Property boundary surveying
A boundary survey measures the outline of your property. It can provide you with greater understanding of boundary lines when you’re buying, selling, subdividing, or building on land and property.
Boundary surveys may help you and your neighbours if you are unsure about your adjoining property lines. You can use them to come to an agreement over property boundary issues, establish more formal boundaries, or confirm plot boundaries before purchase. They can also offer clarity to mitigate potential boundary disputes in the future.
Our boundary survey work supports land and property owners to remove uncertainty, prevent conflicts and bring reassurance. We also provide professional land surveyor boundary services alongside chartered surveyors and solicitors.
When might you need a boundary survey?
Our boundary surveys for peace of mind
We recognise that many people may not have a boundary dispute, but simply need clarity over their property boundaries. To support this, we can create an overlay plan with the title deeds. This will include any boundary features in place today and can show you the correlation between the two.
We’ll visit your property to complete a site survey and then prepare the overlays back in the office. This overlay plan will show you how the red line on your land registry plan relates to the on-the-ground features. It also enables us to set out the general boundary line if there is nothing in place currently.
Our boundary survey work is an unbiased best fit exercise and is based upon our professional expertise and due diligence. The results would be the same if we acted for either party. Our boundary surveys provide you with a general line and a good quality plan. These are often a good starting point for a boundary agreement.
More ways we support property boundary lines
We can overlay various types of plans in our CAD software to show the relationship between different plans. Using a best fit method, we can help you to compare land registry plans, sale plans or deeds. We can comment on what the overlays show to help your discussions and any agreements between neighbours.
We can conduct surveys of the built features on a site and produce an overlay of the topographical survey, Ordnance Survey map data and land registry title plan. This will show the relationship between them all, and we can provide dimensions as requested. We can also explain what the overlays show and set out the general boundary lines shown on a land registry plan.
We can set the position of new boundaries where a plan is provided, or by using the general boundary as worked out by the overlay plan. This can assist with the installation of new fences, walls or boundary hedges for estate management.
Why choose Cheshire Surveys
We provide a range of surveys and related services across the North West, Cheshire, North Staffordshire and North Wales.
Passion & technical expertise
25+ years experience
Quality services tailored to your project
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How to find your property boundaries
Land registry plans are only indicative of the boundary lines. Most of the time, your property’s ‘legal’ boundary is an imaginary or invisible line that divides one property from another.
The general boundary rule
Your land registry title plan only shows the property’s general boundary. Plans used for land registration usually lack precise definition for on-the-ground boundaries. For instance, this means your plan won’t show whether a fence or a hedge is the actual boundary line.
Using land registry plans for boundaries
Your land registry plans cannot show the exact position of a boundary or what the boundary constitutes, unless specifically documented in the deeds or covenants.
You should take a practical approach when interpreting any land registry plans. Use common sense to determine how they relate to what is on the ground. The exception is a determined boundary that has been recorded.
Resolutions for boundary issues with neighbours
Identifying and agreeing your boundary lines
Defining the exact location of a boundary is often difficult. An on-the-ground boundary may differ from the red line on your land registry plan. An additional detailed, scaled plan may be included as part of a transfer or sale process, but this is rare. Without this, the general boundary rule will apply.
Informal agreements between you and your neighbours may provide some clarity. These can cover what the boundary includes and what each party is responsible for, such as a garden fence or wall.
However, these are often only verbal agreements and can’t provide certainty. Defining your property boundaries may still be challenging when issues arise or your neighbours move. They can also be difficult if your neighbouring property has no registered owner as you will be talking with someone who does not own the title deeds.
Formal boundary line resolutions
There are more formal ways to agree on definitions of your boundary lines: registering a boundary agreement or a determined boundary against the property titles. We can support both of these with land registry compliant plans. These plans must be attached to the applications and meet very specific requirements.
Boundary Agreements
Two parties may come to a firm agreement about what features represent the general boundary. Our survey services can give you details about specific on-the-ground features. You can then use these as the basis for discussions.
Boundary agreements are prepared when both parties wish to have this firm agreement added to the land registry title documentation. This is a description of the boundary with a plan to accompany it. It is signed by both parties and sent to the Land Registry for recording on both parties’ property titles.
Determined Boundaries
Determined boundary applications are the next formal level up from a boundary agreement. They remain valid even if you or your neighbour sells your property.
They record the exact location of the boundary and are filed with the Land Registry. This ensures the boundary line can be set out at any point in the future if on-the-ground features are lost.
You can apply for a determined boundary with or without your neighbour’s agreement. However, your application may be referred to a tribunal if your neighbour disagrees with it.
Your property must be registered with the Land Registry already. You’ll need to send a plan to the Land Registry that shows the determined boundary. If your neighbour agrees with it, the plan should be signed by both parties.
The boundary must have been surveyed and the plan prepared with dimensions and very specific details. Only a land surveyor can prepare this type of information.
