House buying - access problem

bargainhunter_3-2

Just because the land is unregistered does not mean that no-one owns the land. The land registry is a relatively new organisation and there is a large amount of land that is not reistered to anyone despite the fact that someone does own the property and title deeds to it - about 20% of land is currently unregistered.

The only requirement for an owner to register land is when it is sold or transfered to new ownership.

Despite this, if unhindered access over the land for at least ten years can be proven then the owner of the house would automatically have a right of access irrespective of who owns the land.

Chunters_a_lot

I came accross a similar problem when buying my house. Myself and 8 other properties use an unmade, un adopted and 'apparently' unowned track to access their houses.

The track has various maintenance issues so we have a feeling that is why no one has ever admitted to owning it:rolleyes: However my immediate neighbour has lived in their house for 30 years + and no one has ever challenged their right of access on the track.

When we bought our house this issue was highlighted so we bought the indemnity policy (to cover legal fees?) in case anyone challenged our right to use the track for accessing our home, we've not not needed to use it.

Geenie

bargainhunter wrote: »

Just because the land is unregistered does not mean that no-one owns the land. The land registry is a relatively new organisation and there is a large amount of land that is not reistered to anyone despite the fact that someone does own the property and title deeds to it - about 20% of land is currently unregistered.

The only requirement for an owner to register land is when it is sold or transfered to new ownership.

Despite this, if unhindered access over the land for at least ten years can be proven then the owner of the house would automatically have a right of access irrespective of who owns the land.

This is such an important point. Get your proprty registered. It really doesn't cost that much and can save so many problems when disputes arise in the future about boundaries.

I have seen many cases locally where fences have been moved and land lost due to owners not realising until too late. The publicity for this has been swamped by other things, but can save a lot of anguish and problems for many.