Adverse Possession

doodle60

On recent return of our house deeds from the bank we’ve discovered that a small 1 metre strip at the side boundary (within our plot) is registered in the joint names of the two Limited Companies who shared the site when we purchased in 2001. Looks like a ransom strip, but the whole of the site was completed long ago. We bought the property in good faith based on the sales literature & the plan used to register our ownership with Land Registry, neither of which visually showed the strip. Shortly after purchase Land Registry notified the bank of the error & our plot was registered minus the strip. We want to claim Adverse Possession & we meet all the requirements. However, 1 of the Limited Companies is in liquidation. Once this company is dissolved does ownership pass to the surviving company or the Crown? I realise that our claim MAY get rejected straight away simply because 1 company is in liquidation, but there’s no information anywhere about joint ownership of land by 2 limited companies. We’ve researched Adverse Possession in detail & hope to do this ourselves. Thoughts please, anyone?

SprostonGreenHead

Recommend that you ask about this on the Land Registry thread here, where a LR representative might be able to shed some light: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5685941/land-registry-questions#latest

Section62

doodle60 said:

However, 1 of the Limited Companies is in liquidation. Once this company is dissolved does ownership pass to the surviving company or the Crown? I realise that our claim MAY get rejected straight away simply because 1 company is in liquidation, but there’s no information anywhere about joint ownership of land by 2 limited companies. We’ve researched Adverse Possession in detail & hope to do this ourselves. Thoughts please, anyone?

Usually ownership of that share would pass to the Crown, but if the insolvency practitioner knows about it, they may seek to sell it as an asset.

See what the LR rep says, but I suspect you will need to employ a good solicitor and consider bidding to buy the half-share of the land from the liquidator as a least risk/lowest cost solution.

Without knowing more about the nature of this piece of land it is difficult to put a value on it, but it is quite possible that the value will be less than the legal costs involved in attempting to go through the AP route on a piece of land with such complicated history.  You'll also want to ensure there are no issues when you eventually come to sell the property, so the DIY approach may be an unwise choice.

doodle60

Thanks for your reply. Our big gripe with this is that Bett Homes sold us a plot they must have known wouldn’t include this tiny oblong in the corner. They’re builders & know exactly what a ransom strip is for. No one can access or use it except us. We thought we’d fill out the AP forms, ticking the box that we intend to rely on paragraph 5(2) of schedule 6 - the first condition - since Bett Homes led us to believe we were buying a particular plot & in fact this very small part was not included. One of the joint owners being in liquidation is a bit of a spanner in the works! I just don’t want my kids to have to deal with this one day. But if we did nothing I doubt anyone would care. It’s not like anyone can access or start using it. I’ll see what Land Registry say & post their reply here. Thanks.

Section62

doodle60 said:

It’s not like anyone can access or start using it.

Not even the owners of the land?  Do your deeds not give a right of way for access to the strip of land, or something similar?

Usually with a ransom strip the idea is to stop people getting from an area acessible to the public to the area of land you don't want others to be able to access (without paying you cash).  If the strip of land is not accessible by others then it raises the question "what is it ransoming?"

From your description it sounds more like the land has a function, such as providing a route for drainage or utility plant, which had to be retained in the developer's ownership for legal reasons.

Did you ever approach the developers and ask them to sell it to you?

TripleH

Contact the liquidator anyway, provide photographic evidence of the land showing how awkward and unappealing it is.

The liquidator has to seek the best price for the share (depending how it is setup) and by making it look as unappealing to other buyers as you can, you might get it at a steal especially if paying to market it for sale and other costs means a lower return than you offer.

ProDave

TripleH said:

Contact the liquidator anyway, provide photographic evidence of the land showing how awkward and unappealing it is.

The liquidator has to seek the best price for the share (depending how it is setup) and by making it look as unappealing to other buyers as you can, you might get it at a steal especially if paying to market it for sale and other costs means a lower return than you offer.

Be careful.  Doesn't asking to buy it accept that you don't own it and scuppers a claim for AP?

I assume this odd bit of land is not essential for you to access your house?  It is just an odd but of garden that happens to be enclosed with the rest of your garden but you don't own it?

doodle60

Yes, you’re right. Contacting the owners automatically re-sets the clock for Adverse Possession. It’s literally 1metre x 2 metres at the side of our garage & within our boundary hedge. Of no interest or use whatsoever to anyone except us as owners of the property. We just don’t own it, & I’m trying to get in into our names to avoid any potential issues should we need to sell in the future, or when our children sell if we’re not here any more! We’re happy to try an AP claim for £170 but have no intention of paying for this tiny part of our garden as we thought we’d already bought it in 2001 🤨. We think the liquidation of one of the owners may make the claim a problem. We don’t want to get solicitors involved as the fees would run out of control. Thanks for your reply.