Opening boundaries; what does it really mean?

Part IV

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

The second major question to resolve is the size and boundaries of the land.
People have bought land and property and discovered the property has no access/ road leading to it. People have started construction only to discover they built in a wrong plot, this happens a lot with plots in housing estates. People have constructed houses and walls only to discover part of their construction is in a neighbour’s plot.

In addition to using a lawyer, consider using the services of a surveyor. Their prices are very fair. It is important to open boundaries and establish the size of your plot. In opening boundaries, surveyors go to the lands office of the respective area, obtain the deed plans of that area and use that to confirm among other things that your plot rightfully has an access to it or you need to pay the neighbours or perhaps if you have been using the road for many years, Section 11 of the Act provides that where a landowner fails through negotiations to obtain leave from adjoining landowners to construct a road of access over their land to a public highway, he or she may apply to a land tribunal for permission to do so.

The major purpose of engaging a surveyor is to ensure that the certificate of title is actually for the plot being shown to you. The surveyor after obtaining the deed print, goes to the plot and using a machine called a total station theodolite get the plot coordinates with google and locate the markstones. Then they crosscheck the plot location and size with what is indicated on the certificate of title of the seller. Then you can rest assured that your dream house will fit on the plot or your intended activities can be accommodated there.

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