Unregistered land

martinpike

There's a bit of scrub land adjacent to my relatives house. It's been confirmed by a solicitor friend that it is unregistered.

In order for it to become practical to develop (only one dwelling), it would require some of my relatives garden, plus some of someone elses garden. Both gardens are big enough for this to be a sensible option.

How would you proceed, if at all?

mlz1413

i've just looked into this as the house I bought 15 years ago did not have the front garden within the red lined boundry of the house deeds and as i may be selling in the next couple of years thought it best to tackle the situation now.

I wrote to land registry with a sketched map of the house and front garden with a letter explaining and a cheque for £6 and they sent back my cheque with a letter saying the land was unregistered and that as I should look into First Registration.

My findings so far are that you need to have at least 10 years history of the land AND you must also be able to stand in front of a solicitor and swear that you have had exclusive rights to the land.

In my case I am capable of the above because the land is fenced and has been used as my garden by me for 15 years and my neighbours can witness over 60 years. But I feel that your case is not the same as the land is scrub and therefore it sounds like the land can be used by everyone i.e. children to play on, dog walkers etc, so the land is not exclusive to one house.

As you want to build a property on this I would go back to your solicitor friend and ask for more advice.

martinpike

Thanks for the reply. It's pretty much as I suspected.

The land is in fact fenced off completely, i.e. all four sides. My relatives (first one, then another) have lived there for about 15 years in all, and in that time no-one seems to have entered it. It's certainly a complete mess, overgrown, rubbish tossed into it etc.

I guess the next step would be to open it up from my relatives side, incorporate it into their garden, and see what happens?

And then wait 10 years....!

Cheers.

Johnhowell

martinpike wrote:

Thanks for the reply. It's pretty much as I suspected.

The land is in fact fenced off completely, i.e. all four sides. My relatives (first one, then another) have lived there for about 15 years in all, and in that time no-one seems to have entered it. It's certainly a complete mess, overgrown, rubbish tossed into it etc.

I guess the next step would be to open it up from my relatives side, incorporate it into their garden, and see what happens?

And then wait 10 years....!

Cheers.

Martin,

The law on "Adverse Possession" has recently changed. As your relative has not actually had use of the land for the last 12-15 years, then you need to register "first interest" NOW and then the clock starts - rather than retrospectively.

Your interest has to be registered with the Land Regisitry and notices have to be post on site for all to see. After the requisite time period, if nobody can prove ownership, the land will be registered to you.

You must seek professional advise with someone that understands fully the new laws. I am not sure about using the land after registering first interest.

Edited to say - get your solicitor to check with the local authorities (Borough and County Terrier Plans) that they do not own the parcel - as most of their assets are unregistered. Also, Highway Land can not be adversely possessed.
Regards,
John