In my garden there is a part of it say approx 20ft wide by 22ft long that i have pinched and fenced off 13 years ago which i beleive belongs to the council. ( was old houses)
I did it to extend my garden in this time no letter or knocking on the door and nobody as said anything to me.
Is there a rule that after i think 12 years of been fenced off it's mine?
Or do i need to buy it & get solicitor involved etc.?
The reason i ask now is id like to build a garage on some of it & planning permission won't be given if it's not on my deeds i don't think?
Your thoughts please.
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No need to be on the deeds to get PP though you may need the owners consent in order to apply.
PU or espada will be along with F&BP's in time but adverse posession can be pretty complicated. A quick google for court cases or a check of the website of the Adjudicator to HM Land registry will show just how complicated!!
You will need legal advice.
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It'll be a learning curve and life skill for you Bigtee.
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I reckon it's yours now, but I don't know how you go about registering it.
My Mum did the same with some land owned by a water board which had incorrectly fenced their perimiter years back, and it is hers now. Officially. You will need to prove that you've been using the land for productive purposes for 12 years I think. Some people do this by planting fruit trees or summat, and keeping records of their harvest. My Mum did it by grazing livestock and keeping the necessary records and proofs.
Good luck.
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I would think it depends where you live.
The parents of a school friend who lived in an 1950s end-of-terrace claimed a 25ftx50ft triangular green space next to their house in the 1980s, and I don't think any money changed hands although they gave the impression it was with the consent of the council. It effectively doubled their garden space, and a quick look on Google Maps shows the house has since been extended to almost double its original size, partially on the "reclaimed" land.
My dad's end-of-terrace house has a similar green space next to part of its garden - I've often though it would look far better as a hardstanding outside his garage. The only use this green space has ever had, as far back as I can remember, is for passing dog-walkers to let their animals to defecate on. That was the reason us kids never played on it then, and it's the same now.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 21 Jan 11 at 00:48
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It'll be a learning curve and life skill for you Bigtee. Life is one big one pu. :-)
Over the last 13 years i have various photo's of the land when had the bbq and with different fence etc, so i can prove it's not been done say in the last 4 years.
A neighbour pinced some and put a extension on his house but he had to pay as he's only lived here six years at the time.
If i have to pay for it fair enough i just like to know how to proceed the solicitors are robbing bast.... as we all know,!!
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One thing I do know is that if you enquire with the current owners as to purchasing the land, then you will not be able to obtain adverse posession at any time. In know this as I looked into it regarding a reserve substation next to my garden which I would like to encorporate in to my land.
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The law regarding adverse possession changed in 2003 and and land registered since then cannot be acquired by adverse possession. You need there to establish whether the land is registered.
If the land is unregistered the period of adverse possession is 12 years
If the land was registered prior to 13 October 2003, which is probable as most land is now registered, you would have needed to have occupy that land for 10 years prior to 13 October 2003. From your post this appears not be the case and you will not be able to acquire the land.
The registered owner of the land can require you to restore the land to its original condition removing any fences buildings etc.
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Ok.
As far as i know the council own it as they made a compulsory purchase on some terraced houses back in the 70's as these were in a very poor state. And it has not been touched since then.
The guy i bought the house off went to solicitors to state he had used the land the past 11 years to park his caravan on & had a small fence around some of it.
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You need to make a land registry search. As I said if the land is registered you would seem to have no possibility of acquiring any rights over it.
www.landregistry.gov.uk/
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Thank you for the link i'll have a look tomorrow.
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Id buy you a beer but your not getting four quid off me. :-)
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Brief review of the law on adverse possession (as it is called) or possessory title.
The law changed a few years ago, such that it is no longer so easy to obtain land via this route. The only way to do it is if the land is not registered. You can check this online with the Land registry website for payment of a few pounds.
If it is not registered then you will need a lawyer to stake your claim with the land registry on the basis that you have used and occupied the land 'so as to exclude all others' for over 12 years. This will get you possessory title and after 20 years the full freehold.
If the land is registered then you know who the owner is so you cannot use this route. I am not sure if you can claim possessory title now of registered land, unless you will have occupied it for a period of 12 years ending on a date about 8 years ago I think.
So regretfully I think that you will not be able to incorporate it into your title, but you should always obtain legal advice before proceeding or otherwise.
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My understanding from solicitors is as Espada details. What I would say is if you ever intend to sell be wary of taking over land that's not yours. At quite late stages in the selling process it can cause the sale to fall apart.
We have once pulled out of a purchase when the garage access was over such a piece of land. We've also abandoned claim to such an area of land on a house we were selling as our solicitor advised it would very likely trip up the sale at the buyer's searches stage.
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The OP asked if planning permission would be given if the land is not on his deeds.
I don't see this as a problem, I believe you can apply for planning permission whether you own the land or not.
Developers sometimes do this to test the water before buying a plot.
If the above is garbage, I hope Espada will correct me.
If it isn't, the OP could apply for permission for his garage, get it and build it.
The legal position of the garage and its plot will remain unsatisfactory, but presumably the OP has no plans to move, otherwise he wouldn't want to build the garage.
I think the worst that could happen is the balloon goes up sometime after the garage is built and the OP is ordered to remove it.
More likely, as with his garden, nothing will be said.
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"I am not sure if you can claim possessory title now of registered land, unless you will have occupied it for a period of 12 years ending on a date about 8 years ago I think. "
'You can and the period is actually 10 years in such circumstances. The date is 13th October 1993 - see my earlier post'
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Sorry CGN - I didn't read your post before I launched into my answer. You are right.
In answer to the question about planning permission, Iffy is correct. You can apply for planning permission on any piece of land BUT if you do not own it, you must inform the owner. If the owner is the council then the application itself is not enough to inform them, you must serve the correct notice on the the council via the main address.
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Owning land. - Bromptonaut
