Thank God for overpriced lawyers!

When you buy a house in Britain, there is an extensive and well-established series of checks you must perform to ensure the property is suitable for habitation. When undertaking a survey, you should ensure that the boundaries of the property conform to those recorded at the Land Registry, and that the property does not lie on a flood plain or risk structural damage from coastal erosion or subsidence. Unfortunately, there seems to be no mechanism to protect householders from the worst possible eventuality — which is to find out that you have a lawyer living next door.

Wherever you have a shared wall or fence, there exist countless opportunities to be a bit of an arsehole — suing your neighbour about an overhanging branch, or claiming damages to your greenhouse from falling fruit or invasive roots. For most of us, thankfully, the cost of engaging a lawyer outweighs any potential gains from arseholery, so we simply don’t bother.