Neighbours, boundaries and rights of way
Boundaries, tracks and shared water: the neighbours are part of what you buy, and nobody puts them in the brochure.
- Text: admin
- 2 min read
No estate is an island. The track that leads to it crosses someone else’s land, the stream that feeds it rises on a neighbour’s, and the boundary shown on the plan is not always where the old wall stands.
Know your boundaries
A cadastral map and a field survey rarely agree to the metre. On larger estates the difference can be several hectares.
- Ask for the cadastral plan and the latest survey.
- Walk the boundary with the seller, or the gamekeeper.
- Look for old markers: stones, walls, ditches, marked trees.
- Ask whether any dispute, past or present, concerns the line.
Rights of way and shared tracks
A right of way can cross your land or give you access to it. Both should appear in the deed. If one of them is only a custom, treat it as a risk.
“We bought the estate, but it was the neighbour’s signature that gave us the road.”
A buyer in the Cévennes
In practice
Before the offer
| Boundaries | Compare the cadastral plan with a field survey. |
| Tracks | Check every access: legal right, maintenance, cost. |
| Water | Springs and streams: who owns them, who uses them. |
| Neighbours | Meet them. Ask what they expect from a new owner. |
A good agent will introduce you to the neighbours before the offer, not after the deed. For estates with clear access and shared water arrangements, see Finca La Dehesa or Tenuta del Bosco.
