Definition of "Adjoining"

Gena Taylor real estate agent

Written by

Gena Taylorelite badge icon

Coldwell Banker FI Grey & Son Residential Inc.

Regarding the definition of the term adjoining, we see a term used most often to describe a particular position that objects, items, or properties have regarding each other. In the case of the term adjoining, that position is one of direct contact, attached, or contiguous. Strictly regarding the ordinary meaning of the word, adjoining describes closer proximity than adjacent as it requires a “joining” of objects, items, or properties. 

Adjoining in real estate

The term adjoining is also important in real estate lingo as it describes two buildings with a connecting boundary, a wall that they both share, a fence that connects the properties, and such. The term, however, is often used together with adjacent accompanied by a wide variety of environmental planning instruments as well as in development control plans. Something important to note is that when used together, they possibly refer to different concepts that determine the proximity of properties, buildings, and lots.

The term real estate adjoining can be used to describe abutting properties or adjoining properties as, in both instances, the two properties do not have any land or structure in between them. These properties can share a wall of the house, a fence in the backyard, or a line of trees that limits one property from the other. In any other way, the two properties are joined at one point or one line with nothing else separating them. Examples would be duplexes and townhouses. The concept is debated when issues of cadastral mapping come into question for buyers that are interested in lots that are devoid of any structures in order to have exact measurements of where one lot ends and the other begins.


Adjoining owners are the legal owners of adjoining properties that share a common structure at their border. Other terms that can be used instead of adjoining in real estate are abutting, neighboring, connected, or attached. Adjacent is close but not quite as directly connected as adjoining is and should not be used as a synonym.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

" A metal plate attached to the lower end of a door to prevent marring from people "kicking" the door in order to open it. A metal plate mounted on the open edge of a stairs platform." ...

An amount of money provided for in a contract as compensation if the contract is not fulfilled. An example is an offer to buy real property that includes a provision that once the seller ...

(1) Land adjacent to a lake, river, or stream that can also be part of a flood area. (2) Land at the bottom of a valley or glen. ...

Private company established in 1957 and headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, providing private mortgage insurance (PMI) to mortgage lenders granting mortgages to mortgagors not having at least a ...

Legal competence of parties to be held responsible for the terms of a contract or to be brought into the courts. Those who are under the legal age, are mentally incompetent, or under the ...

Same as term yield: The income earned on an investment, typically stated as a percentage of the market price ...

The definition of dereliction is the intentional property abandonment or desertion with no hope of returning or recovery of a property. Dereliction is the act of abandonment, neglect of ...

Number of housing units of a particular category that are available. ...

Name given by the Realtors National Marketing Institute which is affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions