Boundaries – Financial Ruin v Compromise?

£30,000, £40,000, £75,000, £100,000 – significant amounts of money? Yes and these are all examples of the legal costs people across the country have recently spent on fighting boundary disputes with their neighbours. Would you spend £60,000 fighting your neighbour in Court over the colour they chose to paint their garden railings? Neighbour disputes can quickly escalate. Such a case ended up in the Court of Appeal last month and left one party a reported £60,000 poorer because they wanted garden railings to painted blue rather than black.  A simple search on the internet reveals the reality of neighbours, who once lived in harmony, fighting tooth and nail, reaching the Court of Appeal , fighting over small strips of land which in monetary terms are often worth very little. Even more alarmingly, there was a report last month that Police are investigating a fatal stabbing which it is claimed was caused by a dispute between neighbours over a fence.

Legal costs in dealing with and fighting boundary disputes are notoriously out of line with the monetary value of the issues in dispute and the effect on neighbour relations and stress high. “Principles” take over and costs mount to £1000s before you know it.  The alternative  is for the parties to try to resolve matters by agreeing terms with eachother on the best terms possible for both parties. There might be no winner and no loser, but a solution which both parties can live with without incurring huge costs and without further souring relations.

Alternative dispute resolution can help at the outset once solicitors are involved. Parties coming together on site with a mediator and solicitors can often focus the parties’ minds on the reality of the situation. On site resolution seems the most sensible and cost effective method of dealing with such a dispute rather than lengthy correspondence, compliance with Court procedure, the associated costs and growing animosity.  A day long mediation will be money well spent  if not to resolve matters entirely then to at least narrow down the issues remaining in dispute.  If matters cannot be resolved at such a meeting, then the parties can decide whether or not they wish to litigate and proceed with litigation but should be fully aware of the potential costs liability they may incur. This is not to say neighbours who wish to fight a boundary dispute should not, nor does it trivialise the importance of issues relating to someone’s property. It can be a commercial approach to dealing with what is otherwise an expensive and emotionally exhausting experience.