Who owns my garden????

mrscruffy

Now I've hooked you with the thread title here's my problem:

There is a small piece of overgrown land (approx 3m x 3m) at the back of my house. There is no record of ownership with either the Land Registry or the local council. There has been a siggestion it may be owned by the "water board" as the land my house is built on was sold by the water board prior to construction.

Any suggestions to any of the following would be gratefully appreciated:
1) Who is the "water board" following privatisation (United Utilities bill me for my water so it is them? or is there a water equivilent of TransCo or National Grid?)
2) Can I find out what land was sold in the original transaction (not just my plot, the whold section of land as 3 houses were built)?
3) If I try everything reasonable to find the owner and I just cleared the land and put up a fence and the owner turns up can I reclaim any costs incurred by clearning the land (e.g. a skip)?

p.s. Yes, I have tried the neighbours, Land Regsitry and local council

thanks for everything.

Debt_Free_Chick

mrscruffy wrote:

1) Who is the "water board" following privatisation (United Utilities bill me for my water so it is them? or is there a water equivilent of TransCo or National Grid?)

Start with United Utilities. I think the Transco equivalent is the Environment Agency, but the analogy may not be 100% the same, in every respect.

2) Can I find out what land was sold in the original transaction (not just my plot, the whold section of land as 3 houses were built)?

Possibly - have you looked at the title for each of your neighbours properties at the Land Registry? You may find that one of those properties is on the original parcel of land and that there are conveyances that split the land off for your (and the other) properties.

However, not all of the historical detail is on the Land Registry and you may have to see the original deeds. Difficult, if they are lodged with a lender for mortgage purposes.

3) If I try everything reasonable to find the owner and I just cleared the land and put up a fence and the owner turns up can I reclaim any costs incurred by clearning the land (e.g. a skip)?

Legally, I doubt it as you have (a) simply done them a favour with no agreement as to reimbursement and (b) you are doing it (presumably) to get some enjoyment from the land yourself.

p.s. Yes, I have tried the neighbours, Land Regsitry and local council

thanks for everything.

Are you saying that there is no reference number on your land registry file for this parcel of land? That could simply indicate that the title has not been registered - which is possible if it hasn't changed hands in recent years.

Somebody will probably suggest that you use the land and then, after 10 years, claim ownership under the law of adverse possession, so you might as well read this in relation to unregistered land and this one for registered land.