and I have a letter from the council dated 1985,confirming this, however the land registry plan shows that my ownership ceases at the fence line. So which has the more legal strength - the deeds or the Land Registry ??

[des8]

Land Registry plans usually show general boundaries and are indicative only.

Write to Land registry and ask them how you should correct the registry file.

I think what they will say is if you have grounds to believe the red edging on the title plan ought to include additional land you can apply to alter the red edging on the plan using form AP1. The boundary will however remain a general boundary, unless you have it determined.

[Ukmicky]

You have a general boundary so basically the legal boundary line is undetermined .

The deeds also saying six feet beyond also means very little unless your boundary is determined.

You see it’s impossible to say for sure how accurate the six feet measurement was or where it was measured from as fence lines change over time.

Determined boundaries are measured accurately so any measurements can legally be relied upon.

[IdefixUK]

Cribco,
I wonder what is behind that fence. If there is a path ,roadway, or even a water course immediately behind the fence then it is possible that the land is part of your property . There is a (rebuttable) presumption that when a property is sold it is sold with half of the width of the roadway/path/stream/river adjacent to it. So if there was a road 12 feet wide ,being owned by a developer who is selling houses along that road, then half the width of the road is sold along with the individual plots.
If you get on the bailii.org website and search for the Paton v Todd case [2012] EWHC. 1248(Ch) this presumption "usque ad medium filum viae" is explained. Generally the Land Registry use Ordnance Survey mapping to produce the title plans ( with the red lines showing the general boundary) . One problem with using OS mapping is that the OS maps show the position of things "on the ground" at the time the survey for that edition of the map was done. So they show walls and fences in position but where a legal boundary crosses open ground (eg a lawn) there is nothing shown on the map. It seems that the Land Registry will, in some cases, use the nearest line shown on the OS map to where the legal boundary exists. As ukmicky has said, the red line is a general boundary only.

[Hannah30]

Hello, you may find this resource helpful regarding land registry title deeds: https://askveya.com/resources/land-r...y-title-deeds/

[dslippy]

Nearly, ScoutMiller, but not quite. The obligation to complete a first registration arises on a transaction changing the title. Titles are now held electronically first.