The term abutting comes from the verb “to abut” and the definition of abutting denotes more proximity than “adjacent”. Abutting is often used in real estate to discuss properties that don’t have between them any land or specific border to work as a limit. These properties are referred to as abutting properties. The term abutting is not only used when referring to two homes that share a boundary, but people can also use it in case of a home abutting a highway or industrial parks that are abutting a market. The meaning of abutting implies a shared boundary between a fence, a wall of a building, an outer wall of a home, or even a line drawn on the grass.
What is an abutting property?
An abutting building can be a home, townhouse, a high-rise condominium or an apartment complex. In architecture, the term abutting building refers to buildings with exterior walls that touch or are almost touching. They are regarded as abutting properties by building codes, and even when they have a seismic separation they are still regarded as abutting properties.
People make another comparison with the term “neighbor”. Still, while a neighbor can be the person living next door to you or the one from across the street, an abutter (the owner of the abutting property) can only be the one next door to you, but only if you share a common border between the two properties.
One of the requirements of abutting properties is that the expenses of specific projects to be split between the two. The neighbor from across the street, if the road is private or public domain, is not an abutter, but if the street is split between the two property owners, then the owners will split the costs of repairs. This right as well as other rights, regulations and guidelines are drafted in the Abutter’s rights and the owners of the abutting properties need to respect them.
Real Estate Tip:
Start abutting yourself to people who’ll get you where you want to be: a real estate deal! Find a local real estate agent now!
Popular Real Estate Terms
model depicting on paper what a structure physically looks like. The dimensions are draw on a proportionate basis to the real thing. An example is a scale of an existing or proposed office ...
The unadjusted basis of assets is the actual price paid for purchasing an asset without any reductions from depreciation deductions. In order words, the unadjusted basis is an asset’s ...
Giving of a promise or guarantee to the receiver to instill confidence. ...
Deed used to transfer property rights to a governmental authority. ...
The definition of the term right of way is an easement or the right of another person to pass over land owned by someone else to reach a particular destination. An individual is typically ...
Market price pf all the property prior to a condemnation proceeding. ...
Action that is beyond that allowed legally. Examples are charging illegally high interest rate on mortgages and real estate exceeding the amount permissible by legal statute, and a real ...
The occupancy ratio is the ratio of rented or used space to the total amount of space available. An occupancy ratio or occupancy rate is used by analysts when hospitals, senior housing, ...
The term actual notice is used most often in connection with property law, but the concept can also be applied in other law areas. To define actual notice, we can look at the two major ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.