Boundary Disputes and Conveyancing

A boundary dispute usually starts small: a fence that does not line up with the title plan, a shed built slightly over the line, or two neighbours who simply disagree about where their properties meet. For someone buying or selling, a live or emerging boundary dispute is a genuine risk factor, because it can affect value, delay settlement, or create liability that only becomes obvious once you are already the registered owner.

What Counts as a Boundary Dispute

Most boundary disagreements involve fences, retaining walls, driveways or structures that do not sit exactly where the title plan says the boundary should be. Others involve a disagreement about who is responsible for maintaining a shared fence, or confusion after a survey peg has moved or disappeared over time. Not every discrepancy is a legal problem: small, long-standing differences that neither neighbour has ever raised are common and do not automatically need to be fixed before a sale proceeds.

How These Issues Surface During a Sale

A boundary issue often comes to light during a pre-purchase inspection, when a buyer's building inspector or surveyor notices a structure that appears to cross the line, or when title searches reveal an easement or covenant that affects how the land can be used. Sometimes it only becomes apparent when a neighbour raises an objection after a "for sale" sign goes up, since a pending sale tends to put boundaries back in focus. Your conveyancer's review of the contract, deposited plan and any registered dealings is the main opportunity to catch this before you are committed.

What a Title Plan Actually Shows

A deposited plan or title plan sets out the legal boundaries of a lot, but it does not necessarily match what is on the ground today, particularly on older properties where fences have been rebuilt over decades without reference to the original survey. Only a registered surveyor can definitively establish where a boundary sits, and a title search alone will not resolve a genuine discrepancy. If a dispute looks likely, commissioning a survey before you exchange or settle is the only way to get a reliable answer rather than relying on assumptions.

Resolving a Dispute Before Settlement

If a boundary issue is identified while a sale is still under negotiation, options include adjusting the price to reflect the issue, requiring the seller to resolve it as a condition of the contract, or in some cases withdrawing from the purchase if the risk is significant enough. A conveyancer can help negotiate a special condition that makes settlement conditional on the seller obtaining the neighbour's agreement or a survey report, so the buyer is not left to sort out someone else's dispute after settlement. The same considerations apply to a residential sale, where a seller who discloses a known boundary issue upfront is far less likely to face a dispute after settlement.

If a Dispute Emerges After You Have Bought

Buyers who discover a boundary problem after settlement have fewer options, since the standard residential purchase contract does not usually allow rescission for issues that a proper pre-purchase inspection and search should have identified. Practical steps at that point include negotiating directly with the neighbour, obtaining your own survey to confirm the facts, and seeking legal advice on your specific rights, since boundary law varies between states and depends heavily on how long a discrepancy has existed.

Fencing disputes are related to, but legally distinct from, boundary disputes, and every state has its own dividing fences legislation setting out how the cost of a shared fence is split between neighbours and what happens if one side refuses to contribute. A fence that has always sat in the wrong place can still be a valid shared fence for cost-sharing purposes, even while the underlying boundary question remains unresolved, which is a source of confusion for many owners. Untangling which piece of legislation actually applies, fencing law or boundary law, is often the first practical step in working out how to resolve a specific disagreement.

Formal Boundary Determination as a Last Resort

Where neighbours and their surveyors cannot agree, most states provide a formal process for resolving a disputed boundary through the land titles registry, sometimes called a boundary determination. In New South Wales, for example, the Registrar General can resolve a dispute where two independent surveyors disagree, as explained in the Registrar General's guidance on boundary determinations. This kind of process is usually a last resort after direct negotiation has failed, since it takes time and involves its own fees, and most disputes are resolved well before reaching this stage.

Why Older and Regional Properties Carry More Risk

Boundary problems are noticeably more common on older subdivisions, rural blocks and properties where the original survey predates modern measurement standards, and can also surface during a subdivision of an existing block. Fences erected decades ago by agreement between long-departed owners, informal adjustments made without updating the title plan, and land that has been subdivided more than once all increase the chance that what exists on the ground no longer matches the registered plan. Buyers looking at a rural or acreage property, or a much older inner-city terrace, should treat a pre-purchase survey as a more serious consideration than they might for a newly built home on a recently surveyed block.

How a Conveyancer Helps Manage the Risk

A conveyancer cannot resolve a neighbour dispute for you, but they play an important role in identifying red flags early, recommending a survey when something looks off, and negotiating contract conditions that protect you if an issue is found before settlement. This applies whether you are buying in Sydney, Melbourne or a regional area, since older suburbs with informal historical boundaries tend to produce more of these issues than newer subdivisions with recent surveys.