Claiming Land Ownership - ADVICE NEEDED!

Ozzuk

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Okay. Point taken.

Just a bit of a sore spot personally at the moment, with having to beat off an attempted land thief neighbour right now.

The one point I should have mentioned is that, in very last resort, anyone on the receiving end of attempted land theft may have the option to have the land grabbee's house made the subject of a rather "hot" Neighbourhood Dispute (not forgetting that estate agents have recently got a code of conduct that says they have an obligation to disclose any material facts they know of against a house they are trying to sell).

My worst case analysis situation personally regarding my own personal "would-be land grabber" is to provide myself with all the evidence I need to give to whichever EA comes to sell the house "when.....", so they have evidence there is a BIG neighbourhood dispute going on and, in this part of the country, it should be possible to make the "grabbers" house unsaleable until I get my land back:D (a fact that doesn't matter in the slightest to me..as its going to charity eventually anyway).

I think you have high hopes for your 'neighbourhood dispute', haven't gone through something similar we just put on the disclosure form a dispute occurred, it was resolved, it never once caused an issue. It could impact the sale if it was ongoing though I guess, it would depend if the new purchaser actually wanted the piece of land under dispute. I'm sure I read an article recently talking about disputes and how they are often down to personalities so it's not always the deal breaker people think it is.

theEnd

cte1111 wrote: »

I would think that the extra land, if it had been successfully grabbed, would still be owned by the people who grabbed it.

So the mortgage company have repossessed the property but they can't repossess the extra land, as this wasn't included in the original security for the loan. You would then have to buy the grabbed land from the people who lived there, as a separate purchase, or grab it yourself by using it for 12 years etc.

Very good point.

Juris

Hi all...many thanks for the sound advice...I have done some more digging and discovered the previous owners fenced off the land in 1999 as they applied to the Council to change a patch of land from public use to private garden. This was granted in 1999 BUT they also (either knowingly or not) took slightly more than they applied for...therefore we have proof this land has been fenced off for 15yrs and also have independent witness (from neighbour who lived behind estate but travels past property daily) to confirm this land has been fenced off since 1999. We know another neighbour has done something very similar WITHOUT planning application so I am doubtful any of the neighbours would dispute us applying officially for this land. Also the lay out of the estate would make it impossible for any other property to lay claim to it as we are the only house next to this land.

From your experiences do you not think we would be able to claim this land as our own and add to the official boundaries?

Juris

*lives ...the independent neighbour still lives there and has done for 20yrs+

Also, we believe (from 1999 planning application) the land belongs to Council not highways.

moneyistooshorttomention

Whatever you do, do bear in mind that the "real owner" of the land (or someone else the "real owner" subsequently sells on to and they then become the "real owner") might very well decide to do everything they possibly can to make your life awkward (ie even if you just try to do this).

Parking problems is the first thing that comes to mind.

Juris

Yeah...definitely prepared for the 'worst' but hopefully as this land is grass, already fenced off, no where near any other property (except ours), not accessible by road (other than driving through our garden/driveway) it should not be disputed by any neighbours or previous occupiers.

I am 99% sure the Council own the land...1% someone like Morris Homes (who would have built the estate - although not sure who did build this estate).

Has anyone moved into property with a land dispute such as this - can we still claim the land even though it was the previous owners who had fenced it off for the past 15 years?