Adverse Possession

bobthesod

There is a piece of 'council maintained land' adjacent to my freehold, as shown on the Title map from the Land registry. I assume that it is also council owned as a car parked on it further along has has a yellow 'You are parking on council owned land' stuck to it.

The portion next to mine has been maintained and used by me since we moved in in 1986, for planting bushes and most recently parking a car on it. (which has not had a sticker affixed to it)

If what we have done comes under the requirements for Adverse Possession, how do i legally go about getting this bit of land in my name and amended on the title map/deeds?
I might add that since we moved in there has been not one bit off correspondence to us advising us that it is council owned/maintained land nor has an council employee ever come onto it to do maintainance.. cut grass, tidy up fallen branches, leaves etc

Do i just write to the land registry and council advising them of this ,or has the council a get out clause somewhere?

Tucker

Firstly, it doesn't sound like you have a case, as the land has be fenced in for a period of 12 years to the exclusion of others.

If you've just been using and maintaining it, that's not sufficient.

To claim the land, there's an application process. The owner at this point is notified and has the opportunity to contest your claim.

If you can't prove you've had it fully fenced off I would suggest you are wasting your time and money.

vaio

Nah, you don't need to have it fenced off, if you have fenced it then that is good, but not conclusive evidence of possession and equally if it isn't fenced then you can still be in possession.

The land registry has practice notes about this, might be worth having a read of them

bobthesod

Thanks, will do some searching...

Land_Registry

Not sure if you have had any time to do some searching yet so hopefully this post will assist if not

From a land registration perspective it is important to confirm whether land in question is registered or not as this will impact on the both the process and the time which has to have passed to support a valid claim

To establish whether the land is registered read our FAQ on the subject. A sticker on a car is not really proof of ownership although it can though be a clue as to possible ownership or a likely interest in the land.

Once you have established whether it is registered or not then read either Practice Guide 4 or 5 - do bear in mind that the guides are written with conveyancers in mind but they will give you a better idea of what may or may not be required.