Neighbour dispute

[Jamboree]

I have been involved in a 3 year contentious battle with a neighbour who was claiming adverse possession of a strip of unregistered land between our properties. I believe the land was originally inadvertently missed from my title deeds, as I have old paper deeds showing it was part of my land, and I have an entry door and access to the street across the land from a barn on my property. After a very upsetting and expensive dispute, which reached first tier Tribunal level, the neighbour reached an agreement with me last autumn out of court. At my solicitor’s suggestion, I drafted a document which both parties signed and had witnessed, and both sent to the Tribunal. The agreement gave her the ownership of the land in return for me having the right of way over it, which is necessary for me to reach the street at the back of my property. We both separately sent this to the Tribunal and confirmed that we had reached an agreement. The Tribunal advised that the document was not constructed in the correct way to constitute a Deed of Easement. My solicitor wrote to the Tribunal to say that we would withdraw our objection to the neighbour’s adverse possession claim, only on the absolute basis that as soon as the land was registered to her, we would then, at our own expense, apply for the Deed of Easement in order to change the register. The neighbour put in writing that she was in agreement with this. She was then given Possessory Title of the land. A draft Deed of Easement was sent to her by my solicitor in January for signing but she has not responded to it. I have been told by 2 solicitors that the signed and witnessed contract we previously agreed is legally binding on her, and that she could not prevent my right of way, but I want to have the Deed of Easement properly registered as per our agreement. I feel that I have been tricked into giving up the land and now I am left with nothing to show for the £12k I have spent getting to this point. How should I now proceed to enforce our agreement? Can I take her to court for breach of contract? Is there a way that Land Registry can enforce the Deed on her, as she clearly agreed to this solution in writing and through the signed contract, which she sent to Land Registry and confirmed she was in agreement with. For some strange reason my solicitor seems to have vanished into the mist, and is not answering my emails..... Please help......

[Jamboree]

I should also add that this neighbour has now put her property up for sale, with the disputed land described as her garden!! I am worried that she will sell it with my right of way not in place as an easement and I will have a further battle with the new owners. Would the signed and witnessed contract I made with her still be legally enforceable against a new owner? Thanks for any help.

[des8]

A contract is only valid for 6 years
To grant an express easement you need a deed , which is valid for 12 years.

You can then have it registered with Land registry where an entry will be made in the A section of your Title Register and in the C section of the neighbour's existing Title Register.

I don't know if land Registry will accept a contract for registration purposes