Unadopted land.

terry_not_the_corry_one

Hi.
I wonder if anyone can help. At the side of my property is a strip of land about 6 ft wide by 30 ft long. Next to this is a footpath about 5ft wide then a school fence . This strip extends about 100 metre and backs onto 20 other houses. No one else has claimed the land. The strip has water pipe under it. This used to be for a fire hydrant on the school, before it was removed when the school had an extension. This is now been turned off at a tap in the road to the front of my property.
The land I want has trees at the bottom end with grass at the top. I have lived in the property since 2002 in this time I have maintained the land, put gravel down and used for parking upto 18 month ago. Then I put a small wire fence around it to stop dog using it as a toilet.
 I would like to fence the land off properly but I'm reluctant as to the cost, then having to remove the fence when people complain. 
I would like the land to be signed over to me via the land registry before I fence off and develop the land. Or do I have to fence the area off with a more substantial fence and then apply for ownership.

I look forward to answers of wisdom.

AdrianC

You have to exclude anybody else from using the land. That, in practice, means fencing it off. The fact other people's dogs use it suggests they have not been excluded from it.

I presume it's not registered, and I presume it's not part of the school's land...?

terry_not_the_corry_one

Hi Adrian. Thank you for replying. It's not registered as I'm aware and it's not part of the school. On the land registry plan it shows it as like a double footpath between me and the school. I presume grass and footpath on the plan. The houses on the land further up run upto a kerb stone that edges my grass with the water pipe. what is concerned me is the expense of putting up a fence and having to pull it down again.

AdrianC

Probably local authority land, then.

If you can't even stretch to a fence, you probably don't want that bit that badly.

Jeepers_Creepers

Haven't the laws changed anyway?

I understood that you can't just 'possess' and use a piece of land for a certain period without complaint and then claim it as yours. Don't you now have an obligation to contact the rightful owner and tell them what you hope to do, and 'do they have any objections?'

AdrianC

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Haven't the laws changed anyway?

I understood that you can't just 'possess' and use a piece of land for a certain period without complaint and then claim it as yours. Don't you now have an obligation to contact the rightful owner and tell them what you hope to do, and 'do they have any objections?'

If it's registered, then the situation is different to unregistered.

Section62

terry_not_the_corry_one said:

No one else has claimed the land. The strip has water pipe under it. This used to be for a fire hydrant on the school, before it was removed when the school had an extension. This is now been turned off at a tap in the road to the front of my property.

Nobody needs to 'claim' the land.  Unless they sell it, or someone tries to dispossess them of it, they are entitled to just leave it there doing whatever it is doing (or not doing).

terry_not_the_corry_one said:

It's not registered as I'm aware and it's not part of the school. On the land registry plan it shows it as like a double footpath between me and the school. I presume grass and footpath on the plan.

I agree with Adrian that local authority land is the most likely, either owned by the education department or highways. The footpath and water supply, and being adjacent to a school, strongly suggest that.

When was the school originally built?  It was quite common for local councils to just buy a plot of land from a farmer or developer to build a school. Therefore it is quite possible the land in question was last purchased before compulsory registration, or the registration is for a much larger plot than you are looking for.

Local authorities also have (or had) their own internal land ownership record keeping systems (often a whole department) so registration of their ownership wasn't a priority before compulsory registration.

How do you know it isn't part of the school? Asking the staff is unlikely to give you the right answer if that is what you did.

If it was me I would contact the local council (the one with education responsibilities) and enquire about purchasing the land. If it is theirs and they no longer need it, they may be willing to negotiate to sell to you.  If it is theirs and you just put a fence up on it, you can be sure to get contact from them sooner or later telling you to remove everything of yours from their land.

terry_not_the_corry_one

Thank you all for your advice. You have clarified my original thoughts. I need a solicitor. It's not a normal situation with having the public footpath upto the edge of the land. Time to bite the bullet.