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Old 1st March 2021, 19:24   #1
stocktake
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Default How to purchase unregistered land?

At the back of our garden there is a small triangular plot of land, There is no access to this land as it is surrounded by gardens. We would like to purchase this land just to preserve the wildlife it contains. We have had a land registery search done and it appears that there is no known owner. This is where we come across the problem that nobody can tell us who to approach to purchase the plot. All the information we can get is that if we "use" the land unchallenged for a period of 10 or 12 years ( information varies) then it would be deemed as being ours??
Has anybody had any similar dealings like this please ??
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Old 1st March 2021, 19:38   #2
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Default How to purchase unregistered land?

Fracking I hear you say 🤣🤣

Have a word with the land registry Dave, it must be marked on the councils plans.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organi.../land-registry
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Old 1st March 2021, 19:59   #3
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.........All the information we can get is that if we "use" the land unchallenged for a period of 10 or 12c years ( information varies) then it would be deemed as being ours??
Has anybody had any similar dealings like this please ??
Adverse possession is what you're referring to. We did exactly that a few years ago to obtain ownership of some un-registered land at the bottom of our back garden. In simple terms, you need to take possession of the land for a set period (12 years comes to mind, but can't honestly remember) and provided no-one contests your ownership, you can then apply to register the land and gain ownership.

In our case, it all went very smoothly, and Land Registry granted ownership and registration as a matter of routine. Government guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...egistered-land

Hope this helps,

Cliff
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Old 1st March 2021, 20:42   #4
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Talk to your local Council in the first instance, or the original developer if that is relevant (don't know if you are on a recent (i.e. 50 years old) estate, or older.)
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Old 1st March 2021, 20:46   #5
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Talk to your local Council in the first instance, or the original developer if that is relevant (don't know if you are on a recent (i.e. 50 years old) estate, or older.)
House was built in 1934, apparently the land that is now "landlocked" belonged to the builder but nobody knows who or where he is now, no clear indication on the deeds to our house either.
Thanks to all for the info so far
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Old 2nd March 2021, 10:35   #6
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We moved into our current house in August 2020. It's the end property of a set of barn conversions made in 1995. There's a road on one side with a strip of land about 10ft wide. When you look on the original plans that strip wasn't included in our plot, which seems strange given no other property adjoined it and I can't see why the developer would not have included it in our plot, unless they actually didn't own it.
If they didn't own it then it might still be owned by the farming family who sold the whole site. But why would they keep a small strip of land that is of no use to them? It's more likely that they were not sold that strip when they purchased the farm in the 1930's, in which case the strip is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, or put another way HM Queen Elizabeth ll. If it wasn't sold to the Duchy then it remains a part of the Crewe Estate which was effectively broken up early last century when the last Lord Crewe died without heir.
So, as I believe the rules surrounding adverse possession now require the claimant to give the owner 6 months notice so they can take possession and tend the land, I wonder how you can when you don't know who owns it.
Land Registry don't seem to recognise that the strip exists and the developers say they have no record about the development. Four previous owners of the house have treated the strip as part of the garden, although there are post stumps in places showing that at sometime it was fenced off from our garden.
One other thing about adverse possession. Is the 12 year right a personal thing or does it reside with all owners? In other words do I have to tend that strip for 12 years or do the previous owners use for the last 26 years count?
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Old 2nd March 2021, 11:13   #7
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I would get legal advice and not take adverse possession for granted. When the Sunderland/Newcastle rail line was electrified for the Metro extension to Sunderland it became apparent to the rail company that owners of some properties had extended there back gardens where they backed on to the line. Land intended as a safety buffer for the line had been annexed in the garden extensions and I believe that the relevant owners tried to claim adverse possession. They were not successful. Different situation to the one on this thread but, nonetheless, food for thought I think.
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Old 2nd March 2021, 11:54   #8
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I would get legal advice and not take adverse possession for granted. When the Sunderland/Newcastle rail line was electrified for the Metro extension to Sunderland it became apparent to the rail company that owners of some properties had extended there back gardens where they backed on to the line. Land intended as a safety buffer for the line had been annexed in the garden extensions and I believe that the relevant owners tried to claim adverse possession. They were not successful. Different situation to the one on this thread but, nonetheless, food for thought I think.
I suspect that they fell foul of the amended law brought in by the Blair government. That required anyone claiming adverse possession to advise the actual owners of their potential claim and give them 6 months notice to commence tending the land and retake possession. Presumably in this case they had to tell the railway they were going to launch a claim and the railway said we need that land and you can't have it.
The Blair government changes were a bit one sided. They had a review of the law as it stood and asked for comments. Of course the comments they got were from landowners, not from potential claimants who probably didn't even know a review was happening, let alone its significance. So the law that resulted heavily tipped the situation towards the absent landowner, compared to what had been before.
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Old 2nd March 2021, 13:42   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stocktake View Post
At the back of our garden there is a small triangular plot of land, There is no access to this land as it is surrounded by gardens. We would like to purchase this land just to preserve the wildlife it contains. We have had a land registery search done and it appears that there is no known owner. This is where we come across the problem that nobody can tell us who to approach to purchase the plot. All the information we can get is that if we "use" the land unchallenged for a period of 10 or 12c years ( information varies) then it would be deemed as being ours??
Has anybody had any similar dealings like this please ??
Thanks for bringing this up I am going thru the same process at the moment, It was council owned but I have had it fenced off and maintained it for the last twenty years I am applying for Adverse Posession. But haveing a bit of difficulty understanding the the forms
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Old 2nd March 2021, 13:49   #10
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I really wouldn't worry too much to be honest. Just have a read of "Practice Guide 5". It's very "wordy" and a bit heavy going in places (as these things often are) but it really does tell you all you'll need to know, including what forms to complete and what accompanying statements are needed.

I guess the hardest part is the 12 years possession that will need to be demonstrated. In our case, I had fenced off the land some 15 years previously, and had photos from back then that demonstrated the time lapse by way of plant / tree growth and weathering on the new shed that was built. We also provided contact details of a neighbour who was willing to confirm the train of events. In the event (and I suspect as it was only a small parcel of land), Land Registry were happy to accept our "Statement of Truth" which has to accompany the application, and granted ownership and first registration without any issues.

Short version: we just took over the land, and some 15 years later claimed it as ours.

Cliff
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