Cadastral property line: 5 things that matter

Administrative Law Division of the Council of State (ABRvS) on April 25, 2025 (ECLI:NL:RVS:2025:1847) ruled in an administrative law dispute between a parcel owner (appellant) and the Registrar of Land Registry. The case revolved around a disagreement about the location of a property boundary between the appellant and his neighbors, in particular the legality of a boundary reconstruction was at issue. The ABRvS, also known as ‘the Division,’ made several important considerations in its ruling. Lawyer Mae Rutges specializes in real estate law and discusses the five main viewpoints provided by the Department.

Complaints about boundary reconstruction by Land Registry

Because of the boundary dispute, the municipality requested the Land Registry to perform a boundary reconstruction in 2020. This reconstruction took place on August 10, 2020. The appellant disagreed with the result and filed and complaint. As a result, another land surveying specialist performed a second reconstruction on January 8, 2021. This second reconstruction resulted in a report of findings, which found that the earlier reconstruction had not been properly performed.

The second land measurement would also be incorrect

The appellant then claimed that the second reconstruction was also incorrect and submitted and request to the Registrar of Land Registry to rectify an alleged manifest error in the basic land registry. According to the appellant, the reconstructed boundary deviated from the correct, original situation. The Registrar rejected this request and also declared the objection lodged against it unfounded. After all, the Land Registry only registers cadastral boundaries, the custodian stated. The North Netherlands District Court upheld this ruling. The appellant then appealed to the Division.

1. Land registry records cadastral boundary, not legal boundary

First of all, the Land Registry registers only cadastral boundaries and thus no legal property or use boundaries. In this particular case, the dispute between the appellant and the neighbors was about the legal boundary. For that, a civil court has jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal of Arnhem-Leeuwarden has confirmed this earlier (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2024:4222). Therefore, the assessment of the cadastral boundary and boundary construction was left to the administrative law judge of the ABRvS (r.o. 7) and not to the civil court.

“The Division first notes that et this appeal involves an administrative law dispute. At issue here are cadastral property boundaries and not use or ownership boundaries.”

2. Cadastral boundary and legal boundary need not coincide

Second, the legal boundary and cadastral boundary may diverge, although they often do. For example, by statute of limitations a legal property boundary may change without being adjusted in the cadastral registration. Such a change is not required to be recorded in the Land Register, nor does it lead to an automatic adjustment of the cadastral boundary (r.o. 4).

3. Cadastral map only indicative of location of plots

Furthermore, the cadastral map serves only to show the location of plots in relation to each other. No measurements or exact boundary lines can be derived from these maps.

“Cadastral boundaries are shown on a cadastral map. No measurements can be derived from this data.”

The source of the cadastral boundary lies in the minute plan: the original fieldwork from the 19^e century (r.o. 9)

“The boundary construction took place based on the minute boundaries, which were recorded in a minute plan. The minute boundaries are the boundaries recorded in the nineteenth century as the existing cadastral boundaries. These cadastral boundaries ijn recorded in the basic land register.”

4. Property boundary reconstruction does not lead to new (legal) property boundary

It was subsequently held that reconstruction does not create a new boundary or source document. Boundary reconstructions serve only to make a particular cadastral boundary visible in the terrain, based on the genesis fieldwork. The account of findings of a reconstruction in an internal report of observations is therefore no formal source for change of registration. It is not a decision with legal effect, so it cannot be objected to or appealed (r.o. 11).

5. Objection to property boundary reconstruction only makes sense if it differs from source document

Finally, it concludes that a request for correction of a miss in the basic land registry can only be granted if there is a discrepancy between the source document and the registration (r.o. 12.1).

Lawyer real estate law In disputes over property boundaries

The Division's ruling thus underscores that the Land Registry is primarily administrative in nature and is limited to representing cadastral boundaries. A reconstruction does not constitute a new source document, nor does it lead to a change in the registration. For owners who doubt the correctness of their property boundary, it is therefore important to seek timely (civil) legal advice and - where necessary - to take their dispute to court. Want to know what Lexys' real estate lawyer can do for you? Then take contact with us.