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

Beam, girder, or truss with the top portion being in the shape of a bow and the bottom portion being straight across and connecting both ends of the top portion. ...

A measure of actual starts of houses, condominiums, and apartment construction. When an economy is going to take a downturn, the housing sector is the first to decline. The strength in ...

You’ll find the most common definition and use of the term ‘perimeter’ in mathematics, more precisely geometry, to determine an item’s or land’s surface area. ...

Any walls constructed without using concrete or mortar. Drywall materials include sheetrock, gypsum, plywood, Styrofoam, and pressed fiver. See also drywall construction. ...

Another residence in addition to the main residence where a person or family resides. An example is a second home out of the city used on weekends and during vacations. Interest and real ...

Early American architectural housing style stressing a gambrel roof and overhanging eaves. ...

Adobe construction is one of the oldest types of construction that has been used in the Americas, ancient Egypt, and the Middle East to build long-lasting structures that can be seen even ...

An deir to an individual who died intestate and is entitled, under the distribution statute, to a portion of its proceeds. After all claims against the estate are satisfied, the ...

Homes with division of ownership or use of a resort unit on the basis of time periods. For example, a resort home may be divided into 25 time shares of two weeks each, with two weeks left ...

Popular Real Estate Questions