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

Individual or entity that divides up a large piece of owned land into smaller pieces generally for the purpose of developing them into homes for sale in the future. ...

Legal action between a plaintiff and defendant. ...

Raised concrete border constructed along a street or a sidewalk. A curb prevents vehicle from going on the adjacent property and sidewalks as well as directing runoff into storm drains. ...

An agricultural technique of supplying water to land to sustain the growth of crops. Developing irrigation system is an ancient practice being used as early as 500 BC along the banks of ...

Net return on a real estate investment. It equals the income less the expenses associated with the property. ...

Person who dies leaving a will specifying the distribution of the estate. ...

Interest rate on a mortgage is changed periodically based on the change in a general price index to take into account inflation, such as a yearly adjustment. An example is the consumer ...

Sewer system built into the streets of a neighborhood that is capable of accommodating the excess water flow of a heavy storm without backing up or flooding. ...

In the mining and petroleum industries, it is a portion of the profit secured from the extracted minerals or oil reserves from the property paid to the property owner. For example, a ...

Popular Real Estate Questions