is it possible to register a piece of land that you do not own?

melb

I have just found out that someone round the corner has registered at the land registry a strip of land at the side of their house which was actually an access to a close neighbour of mine (who has recently died). Their houses are at sort of right angles with adjoining gardens at the back if that makes sense. This would have provided vehicular access to an otherwise inaccessible piece of land behind the deceased lady's house which would then become a potential building plot as it is a sizeable piece of land. The house that has registered this at Land Registry has registered it separately as "land adjoining ... (their address). I know that the deceased owner has not sold them this land - they have acquired it under prescription but how have they been able to register it at land registry? the deceased's property is unregistered by the way.

RAS

There is a Land Registry rep on here most weekdays but they will have packed up until Monday.

Are there title deeds showing the deceased's ownership of the land?

Poppie68

There is a law, i looked into it a while back as 2 of neighbours have claimed land at the back of our houses, they have both registered with LR and if i remember rightly if it's not challenged within so many years it legally becomes theirs...im thinking of doing it as the land is fenced in and has never been used for anything. Im sure i read it somewhere on the LR website.

melb

don't know what it says in the deceased's title plans - I have seen them because the neighbour asked me if I could make head nor tail of them but that was because another neighbour was being awkward about boundaries and I said I would have a look and see if I could see anything but couldn't - they were the original ones from 1800s so written in longhand in Ye Olde English! Can't remember there being a plan either. This house (round the corner) went up for sale very quickly after the funeral of the neighbour and it sounded alarm bells for some reason so I looked on LR today

Guest101

IF the land provides 'rights of access' then even if he succeeds in registering the land (unlikely a a solicitors of the estate should challenge it), he/she still cannot build on the property, and would never get any planning permission.

What he seems to have done is try be cheeky and it will backfire. But the LR rep will certainly clarify this better than i have.

melb

by the way this land was registered a number of years ago - not just since the neighbour's death. The land they have annexed/registered wouldn't be enough to build anything on per se but it is the only reasonable access (other than a narrowish footpath) to the very large back garden at the back of the deceased's house. This would make their strip a ransom strip (whatever it's called) However if they were doing it so that in the future they could sell it to whoever bought the deceased's property to enable them to build a house in the back garden with vehicular access, why have they put their own house on the market? \I am going to arrange a viewing and see what they say about their drive/garden!

G_M

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/professional/guides/practice-guide-5

Land_Registry

Claiming land is often referred to as Squatters rights or Adverse Possession. In England & Wales it is quite possible to lay claim to someone else's land/property and ultimately to have it registered. The law is quite complex and G_M has kindly linked you to the relevant guidance regarding claiming unregistered land as provided on our website.

Any claim has to satisfy the 'essentials' as explained in section 3 of the guide. In most cases interested/affected parties are notified of such an application to register but each registration is treated on merit - see section 6 of the guide.

Any application to register the land is likely to have relied on the claim of the applicant i.e. in the form of a statutory declaration or similar.

melb

yes thank you that link was very informative. However I am fairly certain no approach was made to the landowner even though by the layout of the land it is obvious who it would have belonged to and all neighbours would have been aware. As the house that seized the land is now up for sale I am going to view it to hear what they say about the boundaries of their land as I think it is all rather coincidental. Also any thoughts on why this small piece of land has its own Ref No at the land Registry rather than incorporating it in with the house itself? Also there appears to be a charge on it from a loan company but no money will have changed hands as it was never bought. Could this just be a matter of a remortgage on the home maybe? Don't know why I'm so bothered - it doesn't affect me (unless they try and seize the garden that this is the original access road to) as this will spoil my outlook but that is unlikely. Just hate people's nasty attitude of stealing land.

Land_Registry

In very basic terms under current law there is no formal requirement for any 'approach' to be made to anyone. A landowner is expected in law to protect their own property and that is why people can lawfully lay claim to someone else's land. The Limitation Act 1980 is the basis for this.

There are certain requirements for Land Registry to follow when an application to register a claim is submitted. With unregistered land there is of course not always clear evidence as to who the owner is. Section 6.3 of the guide refers. And whilst others may be aware the issues around the claim are often a legal matter for the claimant and actual owner alone.

When claiming ownership in this way the registration is often completed as a separate title as the class of title awarded, possessory, is different from the more common absolute title where it has been registered on the basis of the actual 'deeds'.

If or as and when the title is upgraded to absolute in the future the owner would have the potential to amalgamate both titles but there is no requirement to do so.

Loan companies do not only lend money for the purpose of buying a property or land. Land can be used as security for various reasons and not simply for mortgage purposes.

The issues surrounding adverse possession and claiming ownership of land/property are very complex. The Practice Guide covers the basic issues from a land registration perspective only. There can often be legitimate or reasonable reasons why individuals may lay claim to someone else's land but the wider issues involved can be very complex. Others may wish to post a view.