A friend of mine purchased a cottage from the crown estate and it was not maintained competently, nor in a manner compliant with building regulations. The entir

A friend of mine purchased a cottage from the crown estate and it was not maintained competently, nor in a manner compliant with building regulations. The entire way they went about splitting up the land before sale was complete nonsense... the first draft of the deeds drawn up by the crown would have granted my friend the land he wanted plus half of his neighbour's cottage (as in, a line was drawn right through their living room!) I think on balance, it seems fairer to say that the Crown owns a lot of land, and doesn't have the resources to manage it all competently. Their view is from 10,000 feet and us normal people are like ants... (Interestingly, the only part of the law that the Crown does seem to have to obey is that regarding the listing of buildings. They performed some non compliant modifications on the cottage and were forced to change them back! Then again, perhaps the Crown merely chooses to go along with listings...)