Adverse possession

Foreverex

Forgive me and please sign post me if this is not the right question for this category.

Last year I purchased a house which I suspected a 10m x 2.5m of land in the garden is not part of the title plan. But solicitor didn't raise anything and I can see the land is shown on the map of gov website (I guess this shows the current fixture rather than ownership). I also see a consumer unit inside the shed which the installation or last check date was in 1999.

My question is where I should I start to find out more and claim adverse possession?

Thanks in advance.

Myci85

Your solicitor wouldn't have raised it as they never visit the property. They should have sent you a copy of what is shown as the property and boundaries and asked you to confirm that it matched what you thought you were buying. 

Section62

Foreverex said:

Forgive me and please sign post me if this is not the right question for this category.

Last year I purchased a house which I suspected a 10m x 2.5m of land in the garden is not part of the title plan. But solicitor didn't raise anything and I can see the land is shown on the map of gov website (I guess this shows the current fixture rather than ownership). I also see a consumer unit inside the shed which the installation or last check date was in 1999.

My question is where I should I start to find out more and claim adverse possession?

Thanks in advance.

Who owns the adjacent woodland, and what kind of wood is it?

QrizB

Foreverex said:

Last year I purchased a house which I suspected a 10m x 2.5m of land in the garden is not part of the title plan. 

"Suspected"? It either is or it isn't.

If it isn't part of the plot you purchased, you didn't purchase it.

What does the Land Registry have on record for that piece of land?

user1977

Where does the shed fit into this and what’s the relevance of the last electrics inspection date?

gm0

If land that is not part of your title plan.  Is physically enclosed as part of your plot (fenced).  Due to prior conveyanceing and drafting minor mistakes.  

And this possession is unchallenged for a long time then you can indeed claim adverse posession. And redraw the title to the boundary that matches up. Do the paperwork. LR update.  All lovely.

But you need the required minimum timeline of enclosure, maintenance, control - and to evidence that.  With a newly bought property you may need a declaration from the prior owner that from x to y they owned it and had it enclosed etc.  We didn't get that when we bought so had to wait longer

There are other complexities which can arise based on what the land is. Special rules for certain circumstances.  Not worth adding here at this point but they exist e.g. land designated as "highways" and not subject to a "stopping up" order is one of several examples

grumpy_codger

user1977 said:

Where does the shed fit into this and what’s the relevance of the last electrics inspection date?

I think the shed is built on the piece of land in question.

and what’s the relevance of the last electrics inspection date?

It indicates circumstantially that the land was squatted in 1999 or earlier.

gm0 said:

...
And this possession is unchallenged for a long time then you can indeed claim adverse posession. And redraw the title to the boundary that matches up. Do the paperwork. LR update.  All lovely.
...

Yes, you can claim, but AFAIK, you don't have any automatic rights to get it. The legal owner will be notified and can object.

Foreverex

Thanks everyone.

The area is fenced, the adjacent woodland locates in greenbelt owned by a developer. 

I suspected because the boundary on title plan is general and for indicative purpose, I did mention to my solicitor but they didn't raise any questions.

I want to know first if the land is part of my curtilage. If not, should I proceed to claim it now (assuming the previous owner would not write me any declaration) with existing evidence such as date on consumer unit, map on gov website, Google maps satellite image; or wait another 10 years?

user1977

Have you checked the land in question isn’t registered?

Boohoo

Foreverex said:

Thanks everyone.

The area is fenced, the adjacent woodland locates in greenbelt owned by a developer. 

I suspected because the boundary on title plan is general and for indicative purpose, I did mention to my solicitor but they didn't raise any questions.

I want to know first if the land is part of my curtilage. If not, should I proceed to claim it now (assuming the previous owner would not write me any declaration) with existing evidence such as date on consumer unit, map on gov website, Google maps satellite image; or wait another 10 years?

Have you asked the neighbours about this building/land you're wanting to obtain by adverse possession?

Consumer unit in the building, is there meter anywhere in this building?

If you don't know how power is getting to this building you could leave a light on or if sockets in there plug in a radio or something like that and go to your house and turn the power off at your consumer unit and see if the power goes off in that building.

If it goes off then you could assume that it belongs to your property if still on then that's a different matter.

Section62

Foreverex said:

...
I want to know first if the land is part of my curtilage. If not, should I proceed to claim it now (assuming the previous owner would not write me any declaration) with existing evidence such as date on consumer unit, map on gov website, Google maps satellite image; or wait another 10 years?

Consumer units can be reused (and reusing an older consumer unit in an outbuilding could be called moneysaving), so the date on the consumer unit isn't evidence it has been in that shed in that location since 1999.  If there were a separate electricity supply and the meter/service head had a seal or installation record which was dated then that might be more persuasive.

If the map is just OS mapping then the lines aren't conclusive proof of legal boundaries - they are just what the cartographer sees and records in accordance with the standards used for that level of mapping.  It also won't tell you how long the shed has been there, beyond the date the map was drawn or revised.

As others have said, you need to confirm whether the neighbouring land is registered.  Whether you can keep the land or not will probably depend on whether the developer needs it for the development.  This might be a case where if the land is unregistered you'd be best off keeping quiet and not doing anything to change the status quo.