Adverse possession of land?

C_Mababejive

Hi all,

Here is the situation,
My back garden extends a certain distance in a rectangular shape until it ends at my back gate and fenceline. 

If i open my back gate, there is a strip of grass verge between my fenceline and the kerb edges of the road. At a guess id say its about 2.5m x 6m. The road is actually a quiet cul de sac, not a main road. 

The strip of grass verge isnt a service verge as the houses were built at least 40 years ago before that became common. I suspect its simply stranded land that isnt registered. I'd like to take possession of it.

I suppose the first step is to try and perceive the outline of my property on land reg?

If this bit isnt included, how can i grab it?

Thanks

propertyrental

It's probably owned by the council, Part of the highway.

To claim AP you'd have to treat it as your own for 12 years ie move your fence to include it within your garden, and look after it as your garden. 

Then apply. If the land is registered (have you checked?) or the owner known, the Land Registry will write to them and they can object.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-1-unregistered-land-and-2-registered-land/practice-guide-5-adverse-possession-of-1-unregistered-and-2-registered-land-where-a-right-to-be-registered-was-acquired-before-13-october-2003

user1977

If it's a public road (is it?) then the verge is probably public too.

p00hsticks

propertyrental said:

It's probably owned by the council, Part of the highway.

An obvious pointer would be who (if anyone) mows it ?
My parents have similar, and it's owned by the council, who come along every few months to mow it. . 

propertyrental

p00hsticks said:

propertyrental said:

It's probably owned by the council, Part of the highway.

An obvious pointer would be who (if anyone) mows it ?
My parents have similar, and it's owned by the council, who come along every few months to mow it. . 

but there again there are lots of highway verges that don't get mown....

housebuyer143

C_Mababejive said:

Hi all,

Here is the situation,
My back garden extends a certain distance in a rectangular shape until it ends at my back gate and fenceline. 

If i open my back gate, there is a strip of grass verge between my fenceline and the kerb edges of the road. At a guess id say its about 2.5m x 6m. The road is actually a quiet cul de sac, not a main road. 

The strip of grass verge isnt a service verge as the houses were built at least 40 years ago before that became common. I suspect its simply stranded land that isnt registered. I'd like to take possession of it.

I suppose the first step is to try and perceive the outline of my property on land reg?

If this bit isnt included, how can i grab it?

Thanks

Had the same thing on my old house as it was basically land the developer owned but didn't build on or register. 
We built a fence around it and claimed possession after 12 years as did all the neighbours with similar strips of land. 

You can check the land registry to see if it's unregistered if it is you are probably safe to enclose it as your garden. 

Section62

propertyrental said:

It's probably owned by the council, Part of the highway.

To claim AP you'd have to treat it as your own for 12 years ie move your fence to include it within your garden, and look after it as your garden. 

Then apply. If the land is registered (have you checked?) or the owner known, the Land Registry will write to them and they can object.

If it is highway then it can't be AP'd. The highway authority can always reclaim it if someone tries to encroach.

Section62

housebuyer143 said:

You can check the land registry to see if it's unregistered if it is you are probably safe to enclose it as your garden. 

If the road in question is (public) highway then 40 years ago it is unlikely the council would have registered it - local authorities generally recorded their land ownership using a land terrier system.

If the land is unregistered and is adjacent to a (public) highway then the safer assumption would be that it is probably highway land.

Sarahspangles

C_Mababejive said:

Hi all,

Here is the situation,
My back garden extends a certain distance in a rectangular shape until it ends at my back gate and fenceline. 

If i open my back gate, there is a strip of grass verge between my fenceline and the kerb edges of the road. At a guess id say its about 2.5m x 6m. The road is actually a quiet cul de sac, not a main road. 

The strip of grass verge isnt a service verge as the houses were built at least 40 years ago before that became common. I suspect its simply stranded land that isnt registered. I'd like to take possession of it.

I suppose the first step is to try and perceive the outline of my property on land reg?

If this bit isnt included, how can i grab it?

Thanks

Is the verge where there would typically be a footpath, and is the road adopted?  If so the Council have probably drawn the highway boundary on your fence or hedge line and you won’t be able to encroach

maisie_cat

The verge will possibly be adopted highway, but maintenance by the council does not necessarily mean they own the road/verge. Often the subsoil is owned by the adjoining frontager properties, to the middle of the road if I remember rightly. We adjoin a highway and cannot do anything to the verge although the council don't bother either.
It can be a complex area

Section62

C_Mababejive said:

The strip of grass verge isnt a service verge as the houses were built at least 40 years ago before that became common. I suspect its simply stranded land that isnt registered. I'd like to take possession of it.

Utility equipment existing in highway verges goes back to the beginning of utilities.

What changed more recently is that the service verge containing public utilities could be retained in private ownership, either by the developer or an adjacent property owner.

40 years ago a road intended for adoption would normally have footways or verges which would also be adopted. 2.5m is wider than typical, but not impossible the HA wanted more land for some specific purpose.