Coming out in the wash
Q. Before buying a new house we discussed the design with the builder who provided us with detailed dimensional drawings. However when we moved in, the wall between the kitchen and the utility room was slightly out of line, the result being that we can’t fit a normal size washing machine in the space designed for it. Are we entitled to compensation? After initially suggesting various unsatisfactory solutions they refuse to discuss the matter further.
A. If you’d spotted this immediately you may have been entitled to pull out of buying the house. A house that cannot accommodate a washing machine is evidently unsatisfactory, but if you can put it somewhere else, or a minor adjustment is possible, you may have to compromise. If there is nowhere else for the washing machine to go you are probably entitled to demand that the builder demolishes the wall and rebuilds it in the correct place. If you are dealing with a large firm they may eventually agree to this. A court would be likely to agree that a new house should be able to accommodate a standard-size washing machine. See a solicitor if necessary.

Is it now mother’s house?
Q. My elder brother, who lives in the USA, bought a house for our parents in the early 1980’s. My mother is still living in it. She wanted to move a couple of years ago and put the house on the market. Eventually she decided against it, but does the fact that my brother allowed her to put the house up for sale mean she now owns the property?
A. The ownership of the property depends on a number of factors. Firstly you should check out whose name it is in; if the property has been bought in your mother’s name using your brother’s money then it may be that he intended to gift the house to her. If the property is registered at the Land Registry you can check the ownership details online on payment of a £3.00 fee. Even if the property is in your mother’s name this may not mean that she can keep the sale proceeds, since if no gift was intended she will be obliged to hold the sale proceeds upon trust for your brother.

Moving the fence posts
Q. I have a small farm. About two years ago a neighbour put up new fences round her land, but extended her boundary by about ten yards on to my property. She said the new position was the correct boundary if I checked my title deeds. She was right, but the land had been fenced in the original position for at least 40 years. I have been told I have “squatter’s rights” to the land, but is it too late to act now?
A. It would have been preferable to do something immediately while the evidence of the original fence position was still fresh. However if you can prove that the fence was there for 40 years (more than 12 prior to 13th October 2003 when the law changed will do) and your neighbours never tried to reclaim the land, you should be able to persuade the Land Registry to grant you “possessory title” to the disputed strip. You will need to draw up a statutory declaration to submit with your application, and if you can track down any previous owner to provide evidence, so much the better.

Threat hanging over me
Q. My neighbour’s property was built before mine, and their roof overhangs a path to the side of my house. I understand that they own the space and ground below the overhang. So far this has caused no problems, but the house is now up for sale and am concerned that I could be barred from the path that I have used daily for 35 years.
A. It’s not clear why you think that the path belongs to your neighbour. If it’s in your garden the chances are that it belongs to you, in which case the commonsense view would be that your land extends up to your neighbour’s house. In legal theory a landowner owns not only the land but the air above it and the soil beneath it. So your neighbour’s roof may in fact be an intrusion into your airspace. Your neighbour may have a right to have his roof overhang your property contained in the title deeds. It’s possible that your title deeds will give some indication as to ownership of the path. Even if it doesn’t belong to you, you may have acquired the right to use it if you have being doing so unchallenged for 35 years.

Black arts
Q. We had our drive resurfaced by a man who told us it would last six years. It didn’t last six months! He gave us a guarantee, but he ignored my request for my money back and asked for another £100 to re-do the drive. Naturally I refused, but is there any further action I can take?
A. If he won’t put things right at his own expense you should tell him (preferably in writing) that you intend getting someone else in to do the job and will be asking him to foot the bill. There is no law that says you must to go back to someone who has provided shoddy services to give them the opportunity to do a better job. If the workman is still trading it might be worth suing him using the small claims track of your local County Court, having first obtained a written estimate from a reputable local builder for the remedial work. You could ask friends to check whether he’s still in business by getting them to ask for a quote.