Definition of "Abutting"

Joshua L. Cole real estate agent

Written by

Joshua L. Coleelite badge icon

Venture Realty Group

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!

 

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

Document between two or more parties indicating a need to take or not take a previous action taking place. For example, a bank may commit to make a loan dependent on a satisfactory credit ...

The direction in which a community is growing. Directional growth is measured over time, and its path strongly influences current and future market values of those properties clearly in ...

The Exclusive Right to Sell Listing is a type of Listing where the Listing Broker/Agent wins his/her commission even if he/she wasn’t directly responsible for the sale.Let’s ...

Major city in a metropolitan area. ...

What does viz. mean? The meaning of viz. derives from the Latin word videlicet which is translated into English as namely, that is, which is, as follows. You may encounter it in legal ...

Claude in a contract, title, or mortgage that is subject to being annulled, repealed, or revoked upon the satisfaction of a claim or completion of a future event. ...

Gradual deterioration of land due to nature such as because of floods, hurricanes and storms. Gradual decline in the value of real estate because of poor market and economic conditions. ...

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 ...

A large enclosed shopping mall having several national and regional retails stores acting as anchor tenants. The enclosed floor area of regional shopping centers ranges between 250,000 ...

Popular Real Estate Questions