An encroachment is a structure that sits, even partly, on land it has no right to occupy. An encroachment agreement registered on title is the negotiated fix — permission to keep the structure in place, on stated terms, instead of removing it.
Treadstone Law frames the starting point bluntly: “an encroachment is a continuing trespass,” and the “headline remedy is an order to remove it.” Removal is rarely the outcome anyone wants once a foundation, a wall or an addition is already built, so the alternatives matter more in practice: “an encroachment agreement registered on title is usually the cleanest outcome. It records that the structure stays with your permission, on stated terms: who maintains it, what happens if it is rebuilt or destroyed, whether it ends on sale.” Where an agreement is not the right shape for the problem, “the alternatives are granting an easement, or transferring the strip outright.” And where the encroachment is minor and nobody is trying to build, sell, or add on top of it, courts favour proportionality over eviction: “damages instead of removal are common” — though “where the encroachment blocks a development, an addition, or a sale, an order to remove becomes far more likely.”
A pre-construction survey on an infill build finds the neighbouring property’s garage footing sits 0.4 metres over the boundary line, running the full 12-metre depth of the lot — 0.4 m × 12 m = 4.8 m² of encroached land. Demolishing and rebuilding the footing to fix 4.8 m² is expensive and delays both projects; registering an encroachment agreement is not. The agreement records the 4.8 m² strip, assigns maintenance to the garage owner, and includes a clause ending the arrangement if either property sells — so the buyer of either lot inherits clear notice of exactly what they are buying into, instead of discovering a 0.4-metre surprise at their own survey.
See also: Legal non-conforming use, Development charges and when they are set, Altering a heritage-designated property
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