Adverse possession or wait for boundary dispute

70sthrowback

Hi All,

looking for some advice for my neighbours. At the bottom of their gardens is grazing land which has been rented by a family for several generations and owned by the church. So basically everyone has been left alone for over a hundred years..... until now.

The church has sold the land to developers who are in the process of preparing plans to build housing on it. The advice I am looking for relates to the boundary line at the bottom of the gardens. On the plans we have been sent by the developers the line is very straight, however this does not reflect what is on the ground in real life. I went to their houses during the week and it looks like the gardens have essentially encroached over the original boundary sometime in the past. One neighbour has been there for 33 years and says it was like that when they moved in. On this encroached land are sheds, greenhouses, summerhouses, the kinds of things you have at the bottom 10-12 feet of your garden.

So the question is, given the time its been like this, should the neighbours try and get adverse possession? Or should they wait until planning is formally submitted and dispute the boundary? They obviously don't want lose part of their well established gardens if it at all possible.

ps this is a genuine ask on behalf of my elderly neighbours, it is not my garden or boundary.

Aylesbury_Duck

I suggest they contact a solicitor to see what their options are. If the developers' plans are accurate then your neighbours or their predecessors have made a land-grab which may or may not be allowed to stand.

70sthrowback

Hi Aylesbury duck, thats why I am wondering whether they should apply for adverse possession? I can't remember whether its 12 or 20 years now before you can do that. But its minimum 30 years possibly 100 years they have tended the land. Behind the gardens there is about 5 metres of brambles / trees so nobody has been looking at it.

Aylesbury_Duck

That's why they should get in touch with a solicitor. A solicitor will advise them on what they should do to try and secure the outcome they want. As a layman, I would want to be pro-active so that I know what my options are before developers get in touch. Otherwise, your neighbours will be working to the developer's timetable when the inevitable happens and they are written to to ask for the original boundary to be reinstated. Far better to understand their rights beforehand.

70sthrowback

at the moment I think they are too scared to do anything and burying their heads in the sand. I will advise that but was hoping that I may be able to offer some different options that could be open to them

Mojisola

70sthrowback wrote: »

The church has sold the land to developers who are in the process of preparing plans to build housing on it.

The advice I am looking for relates to the boundary line at the bottom of the gardens. On the plans we have been sent by the developers the line is very straight, however this does not reflect what is on the ground in real life.

I went to their houses during the week and it looks like the gardens have essentially encroached over the original boundary sometime in the past.

One neighbour has been there for 33 years and says it was like that when they moved in.

Boundaries do move over time - boundaries that have been in place for so long can become the de facto boundaries.

It sounds as if the developers failed to inspect the land before they bought it.

It would be worth the neighbours quietly collecting evidence that the boundaries have been in place for many years - photographs, invoices for sheds, letters from previous owners, etc, and wait for the developers to realise that the land they've bought is smaller than the old plans show.

70sthrowback

the site is big enough for 4 semi's and 4 large detached houses so I doubt they will miss 10 feet or so. However the issue is the current plan has an access road running down along side the boundary hence the concern from them.

I will suggest they gather evidence and book to speak to a solicitor too as I don't think planning will be long before its submitted. The agents of the developers have already been in touch to gauge feedback and address concerns. I have told the neighbours not to raise the boundary question with the developers until they know more. Definite solicitor consultation required I sooner rather than later.

EssexExile

As far as I'm aware there's nothing to stop the developer getting planning permission even if he doesn't own all the land. Once he gets permission perhaps he'll come round & offer a nice bounty for the bits he needs for the access road.

One can but hope.

TheCyclingProgrammer

From what I can tell, if the marked boundary on the ground doesn't match with the plans, then there will be a boundary dispute at some point. The developers will realise that your neighbours are occupying part of what they believe to be their land but I don't think legally they can just start removing what's there if it doesn't belong to them. This will inevitably lead to a dispute so its probably better if your neighbours get the ball rolling now and speak to a solicitor as others have advised.

Tom99

Have they downloaded their own Title plan from the LR?

konark

Adverse possession;, if the land has been fenced off and used by the house-owners since the 1980s the land is theirs. If the church land wasn't registered at the LR then 12 years will do.