New builds and warranties
The pegs on a new plot do not sit where the plan in the reservation shows the boundary. What legal line has the survey not settled?
The survey has not settled the legal boundary. The pegs on the new plot do not sit where the reservation plan shows the line, so the ground and the drawing already disagree. A home survey can record that mismatch. It does not decide which line is the boundary, and it does not move the pegs. Title, the transfer plan and the reservation are for the solicitor. Looking at pegs does not complete that legal work.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Pegs mark a plot for the site team. They can be knocked, reset, or set out from a drawing that is not the one in the reservation pack. A surveyor can compare what they see with the plan they were shown and say the two do not agree. That sentence is a warning, not a boundary award. The house, the paths and the fences may all follow the pegs, which is why the difference matters, but the legal line is still unset.
Ask the solicitor to compare the reservation plan, the transfer plan and the title, and to raise the pegs with the developer. Do not treat the survey as having redrawn the boundary. If a measured land survey is needed, that is a separate instruction. Keep a note of where the pegs stand. The home survey has not certified that the plot on the ground is the plot the plan describes.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where do the pegs sit relative to the reservation plan?
- Has the survey declined to decide which line is the legal boundary?
- Were the title and the transfer plan left for the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the pegs and the plan as a mismatch, not a settled boundary.
- Ask the solicitor to compare the plans with the title.
- Raise the peg positions with the developer through the solicitor.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the fence follows the pegs, is the fence the boundary?
Not decided here. A fence on the peg line shows what was built, not what the legal boundary is. The reservation plan disagrees with those pegs. The survey has not chosen between them. Fences get put in the wrong place often enough that the solicitor still has to read the title and the transfer plan.
Can the surveyor move the pegs to match the plan?
No. Moving pegs would be site setting-out, not a home survey, and it would not create a legal boundary. The report records that the pegs and the reservation plan do not agree. Who is entitled to which strip is for the solicitor and the developer to resolve from the documents, not from a shifted peg.