Karen Walsh: Get map checked before you buy

Irish society has a long history of land and boundary disputes, some famously depicted in literature and film.

In the 1990 Hollywood movie, “The Field”, “The Bull McCabe” did all he could to save the land he loved from being sold at public auction.

Boundary disputes have caused countries to be divided, towns to be split up and neighbours to fall out.

People value land for spiritual, social and economic reasons. It is not just something people walk on.

These issues continue in modern Irish life and have not lost relevance. Boundary dispute cases are still common in the courtrooms. Inaccurate measurements or mapping disputes are the most frequent boundary disputes dealt with by professionals.

The Land Registry in 2005 announced that all existing paper-based maps would be converted into electronic form over a five-year period, in the digital mapping project. In August 2010, the mapping project was completed, with all 26 counties fully digitised.

The digital mapping project now provides easy access to data. However, these newly digitised property boundaries are not quite the same as old paper maps, and one of the impacts is that landowners cannot take new digitised Property Registration Authority boundaries at face value, as they must be checked on the ground by a qualified and competent surveyor to verify their position.

Recently, Judge Groarke spent three days sorting out a boundary dispute between next door neighbours.

Former Cork publican Frank Fenton and his wife Una bought a house at auction for €750,000 in Dublin’s popular Leeson Street area, after a builder friend had used “a compass and a ruler” to measure the back garden!

Judge Groarke warned housebuyers of the critical necessity to have experts check out what they are actually purchasing, and said it was critical that prospective purchasers satisfy themselves as to such important matters, which Mr Fenton had failed to do so.

He said Mr Fenton’s decision to attend the auction and purchase the property seems to have been rushed, and should instead have been exercised with care and caution.

The Judge said he would be astonished if an intelligent and successful businessman with the commercial experience of Mr Fenton would not have enquired into such matters as boundaries, before purchasing property.

Judge Groarke said the map used in the sale had not properly outlined the back garden of the property and no warranty had been given by the vendor, who had specifically refused to identify boundaries. Judge Groarke did not accept that the Fentons had been misled by the vendors in any way.

Boundary disputes between neighbours are wretched affairs fought with passion. The dispute often is far out of proportion to the issue at hand, and destroys neighbourly relations.

Often, the cost of litigation exceeds the value of the land concerned. In most cases, the area of the land in dispute will be very small, but litigation may ensue because of its critical location or strategic importance to the owners concerned.

Boundary disputes can arise over many different issues and can be related to shared access ways, rights to light, drainage rights, overhanging trees, air rights, squatters rights etc.

Irrespective of the reason for disputes, they have the potential to last for years and have a terrible impact on the lives of all those concerned.

Resolving boundary disputes requires the skills and expertise of both surveyors and solicitors who work together as a team. The solicitor will examine the deeds and interpret the title, and the surveyor will provide the solicitor with independent advice in relation to special aspects of the property.

Sean Corcoran of Corcoran Engineers and Architects says, “Whether you are buying a house, farmland, site or any kind of property, you need to instruct a competent professional to check existing ownership maps.

"Before purchasing a property, it is critical that the map accurately reflects the property. Instructing a competent professional to check maps before signing a contract represents excellent value for money if it saves you thousands in the long runby avoiding an expensive and lengthy boundary dispute in court.”

“Good fences make good neighbours” , has stood the test of time but if the fence starts to crumble, it usually means that neighbourly relations will go the same way.