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

Identifying marker of a company. Attesting to something such as the validity of an instrument used in real estate. ...

The term lock-in clause is used in an agreement that prescribes a period of time within which either of the parties that signed a contract cannot terminate the contract. In case one of the ...

Passageway providing public access from a building interior to an exit. Long interior passageway providing access to rooms. ...

Properties that about and actually touch and share a common border. Properties B and C are contiguous. Property A is adjacent to properties B and C, but it is not contiguous. ...

Individual corporation, and so on permitted by law to own property and engage in business. Here, two or more companies operate under common control. Separate economic unit subject to ...

Certificate usually granted by a jurisdictions building department certifying a specified premise has satisfactorily complied with all zoning and building ordinances. This certification is ...

Period of time during which a complainant in a real estate transaction can seek a financial recovery from a licensed real estate broker or agent. The time period is determined by state ...

Right of any government agency to enact and enforce certain regulations to provide for the health and safety and general welfare of the public. ...

A lower phase of a business cycle in which the economy is deteriorating, coupled with a declining rate of business investment and consumer spending. Real Estate prices are typically ...

Popular Real Estate Questions