Adverse Possession

maria_lucia

Just found out that part of my garden enclosed by a wall trees and shrubs belongs to the house builder 
they built the wall and put in trees etc. I rang council they said land is owned by house builder and is apparently adopted highway. Can I get this tiny bit of land in my name by adverse possession. The land is between my boundary and wall and is not a highway 
thank you 

Section62

If the council say it is highway then you can't claim it by 'adverse possession'.  "Highway" isn't just the road and footway, it can include grass verges, flowerbeds, soft/hard landscaping, and various other types of land.

To make an 'adverse possession' claim you'd need to prove the land wasn't highway.  Can you do that?

lincroft1710

If you do apply for AP the landowner will have to be informed and can object to your application

theartfullodger

Before you do anything else check your deeds and the plans that go with them.

And get up-to-date copies online from Land registry. (A few quid).

Then see if they agree with what council said.  It's land registry who are the authority, not council.

maria_lucia

I have rang land registry they say the land is owned by Bryant homes and to apply for adverse possession. The council are saying the same thing apart from the bit about adopted highway.
the site has never been a road it used to be just open fields! 

I bought the house from Bryant homes in 1998 and have always believed this was my front garden.  

Section62

maria_lucia said:

the site has never been a road it used to be just open fields! 

Land doesn't have to be a road to be highway.

maria_lucia

This is front garden 

canaldumidi

Land can be both owned by one person (eg Bryant Homes) and adopted as highway by another (eg the council highways dept).

user1977

canaldumidi said:

Land can be both owned by one person (eg Bryant Homes) and adopted as highway by another (eg the council highways dept).

True, though I'm not sure what you do if the council claim that grass within your garden fence is in fact an adopted road verge!

babybluetoo

Section62 said:

maria_lucia said:

the site has never been a road it used to be just open fields! 

Land doesn't have to be a road to be highway.

Does the land marked as highway agree with what was included on the Section 38 Agreement made with the developer? The details might have been shown in your local search when you bought the property.  Your local highway authority (usually the County Council) should be able to provide a copy. Modern estates with no footway sometimes have an adopted service strip for access to pipes/cables. 

Section62

theartfullodger said:

It's land registry who are the authority, not council.

Land Registry have the record of who owns land, the Highway Authority (council) have the record of whether it is highway or not.

If the Highways Register doesn't define the extent of the highway and a neighbouring property owner wants to dispute the boundary position then a court gets to decide - although the law is weighted towards the protection of public rights, so the case for 'not highway' needs to be good.