In addition, you will need to send evidence that supports your application and justifies the boundary. This should include certified copies of the deeds to your property from before the property was registered. You will also need an expert’s report or a written statement signed in front of a solicitor, a magistrate or a commissioner of oaths.
Determining the boundary must be carried out by a chartered surveyor who will provide an expert witness report. As land surveyors we can work alongside the chartered surveyor to prepare the boundary plan with all the correct details. If there is a boundary dispute, we’ll only prepare the line that the chartered surveyor advises, or as ruled by the court at the end of a dispute.
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Get free advice or a quote from our experienced team.
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When we can’t help with boundary disputes
Our services can be a good starting point to assist with some boundary matters. However, sometimes our work may not be the best course of action.
A boundary survey has to be carried out at the correct point in the process. Mediation or legal proceedings may need to progress first. We will tell you if we think it is not the right time for a survey.
Legal advice for boundary disputes
We cannot help with disagreements over millimetres or centimetres along a boundary line. This often involves complex legal considerations, including party wall legislation, right to light, privacy, and civil legislation. You will need to seek legal advice from someone who specialises in these areas.
We cannot advise on legal boundary positions or act in relation to boundary disputes with neighbours. We also do not offer an expert witness service when there is an active boundary dispute.
If you are struggling to resolve a boundary dispute, consider help from a mediation service. For professional legal advice, you should speak to a solicitor who specialises in boundary disputes. Your home insurance may include legal cover for boundary disputes and Citizens Advice provides support for finding affordable legal help.
Property boundary survey costs
First registration of small rural plot
Our surveyors visited a small rural plot to record the boundary features. We compared our site survey to land registry documentation to check for any issues with surrounding properties that were already registered. We then prepared the red line plan required by the Land Registry as part of the first registration process.
Client: Private Homeowner
Estimated cost: £1250.00 +VAT
Boundary survey for neighbouring properties
The owners of neighbouring properties had identified that their land registration documentation was incorrect. We completed a boundary survey to record the current built features and structures. This was overlaid to the land registry documentation and the differences presented back to the clients. Following agreement between the parties, we produced plans for submission to the Land Registry to correct the errors.
Client: Private Homeowner
Estimated cost: £1500.00 + VAT
Checking an area of land before purchase
We carried out a boundary survey on a field being purchased for new social housing development. The survey was overlaid to the Land Registry title for the area of sale. This enabled us to check that the features on the ground matched the title as registered. We identified a discrepancy. The client was then able to use the plans to query this as part of the purchase process.
Client: Social Housing Provider
Estimated cost: £1000 + VAT
How we work
Step 01
Request a quote
We’ll need your project’s address and a site plan. We’ll then get in touch for a consultation to confirm site details and understand exactly what your project needs.
Step 02
Quote accepted
Once your project is confirmed with us, we’ll arrange a convenient date for your survey.
Step 03
We complete your survey
We’ll visit your project site to carry out the survey. We can meet you on site if needed. We will then process the survey data and create a survey drawing.
Step 04
Receive your survey
We’ll share the survey data with you, usually within a few days. We use industry standard file types and can issue all the drawings in multiple formats.
Who we work with
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More surveys we offer
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Accurate, scaled plan of a site’s terrain, and a record of the position and levels of both manmade and natural features.
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3D site survey of a building’s layout and structure that can also be used to produce floor plans, elevations and cross-section drawings.
As-Built Surveys
A fully up-to-date record of what has just been constructed, ensuring it matches the proposed plans. Useful for producing further plans that require an accurate site layout.
Boundary Surveys
Clearly understand your boundary lines, remove uncertainty around neighbouring land, and prevent disputes.
Floor Level Surveys
Quality survey check for various floor construction stages, from existing floors to newly constructed slabs.
Garden Surveys
Highly detailed, specialist topographical survey for garden landscaping and redesigns.
GPS Surveys
Ideal for covering large open spaces, like fields, or where access may be restricted or challenging.
Ground Investigation Services
Reliable and accurate location data for ground investigations like CBR tests, boreholes and trial pits. We record data and mark out investigation and monitoring points.
Movement Monitoring Surveys
Tracking and recording movement or alterations, such as crack monitoring and land movements, in either a built structure or a landform.
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Surveys of riverbanks and beds, as well as adjacent floodplains. We record water levels and significant features for flood risk assessments and erosion monitoring.
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Comprehensive record of current road layouts and levels, including kerbs, street furniture and road markings. Ideal for visibility splays and new highways designs.
Setting Out
Geocordinated setting out services for building groundworks and steelworks for new housing, commercial and industrial sites.
Surveys for Land Registry Title Plans
Site surveys for creating Land Registry compliant plans to record areas of sale, transfer, correction or first registration.
Volumetric Surveys & Terrain Models
Measuring the total amount of stockpiled, extracted or collected materials and aggregates. Suitable for construction, calculating and auditing.
