Types of property boundary in England, Wales & Scotland
"Boundary" can mean several different things. The red line on a Land Registry plan, the fence in your garden and the line in your deeds are not always the same. Here's what each type means, in plain English.
1Legal boundary
The legal boundary is the true dividing line between your land and your neighbour's. It is an invisible line with no thickness. It is set by the deeds and transfers that created the plots, and by anything agreed or established since.
The legal boundary does not have to follow a fence or wall, and its exact position is often not written down anywhere.
In short: where your ownership really ends, whether or not anyone has marked it.
2General boundary
General boundaries are normal: almost every registered title in England and Wales has them. The red line shows where your land sits and how far it extends, drawn on Ordnance Survey mapping.
Because a line on a map stands for a strip of ground, the plan doesn't say whether the boundary runs along one side of a hedge, down its middle or along the middle of a wall. Those details come from the deeds, the features on site and their history.
In short: the registered extent of your land, the starting point for every boundary question.
3Determined boundary
If you need certainty, you can apply to HM Land Registry to have the exact line of a boundary determined. The application needs a precise plan, normally based on a measured survey that can be set out on the ground. Your neighbour is usually involved, and the evidence must support where the line is.
Once determined, the exact line is recorded on the registers for both properties, so it is no longer just a general boundary.
In short: an exact boundary officially recorded by HM Land Registry, based on an accurate survey.
4Fixed boundary (older term)
Before October 2003, the equivalent process was called a fixed boundary, under older Land Registration rules. You may still see the term on older titles. It has since been replaced by determined boundaries.
5Physical boundary
This is what you can see and touch: fences, walls, hedges, ditches, kerbs and gate posts. Physical features are often good evidence of where the legal boundary is, but they can differ from it. Fences get moved or replaced, hedges spread and walls are rebuilt.
In short: what's on the ground today, which isn't always where the legal line is.
6Agreed boundary (boundary agreement)
Neighbours can sign a boundary agreement recording where they agree the existing boundary runs. It can be noted on the Land Registry register, and it is a sensible way to settle uncertainty before it becomes a dispute.
A boundary agreement only records where the boundary already is. If you actually want to move the boundary and hand over a strip of land, that is a transfer of land and needs a different legal process.
In short: a written, agreed record of where the line runs, usually backed by a survey plan.
7Rules of thumb used by courts
Where the deeds are unclear, courts use long-standing presumptions to work out the legal boundary. They can be overturned by better evidence.
| Presumption | What it says |
|---|---|
| Hedge and ditch | If land has a hedge with a ditch beside it, the boundary is usually presumed to be the far edge of the ditch, on the basis that the person who dug the ditch threw the soil onto their own side and planted the hedge on it. |
| Middle of the road or river | Land next to a road or non-tidal river is presumed to run to its centre line. Known by its Latin name, ad medium filum. |
| Shared walls | A wall between two properties is often owned up to its centre line by each side, with rights over the whole wall. Work on shared walls may also fall under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. |
8How a boundary can change
Transfer of part
Selling or giving part of a plot to someone else creates a new boundary, shown on a new title plan.
Boundary-moving agreement
Neighbours can agree to move a boundary, but it must be done as a proper transfer of the land concerned, not just a handshake.
Adverse possession
In some circumstances, someone who has occupied land as their own for a long period can apply to become its owner. The rules are strict and differ for registered and unregistered land.
9Boundaries in Scotland
Scotland has its own system, run by Registers of Scotland. Registered titles are on the Land Register, and each one is drawn on a single cadastral map, so registered plots don't overlap. The map is based on Ordnance Survey mapping, so a line on it can still represent a strip of land on the ground rather than an exact legal line.
Older titles may still be in the Sasine Register, where the boundaries are described in the deeds in words and sometimes with plans. You can search the Land Register and order a title sheet on ScotLIS. For a boundary question, speak to a Scottish solicitor; for the position on the ground, a RICS Land Surveyor can survey the features and compare them with the title.
This guide is general information about boundaries in England, Wales and Scotland and is not legal advice. For a dispute or a legal question, speak to a solicitor; for the position on the ground, use a RICS Land Surveyor. Official title registers and title plans are available from HM Land Registry on GOV.UK (England and Wales), and title sheets from Registers of Scotland on ScotLIS (Scotland).