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Q Our house shares a driveway with our next-door neighbours. The Ordnance Survey (OS) map shows a black line running between our house and the property next door. The map was used by the Land Registry to mark the boundary between the two houses. Our neighbour has measured the line marked on the OS plan and it seems to run about 3ft into our side of the drive. We think that the boundary should be down the middle, and there are the remnants of what seem to be the footings of an old wall in this position. How can we prove that the OS plan is wrong?

A It is a common misconception that Ordnance Survey plans show boundaries. They do not. They show physical features such as fences and walls, which may or may not be the legal boundary. They can also be wrong or out of date. These problems are compounded by the small scale of Ordnance Survey plans used by the Land Registry to show who owns what. An 0.2mm line drawn on a 1:2,500 scale plan translates into a line on the ground about 500mm (20in) wide.

When land registration was introduced in 1862, the Land Registry insisted that boundaries shown on its plans should be precise. However, disputes about inaccurate Victorian maps led to a relaxation of the requirement by the Land Transfer Act 1875.

Since 1875 the “general boundaries rule” has provided that a boundary shown on a Land Registry plan does not show the exact legal boundary. It is only a general indication of the legal boundary. If landowners want to know the precise limits of their land, they may apply for the boundary to be fixed by the Land Registry and for the accurately plotted line to be marked on the register.

The general boundary rule has survived into the era of GPS mapping and digital aerial photographs and now appears in Section 60 of the Land Registration Act 2002.

The Land Registration Rules 2002 set out the procedure for fixing a boundary. The registrar must give the neighbours notice of any application. If there is a dispute, the Registrar will decide the boundary line after hearing evidence. The wall footings in your case should be helpful evidence of where the legal boundary lies.

The writer is a barrister at Tanfield Chambers.

E-mail your questions to: brief.encounter@thetimes.co.uk

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