Adverse possession, house inherited, “squatter” deceased

Stromboli

Father-in-law has died and left his unregistered house to my wife and her brother.  When applying for first registration they found there was no plan attached to the conveyance when he bought the house in 1984.  The conveyance for the sale to the previous owner, in 1971, used a plan which did not include a small, irregularly shaped piece of land at the end of what has always been treated as the rear garden.  The same plan had been used in the conveyance through which the builder had bought the plot from a development company. In referring to the plan, that conveyance said the boundary was shown for “identification purposes only”.  I take that to have meant that it was not intended to show a legal boundary (?).

Neither of the solicitors for FIL and his vendor seems to have picked up on the issue.

So, HM Land Registry has registered the property but has excluded the small piece of land (about 15 sq mtrs) on the basis that ownership cannot be proved.  We can’t argue with their logic, so need to consider making an adverse possession claim to prevent a problem in the future.

When FIL moved into the house, the perimeter hedges marked the full boundary of the garden.  The rear hedge was (and still is) in line with that of all the neighbouring properties.  There was nothing to indicate that an unmarked piece of ground was not part of the garden.  FIL and his wife erected a greenhouse (with my help) on part of the now excluded land and cultivated the rest continuously.  After she died and he became infirm I took on the job of maintaining the garden.   His second wife now lives in the property and tends the whole garden.

My late FIL obviously cannot give evidence of adverse possession.  Am I right in thinking that I could complete the required statement of truth to cover a period in excess of the required 12 years?

Also, if the unregistered piece of land is actually owned by someone else, we haven’t been able to identify the owner.  The development company that originally sold the land no longer exists; the builder and subsequent owners have all died.  Is that a problem?

Oh, and … any suggestions, please, on how to value a small piece of land which even the most imaginative builder would struggle to put anything saleable on?  (Value needed to determine the Land Registry fee)

Thank you.

tacpot12

Yes, you can complete the Statement of Truth. It sounds like you are aware of the ownership of the land sufficiently well to be able to make the statement. 

Have a look at this webpage for information on valuing the land: How to Value Garden Land | Purplebricks

By coincidence, I had the same problem with a property that I bought in 1985. Neither me nor my solicitor noticed that the garden I thought was part of the property I was buying wasn't shown on the title plan! The lesson here is that no solicitor is EVER going to spot such an error because they never leave their office. Only someone who has visited the property with the plan in hand stands a chance of spotting such an error. It was my mistake. 

Luckily, I had erected fences around the garden when I bought the property and still had the receipt from the fencing company (along with all the other receipts for the materials I bought when doing the house up), so I was able to claim adverse possession quite easily. 

HobgoblinBT

Would it help to get copies of plans from the land registry of any other properties that adjoin the piece of land in question to rule in or out likely other potential owners of the piece of land in question?

If it is discovered in this process that the OP identifies an owner would it prejudice the claim for adverse possession?  

sheramber

tacpot12 said:

Yes, you can complete the Statement of Truth. It sounds like you are aware of the ownership of the land sufficiently well to be able to make the statement. 

Have a look at this webpage for information on valuing the land: How to Value Garden Land | Purplebricks

By coincidence, I had the same problem with a property that I bought in 1985. Neither me nor my solicitor noticed that the garden I thought was part of the property I was buying wasn't shown on the title plan! The lesson here is that no solicitor is EVER going to spot such an error because they never leave their office. Only someone who has visited the property with the plan in hand stands a chance of spotting such an error. It was my mistake. 

Luckily, I had erected fences around the garden when I bought the property and still had the receipt from the fencing company (along with all the other receipts for the materials I bought when doing the house up), so I was able to claim adverse possession quite easily. 

Our solicitor compared the ordinance survey information with the land registry to uncover a missing area of garden. 

The land  was originally one area and when fenced off two fences were  wrong. As the adjoining land still belonged to the same family there was no problem with them agreeing to move the two fences to agree with the land registry. 

Stromboli

Thank you for these replies; I really appreciate your input.

I’ve seen the title plans for neighbouring properties. They don’t include the relevant piece of land.  So as not to over-complicate my first post, I didn’t mention that there is an electricity substation between the property and a neighbouring bungalow.  It has been registered.  The electricity company has confirmed that it has no interest in the unregistered piece of land.

It might not be possible to identify the owner (if there is one).  The plot for the property was part of a larger piece of land that changed several times in the 1960s before being acquired by the developer who sold it to the builder.  We haven’t been able to find any of the earlier conveyances.  

As it stands I’m reasonably confident that’s we could make a successful claim for adverse possession.

BTW, OS maps show the whole of the garden as part of the property.  Unfortunately, that held no weight with the Land Registry.

Thank you tacpot12 for the tip re valuation.