Adverse Possession

[eugopnosaj 0]

Hey all, does anyone here have any knowledge about adverse possession? I'm in the middle of purchasing a house, should get the keys in the next few weeks fingers crossed but we all know how these things go!

 

Anyway there is some land to the left and right hand side of the driveway, the LHS borders the drive and my front garden, to 2 sides, and then 2 paths. So it has been suggested to fence this off and utilise it, extending my front garden, or as i originally wanted to do, extend the driveway space - I want to put up a half height wall and gate the driveway. The LHS seems easy enough, although there is a tree which I won't be able to easily chop down - I believe anything over 1ft dia needs PP to remove?

 

The RHS is a bit more of a challenge. The boundary wall of my rear garden is a brick built wall, and the grass area I'd be looking to claim is in front of this, there is also a man hole cover so I couldn't go further than this. It then extends to an area where the neighbour has been using it as a driveway, albeit with block paving as tramlines under the wheels - it has a dropped kerb. There is a tree near to his 'drive' where I could fence upto, thus not reducing the space he has already been able to use. The concern is that since I'd need to fence this off and 'use it' the only way to do so would be to make it a part of the rear garden, and to do so would be to use a full height fence and knock down part of the brick wall. I don't want to knock down the wall and find out that the space is contested, either by the council or the neighbour. At the same time I believe standard full height fences (which are out the front and visible) need PP?

 

Any ideas? I will post this on a more 'land' related forum but that'd mean creating a new account and was wondering whether any of you nice chaps had any idea :lol:

 

Any advice welcome, thanks.

 

LHS and overall:

 

 

Land to the RHS:

 

[Jim Bowen 1]

It'll probably be owned by the council and they will try and charge you a fortune for it

[eugopnosaj 0]

Yeah I know, its been suggested not to approach them first, as if they ignore my request, or irrationally refuse to consider selling it, it makes it harder to demonstrate adverse possession in the future. Especially if they object to me using the land.

 

So I think that is my only route for now, at least to begin with. I will probably just fence the bit around the LHS.

 

Also for anyone thinking its 'stealing', the law allows you to occupy land and acquire ownership in some circumstances. :lol: Its just testing the limits I guess. I just want to make the area outside the house nicer and more accessible for parking and access.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Who cuts the grass?

[MarkR 11]

I am a surveyor and have dealt with a few of these claims. In order to claim adverse possession you would have to fence the land off and maintain it. You would have to show that for at least a 12 years you used and maintained the land without challenge from the owner before you could commence claiming title to the land. If the land is a registered title (in this case it almost certainly is) it is even more difficult as the owner is entitled to counter claim against you. By all means give it a go, but don't spend a fortune on the fence as I expect you will asked to remove it by the Council.

[eugopnosaj 0]

I am a surveyor and have dealt with a few of these claims. In order to claim adverse possession you would have to fence the land off and maintain it. You would have to show that for at least a 12 years you used and maintained the land without challenge from the owner before you could commence claiming title to the land. If the land is a registered title (in this case it almost certainly is) it is even more difficult as the owner is entitled to counter claim against you. By all means give it a go, but don't spend a fortune on the fence as I expect you will asked to remove it by the Council.

 

I won't spend a lot on a fence, as like you I expect the council would be posting a letter asking me to remove it etc as soon as they went to mow the grass, assuming it is them who does it. I can only try and if it fails go down the route of purchasing it. If after a while it looks like they won't contest it then I can upgrade it to a more robust one etc but the first few months will indicate whether it will be questioned. It would have been better if it were an area of land not seen from the highway as it would be easier to conceal.

 

On another note my solicitors have already raised an inquiry to the seller's solicitors as to who has 'adopted' the grass as they are unable to get this information. I have tried myself on the LR website but I am unable to select that area to see who it belongs to etc.

 

"8 Our local search has revealed that the adoption status of the grass areas to the side of the property could not be ascertained. Please advise who owns the grass land."

 

So at least once that information has been returned I will have a bit more knowledge regarding it. The driveway title is retained by the house already as 'adjoining land', I already have the title plan for this from the LR but waiting on the official deeds to be issued.