Our property disputes solicitors can advise on a broad range of property disputes relating to residential properties and provide you with clear advice to guide you through what can be a difficult and stressful process.

Disputes with neighbours, landlords or others, regarding boundaries, rights over the shared driveway, rights of access over other land, or breach of covenants, are always difficult for a homeowner.

We aim to take that pressure off you and to assist you with making key decisions to see that a successful outcome is secured and, where possible, with a view to salvaging relations with your neighbours.

Whether proceedings are being brought in the High Court, the Lands Tribunal, or the county court, we can provide on hand advice to assist you with defending proceedings which are served on you or commencing claims to seek an appropriate remedy. We would only commence court action once efforts had been made to resolve the claim first.

Our residential property dispute solicitors support clients with all manner of property issues, including:

• Statutory lease extensions and lease extension disputes
• Adverse possession
• Disputes with neighbours, including boundary disputes
• Landlord and tenant disputes
• Avoiding or forcing a sale
• Restrictive covenants
• Issues with the Land Registry

Speak to our property disputes solicitors
To get in touch with our residential property disputes solicitors in Canterbury, please call us on 01227 813400 or we can also assist in Margate on 01843 234000, or fill in our simple online enquiry form on this page to request a call back.

Why work with our property dispute lawyers?
Our residential property disputes solicitors are dedicated to offering outstanding legal support, assisting clients with all manner of property disputes. We appreciate that experiencing issues with your living situation can be stressful and pride ourselves on resolving matters professionally and swiftly.

At Boys & Maughan, we have an excellent reputation in the community. Our capable team always puts our clients first, and take the time to get to know their specific needs. We will ensure that you understand what to expect from the legal processes and always keep you up to date with the progress of your case.

Our property disputes solicitors’ approach
Our solicitors will listen carefully to your needs, finding pragmatic solutions to your legal issues, regardless of the situation or circumstances.

Our property litigation solicitors can offer you:

• Balanced advice concerning your legal options, assisting you to make well-informed decisions.
• Specialist advice from solicitors with expert accreditations and extensive experience in residential property matters.
• A tailor-made service, catered to the specific requirements of every client.

Lease extension disputes
If you purchased a flat on a long lease, it can feel as though you own the property outright, yet in the eyes of the law, you remain a tenant. What that means is, when the lease comes to an end, the property rights are transferred back to the landlord. If you only have a short amount oftime left on your lease, it’s important that you take steps to extend it.

Under some circumstances, lease extension matters can give rise to disputes between landlords and tenants, and in this instance you’ll need robust legal support to resolve things. Real estate litigation is a complex area of the law, and so it’s essential that you have the assistance of a high-calibre legal team.

Lease extensions are complex and there are various legal pitfalls to avoid. Our residential property lawyers have plenty of experience assisting clients with these matters and can support you to meet the associated lease extension deadlines.

You can read an introduction to how to gain greater control over your leasehold property here. 

Disputes with neighbours
Disputes with neighbours can quickly make your living situation incredibly tense and uncomfortable. If you’ve attempted to resolve matters on your own, and have made no progress, our expert solicitors can assist you.

We can help you to resolve all manner of disputes with a neighbour, including issues related to parking, boundary disputes, noise complaints, overgrown hedges, and so on. For more information, please get in touch with our litigation and disputes solicitors.

Landlord and tenant disputes
Landlord and tenant relationships can be complicated, especially when one or both parties are not following the legal requirements of their contract. At Boys & Maughan we have the expertise and knowledge to assist both landlords and tenants, supporting them to resolve disputes amicably, where possible.

Disputes between landlords and tenants can occur for many reasons, it might be payment issues or habitability concerns. It could be that a landlord has failed to maintain the property, or that the tenant has broken the lease. Whatever the issue, our residential property lawyers can offer full support and expert legal guidance.

Forcing or avoiding property sale
Up to four parties can legally own a property together, and there are plenty of benefits to joint ownership. If one of the registered owners of the property wishes to sell, and the other party does not, the party who does wish to sell would need to apply to the court to force the sale. We appreciate that these circumstances can be extremely tense and stressful for everyone involved.

Our property litigation solicitors can support you if you are looking to avoid the sale of your property, or if you need to force the sale against the wishes of the other registered owner(s).

We have extensive experience in assisting clients with these kinds of disputes, including family disputes over property, or property disputes when a couple is getting divorced.

Restrictive Covenants
Owning your property outright does not necessarily mean that you can do exactly what you please with the building and land. Restrictive covenants refer to legal conditions that are included in the deeds of a property or the contract. These conditions set restrictions on how the property can be used, and may cover a wide range of issues, including:

• Covenants that prevent property owners from altering the property, (for example constructing an extension).
• Covenants which state that the property may not be used as a place of trade or business.
• Limitations on how many pets can be kept at the property, and which type of pets.
• Rules which state you may not park commercial vehicles or caravans on the property grounds.

Issues with Land Registry
If you are purchasing or selling a property, the transfer of ownership needs to be registered. The Land Registry is a government department that works to record the ownership of property and land.

If there are issues with your Land Registry, you’ll need legal support to help you swiftly resolve these problems. Our residential property disputes solicitors have ample experience supporting clients to resolve Land Registry problems, to include:

• Issues with unregistered land
• Restrictive covenant issues
• Missing deeds
• Land Registry disputes

Our property dispute solicitors’ fees
We understand that our clients need clear pricing information from the beginning. Our property lawyers will first review the details of your situation, and then use this information to offer an accurate fee estimate.

If you’d like to discuss your case today and receive an initial quote, please get in touch. Our legal team can answer any queries you may have about residential property and the associated legal issues.

Frequently Asked Questions About Residential Property Disputes

What is a boundary dispute?
A boundary dispute refers to a dispute that may occur between the neighbours. For example, if one party constructs a building, wall, or fence, and the other party believes that they did not have the right to do so, and are in fact crossing the boundary between the neighbouring properties.

Our residential property solicitors have tackled a number of complex boundary dispute cases and are in an excellent position to offer full support.

How do you resolve a dispute with a neighbour?
If you are experiencing a dispute with a neighbour, you have various options to solve this dispute. If talking to your neighbour yourself does not resolve the situation, you might get in touch with the council or your neighbours’ landlord.

Under some circumstances, you may need the assistance of a residential property expert to resolve the dispute. At Boys & Maughan, we can support you with the use of alternative dispute resolution processes, for example, mediation.

Contact our property disputes solicitors in Canterbury and Thanet

To get in touch with our East Kent property disputes solicitors, please call us on 01227 813400 or we can also assist in Margate on 01843 234000, or fill in our simple online enquiry form on this page to request a call back.