We recently acted for a property developer who had bought a plot of land with the benefit of Outline Planning Permission for three houses. After checking the boundaries as per the title deeds, and the site itself, it became apparent that they did not match and the discrepancy needed to be rectified before completion could take place.
It also became apparent from the physical inspection of the site that a surface water drain serving the owner of the plot of land adjacent to the development site, and who had sold the site originally, ran under the development site but no right had been reserved in her favour to formalise her continued right to use the same.
Our developer client accepted my suggestion that the neighbour be offered a Deed of Easement in respect of the surface water drainage in return for her assistance in preparing a definitive plan of the site, and the plan was prepared quickly.
Initially, the Land Registry refused to accept that the title boundaries were wrong but on my insistence the site was surveyed by an Ordnance Survey Surveyor who concurred with my view, and the title plan was updated accordingly.
The terms of the Deed of Easement were quickly agreed and executed by both parties.
Our client was pleased that the cause of potential delays in its sale of the three properties had been rectified before building works began. The development was very successful and all three properties quickly sold at list price, despite the current state of the housing market.
By resolving the problem that our had identified before the development started my client was able to avoid delays in its prospective sales and was able to make huge savings on the interest that it would otherwise have had to pay to its bank
