Ownership of Land

[atticus]

While you wait for your solicitor, stay calm. Do not let your neighbour 'get to' you. He will learn about the weakness of his position soon enough.

Do you have legal expenses cover with your property insurance? That might be worth checking.

[piccadilly]

Atticus,

We remain calm but it is concerning - I just hope the solicitor can see me tomorrow.

I am not too concerned about the cost at the moment but I think I do have legal costs insurance - I will check.

I just don’t want to lose the land.

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply.

Kind Regards,

[piccadilly]

I have been reading the notes from the Land Registry guidance.I have mainly maintained the land for the last 5 years my neighbour informs me that he maintained it for 20 years before that although I suspect this isn’t the case.

Where does the 12-year period start and end?. Can he claim adverse possession based on his maintenance finishing in 2017?

Kind Regards,

[atticus]

have you read paragraphs 2.1 to 2.3? Has your neighbour had exclusive *possession* of this piece of land?

[piccadilly]

Atticus,

Thank you again for your prompt response.

I have read the paragraphs you mention but find them hard to decipher not being a lawyer.

As I say I have arranged and paid for the hedge to be cut for the last 5 years,I have planted trees on the ground and cleared rubbish by hiring a skip.

With the above in mind I assume that my neighbour has not had exclusive possession of this piece of land - but prior to my ownership I am unsure - I only have his word for it - he will claim he had exclusive possession during this period.

Quite complicated!

Kind Regards,

[piccadilly]

As my solicitor has only just returned from holiday today - we will have a more detailed meeting next week.

I have received a however a brief e-mail from him stating that he doesn't think my neighbour will be successful in claiming "prescriptive title".

The phrase in inverted commas is new to me so will be busy Googling in a minute!

[atticus]

That's the trouble with us lawyers. Sometimes we need to remember that others may not understand our language. Mind you, I have the same problem with engineers.

[piccadilly]

Atticus,

The language can be complicated for us non lawyers - I have a basic grasp of contract law and a little company law but that is about it.

Throughout this process ,and I have been working on this for months - this is the first time I have heard mention of prescriptive rights - owning registered land is not all it seems to be.

[piccadilly]

You don’t need a determined boundary . This isn’t a case of a general boundary and there is an argument as to whether the fence line is in the correct place. You have your title plan and it shows a plot of land is part of your title.. You either believe the surveyor or you don’t . If you do believe the surveyor and neighbour continues trespassing then unless you are prepared to let the neighbour take control of the land you will need to lat some stage consult a solicitor in preparation for legal action.
Hopefully you may not need to go beyond a few letters sent by your solicitor threatening legal action but you need to be prepared to go further.

As for their claim that their maintaining of the land means they have a claim over it ,if the land is registered it’s not that simple and under the law any attempted by them to claim the land legally can be thwarted by a simple objection.

UKmicky,

I have been looking through this thread again - and note your comment that under the law any attempt by them to claim the land legally can be thwarted by a simple objection. Does this mean if we receive a claim for adverse possession of my registered land I can object and that’s it - the claim will fail?

Thank You.

[dslippy]

The opinion of a solicitor who has seen the plans and the surveyor's report and (possibly) the land itself is worth far more than anything which we can assist with. There are a couple of elements to the story which really do not make sense - the neighbour's land does not touch yours?
Do not underestimate the costs of a neighbour dispute. They can get very substantial very quickly.
You can do better than a privet hedge - they are a weed (says a not so proud owner).

Best of luck

[atticus]

But please, no leylandii!

[piccadilly]

The opinion of a solicitor who has seen the plans and the surveyor's report and (possibly) the land itself is worth far more than anything which we can assist with. There are a couple of elements to the story which really do not make sense - the neighbour's land does not touch yours?
Do not underestimate the costs of a neighbour dispute. They can get very substantial very quickly.
You can do better than a privet hedge - they are a weed (says a not so proud owner).

Best of luck

dslippy,

Thank You. Is the fact that the land does not touch ours make a difference?The neighbour claims he has consulted his solicitor and been told that he is able to claim the land on the basis that he has maintained it for 20 years prior to us buying it.

I am not sure I believe him.

Also by posting information on this site it will help others?

I also believe that a further piece of land that adjoining my land belongs to us - but it is fenced and planted with shrubs - so that is probably long gone.