Claiming Land

[MCFCTrick]

Been told that if land is 'claimed' by fencing for a period of ten (or is it twelve?) years, that it's then 'yours'.

Anyone any experience of this? How do you prove it's been fenced for the required time etc...?

 

[Big G]

It used to be 12 years and 1 day, it was when we claimed the land next to our house anyway (Parents had the house before I did)
All we did was close it off with rose bushes then later a fence and kept the upkeep of it, when we wanted to build a garage on it we went to the land registry in Lytham and the council had already handed it over, it shows up on the land deeds as reclaimed land of which they will happily supply you with a copy.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

I was under the impression that it was 10 years before you can make a claim then there can be another period of 2 years on top for people to make claims on the land. It is adverse possession, makes a difference whether the land is currently registered or not as to the liklihood of you being successful, I think. You should probably just ring the land registry.

 

[cockneycarparkm32]

I`ve heard anything from 8-12 yrs. You have to upkeep the land and leave access if it is used as a cut through . Check your deeds for drainage,streams and utilities that require access for maintenance , heard some horror stories where there are blockages in the drainage line and the whole lot was dug out to piece through broken drains . The two instances ended up sharing a£10,000 and just under £20,000 bill for the repairs , both of them were drains at the bottom of garden where there was a strip of land left fenced off about 3 metres from the garden backing on to them . United utilities needed access as the gardens were flooded.

 

[MCFCTrick]

Ours is a little tricky.....it is a small (12' 'V' shaped) piece of land at the end of our garden. It was fenced off and 'claimed' by the previous owners to us. (We moved in Sept 1999)

The land, as is all the fields down to the River Roch is privately owned by the people that owned all the land our estate now stands. (built circa 1975)
These people lived in a house up the road from us, untill last few years when one died and one went into a home.

The 'children' are now trying to sell the house, and tied to it is all the land mentioned. It's been up for sale for over a year now, and it's the land attatched causing problems with any sale.....basically there isn't a lot anyone can do with it as access to it is by a dog-legged wide path between our house and next door.....(they tried to get planning permission many years ago to buld a house behind us, but was flatly denied as the access is too narrow for emergency vehicles etc)

Anyhow....the estate agents have now offered the strips of this land to each of our neighbours backing onto it.....but, as said, the bit being offered to us is already 'claimed' and has been for around 15 years.....do we keep quiet and do nothing, or risk stirring a hornets nest and try and go through Land Registry to make it 'legit'....??

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Ours is a little tricky.....it is a small (12' 'V' shaped) piece of land at the end of our garden. It was fenced off and 'claimed' by the previous owners to us. (We moved in Sept 1999)

The land, as is all the fields down to the River Roch is privately owned by the people that owned all the land our estate now stands. (built circa 1975)
These people lived in a house up the road from us, untill last few years when one died and one went into a home.

The 'children' are now trying to sell the house, and tied to it is all the land mentioned. It's been up for sale for over a year now, and it's the land attatched causing problems with any sale.....basically there isn't a lot anyone can do with it as access to it is by a dog-legged wide path between our house and next door.....(they tried to get planning permission many years ago to buld a house behind us, but was flatly denied as the access is too narrow for emergency vehicles etc)

Anyhow....the estate agents have now offered the strips of this land to each of our neighbours backing onto it.....but, as said, the bit being offered to us is already 'claimed' and has been for around 15 years.....do we keep quiet and do nothing, or risk stirring a hornets nest and try and go through Land Registry to make it 'legit'....??

Whatever you do, don't make an offer to anyone for the land, that could be seen as an admittance that it isn't already yours. I reckon you need to get in touch with the land registry and run the whole situation by them, you don't need to make it official or mention namers/addresses at that stage so shouldn't cause a problem. Any time I have spoken to the land registry they have been pretty helpful. Either that or go to CAB or see a solicitor. If they are offering the land to others, I don't reckon just letting the situation drift and hoping for the best is a good option.

 

[metalblue]

Sounds like you have a case for adverse possession. Contact a legal bod, you will probably need to be able to prove the land has been openingly and obviously occupied for at least 12 years (the fence should cover this), there are different processes depending on if the land is already registered or not.

You should probably make it "legit" - it will add some "value" to your house.

Good luck blue.

 

[cockneycarparkm32]

Dont make any offer for it mate, they tried to sell the ginnel between our yards to rear of house and cottage gardens ,offering one neighbour the strip for £4k and myself for £12k , I live two doors down from my neigbour ,like we dont talk or something. I told them I will never be interested as did the neighbour who was offered it for £4k, I was working for United Utilities at the time and asked in the office for advice . The main drains ran down them,any throuble ,would be our problem ,knowing all about drainage it wasnt worth the outlay . I did a job a few years back where everybody ringfenced their bit ,were pulled up and had to pay just over £5.5 k for the bit they took apart from two ,who just told the solicitor they can have it back ,and proceeded to take down new boundary fence,they got it weeks later for £900.00 inc of the vat,I saw the paperwork, because there was no access whatsoever . Good luck mate

 

[MCFCTrick]

Thanks to all for the advice.....going to get proffesional advice on it now, as regards to our position on the land being fenced and maintained over the past 11 and a half years by ourselves, (and have now found original estate agent's pics from when we bought the house, clearly showing it was fenced and maintained even before we bought it).....rather than let it drift.

 

[honkytonkman187]

it's not as easy to do as it used to be.

You have to declare to the Land Registry that you are seeking adverse possession. The LR will then attempt to contact the last known title-holder to tell them of your intention. If they cannot be found, it might go through for you. It may, however, just alert the owner to the fact that you have been treating it as your own for some time, and they will tell you to take the fence down, or offer to sell it to you.

There are lots of little plots of land which you would think nobody owns, but they are "ransom strips" usually held "just in case" often by fairly large companies.