adverse possession

almichcan

My mother(who is retired/oap) has been physically looking after a section of land for over 22 years and now the local council want to pull it from under her feet,

In 1987 the local rotary club decided to turn a section of waste /barron land in to a nature garden , and from the very start my mother was put in charge of turning this waste land into a green space, the rotary club was only involved for the 1st 12 months then my mother was basically left to in , investing her own money time and effort into the garden,

My mother has applied for the land twice but been rejected from land registry and now the local council has send her a letter stating that she has till july to remove her belonging and vacate the area and what ever is left behind the council will remove and charge her accordingly

We have all relevant information from the very 1st start on the land (1987) when it was waste land ( which is fenced off) all the way till today,

The only thing we don’t have is legal knowledge in this , we know about adverse possession but don’t know enough to challenge the local council

Could you please advise or know any one who could help

My mother is retired and has put her heart and sole into the garden , and is now deverstated about the local council action to evict her



Many thanks

Alan

Hintza

Can't offer any real advice and I assume you have googled frantically but your mother should perhaps seek legal advice.

Having said that I imagine she is not too keen to spend much money defending it so why not go back to the rotary club and ask them to help (surely they will have a couple of local solicitors in their ranks).

Get hold of the local paper and get them to ask the council what they are up to (they will love the story).

What do the council plan to do with the land?

Darksun

I'd speak to your local councillor(s) about it, they should have regular surgery hours. Look on your council's website for details

OnTheUp_2-2

gardenlaw website is great and alot of people on there have knowledge about adverse possession

www.gardenlaw.co.uk


I feel really sorry for your mother, especially after all that effort.

However i would be concerned that in 1987 she was put "in charge" of the land and not given it

Likewise it was not literally waste land as it belonged to the council or rotary club, could you clarify?

The fact that your mother used her money to maintain it, I do not think this would give her enough to claim owner ship?

These are just a few ideas that popped into my head , i am not in the legal field

Wishing you lots of luck :-)

iamtheking

I agree seek legal advice.Does she have proof of money spent on the land? receipts? old photos of her on the land caring for it. I would take the advice of the person who said get the local paper involved they may be able to help by giving a name or face to the council member you need to contact, Go to Citizens Advice for a free chat about her rights and options.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Block of flats due to go up there, by any chance?