Label1. You own a terrace house. One day your neighbour demolishes her house, and the exposed wall lets in rain, damaging your house. Who is legally to blame?

2. Your neighbour is talking about building a new wall right up to the boundary, and says that the foundations will go under your land. Can she do this without your permission?

3. For many years you have been driving over a rough track to gain access to your land. Now some developers tell you that the track crosses common land, which they have bought, and that if you want to continue driving across it you must pay £50,000 for a right of way. Do you have to pay?

4. A friend tells you that if you own land bordering a river, you can as much water as you want from the river. Is this right?

5. A quarry company tell you that because it is the lord of the manor it owns the right to valuable minerals under your land. Can this be right?

6. On your land is an old bungalow, long unoccupied and now derelict. You would like to rebuild it, but the local planning officials tell you that the right to use the land as a house has expired. Are they right?

7. You live in a house in the suburbs. It's comfortable but crowded, and you want to put a caravan in the driveway for a few months, so that your daughter can study in peace for some exams. Is this lawful?

8. You would like to build an extension to your house. The planning officials say that permission would probably be granted, but a neighbour tells you that building is out of the question, because it would be a breach of a restrictive covenant, and would interfere with his right to light. What is the position?

9. Can you cut back branches and roots of trees on neighbouring land if they cross the boundary of your land?

10. You've bought a beautiful, 300-year old cottage in a village high street. In the front garden is an ancient water pump. The old lady who sold you the cottage told you that, when she lived there as a girl, the inhabitants of the village all drew their water from the pump. How quaint! One day, however, an official from the local authority announces that the pump is theirs, and that they are going to make most of your front garden into an "ornamental feature", for public use. Can they do this?

Your e-mail address