Application to determine the boundary between the garden of the Applicants’ cottage and the adjoining field owned by the Respondent. The boundary was in two parts. With respect to the greater, contentious part the Applicants relied on the hedge and ditch presumption. The Respondent denied that a ditch existed, alleging a mere depression in the ground along some of the boundary caused by footfall on what she said was the route of a footpath. She contended that the boundary was along the root line of a hedge. The boundary had existed as a legal boundary since at least the 18th century. It was held, accepting the Applicants’ expert evidence, that there used to be a ditch along the boundary some evidence of which still existed and that the hedge and ditch presumption applied. However, the line of the outer edge of the ditch had not been, and could not be, identified with sufficient exactitude for a determined boundary to be found. So, the application was directed to be cancelled in relation to that section of the boundary. The rest of the boundary, which followed a hedge line, was not disputed and so the application succeeded to that extent.
Citations:
[2019] UKFTT 508 (PC)
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Landlord and Tenant
Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.645405