Is my lease plan wrong? The very basic answer to this question is a simple one, more than likely. 
 
In today’s property market, land is everything and we have had so many clients who's been hit with the realisation, that they don’t own what they possibly think. On one occasion the client has overestimated what they own and took a neighbour all the way to the high court after they had blocked access to a private road. Later on, I’ll let you know the outcome. 
 
Mapping Evolution 
 
In 1971, computers were introduced into the surveying world and digital mapping techniques began (the first plan was published in 1973). 
 
Electronics transformed surveying equipment and practices. Light beam technology and automatic data recording equipment led to much faster data collection rather than using chains and measuring wheels. 
 
1995 saw the launch of the OS website and the digitalisation of around 230,000 electronic maps. This landmark made Britain the first country in the world to complete a programme of large-scale electronic mapping. 
 
The Turn of the Century 
 
In 2001 Ordanance Survey launched OS MasterMap. From topography to greenspaces, OS MasterMap is a geospatial dataset that offers close to 500 million real-world objects including roads, buildings, parks, and waterways. Today, OS MasterMap is relied on by thousands of customers across government and the public and private sector. 
 
How do maps pre 1970 compare to todays Plans 
 
Quiet simply if your property is built pre 1970s your lease plan is hand illustrated. Some poor surveyor has gone out a vigorously measured your land with a chain or measuring tape. As with all sectors there were highly skilled people or let’s say not so skilled. Most of these surveys went off cost to win the tender, do you pay the surveyor who’s charging for 3 days work or 1 day. 
 
As you can imagine the larger the area the more chance of an error occurring, I won’t lie ive inputted the wrong numerical value into a plan before from my doctor like handwriting, luckily as i know this is a weakness of mine everything gets checked. My new year’s resolution... write neater. 
 
Today’s plans are taken from satellite imaging that is updated every six months and are incredibly accurate, however they are still not perfect as errors can occur in particular if there are blind spots from space for instance canopies for example. 
 
Back to my Story from earlier 
 
Here is where I tie this blog all together... Recap.. our client had blocked access to a private road with 3 tonne concrete blocks as they were fed up with the neighbouring industrial unit using their road with cars and lorries. Under the Lease plan drawn from the 1950s the road was clearly estimated around 8 metres within their boundary, so they took action to block the trespassing. 
 
We were asked to produce an up-to-date plan from the solicitors as they were heading to the high court as tensions with the neighbours had boiled over. Unfortunately, the hand drawn plan over a large area was quite a way off and in fact the area of the road was not part of our client’s land. to see this, we overlayed the 2 plans as best we could, and the difference was staggering. luckily the client knew topographical features to produce the plan for instance a bank or a tree for example. 
 
Conclusion 
 
Our lease plans start from £199, I can’t tell you how much we recommend you update any lease plans that were produced prior to 1970 at the minimum but more realistically any lease plan produced before 2001. 
This could stop any legal problems occurring and can affect your legal responsibilities or obligations and more importantly property value. It’s a very safe way to ensure you are 100% aware of your property. 
 
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