Any lawyer will tell you that claiming unregistered land and
property by ''Possessory Title'' is certainly not a complex
business and is dealt with on a regular daily basis, but if you
don't now what you're doing, the chances are you'll get yourself
into a real mess.
You want to find out how it can be done. I say 'can be done'
because it's being done right now, by many people across the
U.K. Even today, many properties and plots of land will have
been discovered and many potential property tycoons will have
had their first success - and of course there is no limit to the
number of properties and land plots you can acquire! However
since the introduction of the Land Registration Act (2002) it is
far harder for a registered owner to lose title inadvertently
through adverse possession. For this reason it is essential to
ensure that the landowner cannot be found before proceeding.
Even without the new law, we would not want to take a property
from its rightful owner, would we? The new law gives us a more
certain, albeit in some cases more difficult process with which
to register the land, but to those with a genuine adverse land
claim the process should enable a swifter conclusion to the
process, with a more certain outcome.
I remember speaking to a guy a few years ago. This chap was
honest and law-abiding but had had a few financial problems. He
just hadn’t had the luck that most of us take for granted. He
live in a rented house and had always paid his rent on time, in
the past. Now he was stuffed. He had missed three months rent,
due to no fault of his own and faced evection. I told him he had
no right to live in someone else’s house without paying rent. He
said to me that his landlord had not right to own his homer and
charge him rent. He pointed out that no other species owns two
burrows or two nests and gets paid rent for the spare one. Every
other species keeps the home they can hold and abandons whatever
territory they cannot hold.
I had never looked at it that way around before but I had to
admit he had a point. It just is not natural to own property you
are not using. That is what this guide is about. It is about
claiming legal ownership of abandoned properties so you can use
them yourself.
Even with the new Land Registration Act there are still
properties which can legally and morally be claimed, but you
must seek good legal advice. According to current Land Registry
figures, there are over 20 million plots of land and property in
the UK, of which only an estimated 14 million are registered.
This equates to the fact that there are in the region of 6
million unregistered plots of land and properties in the UK
right now. This is not to say that all 6 million can easily be
claimed ... but taking into account the figures involved, the
likelihood of finding a plot of land or a property that you
could claim is very good indeed.
It is often implied that land which is unregistered, is not
owned. This is not true - all land in England and Wales is owned
by someone. Even where an owner, if an individual, has died
without leaving a will or near relatives, or, if a company has
been dissolved, there will be an owner - usually the Treasury
Solicitor on behalf of the Crown. It is also often implied that
because land remains unregistered, either the owner cannot be
traced or the land has been abandoned. This is not so. Some land
remains unregistered simply because it has not changed hands
since compulsory land registration was first introduced to the
area in question.
The effect of the Land Registration Act 2002
In the case of unregistered land, the Limitation Act 1980
operates so that the effect of adverse possession is to
extinguish the title of the documentary owner and to create a
new fee simple title in the adverse possessor. It is worth
noting that cases such as Pye and Beaulane do not affect
unregistered land. The essential difference is that under the
provisions of the Land Registration Act 2002, the occupiers of
unregistered titles can still apply for possessory title by
establishing occupation for a continuous period of 10 years and
satisfying the requirements under Schedule 6 of the Land
Registration Act 2002. In effect, when the adverse possessor
makes an application to the Land Registry, the true owner of the
land is served with a notice, which operates so as to give the
true owner an opportunity to make representations as to why
their title should not be extinguished. The Act also reduces the
period before a claim can be brought from 12 years to 10 years.
In the case of registered land, the Land Registration Act 2002
now makes it far harder for a registered owner to lose title
inadvertently through adverse possession. This is because the
true owner can request that the application be dealt with under
paragraph 5 of Schedule 6. This would then require the adverse
possessor to satisfy three conditions before the title could be
entered in their favour.
The basics of the present Adverse Possession Process is that a
person occupying land (which includes buildings) as a trespasser
for a period of 10 years in case of registered land, or 12 years
in the case of unregistered land, can apply to the Land Registry
to register title to that land. On registration they effectively
become the owners of the land.
This guide will show you how to claim your share of this
possible bonanza, via the legal vehicle of ''Adverse Possessory
Title''. After all, you’re not being expected to follow some
magic formula or try something that's just been 'discovered' by
accident!
As you will read later on in this guide, people have been using
''Adverse Possessory Title'' to claim land and property for
literally hundreds of years. Possessory Title was introduced by
the Land Registry way back in 1897. What you are reading now is
a detailed guide covering everything you need to know in easy to
understand step-by-step format.
For existing registered land the position depends initially on
whether the
transitional provisions in the LRA apply, in which case the old
law still applies.
This is the case where the Limitation Period expired prior to 13
October 2003, provided the claim is made by the squatter before
13 October 2006 after which date the provisions described below
will apply in the case of all registered land applications.
Accordingly (subject to the transitional provisions) following
the LRA the Limitation Act 1980 no longer applies to registered
land applications with the result that adverse possession will
have no effect on the title to the registered land in question
unless the squatter’s application for registration is accepted
by the Land Registry. To this extent the changes are seen as
beneficial to owners of registered land.
The new rules set out in the LRA entitle a squatter in adverse
possession
for 10 years (save in certain limited cases) to apply to be
registered as proprietor of the land. What amounts to adverse
possession is the same as with unregistered land.
The law says that applications can be made either where the
squatter / occupier is still in possession or even if the
squatter has been evicted, provided the application is made
within 6 months of such eviction (unless made by a Court Order)
and provided that the squatter would have been entitled to apply
for registration immediately before he was evicted.
An application cannot be made:
■ if the applicant is a defendant in possession proceedings;
■ if judgement for possession has been ordered within the last 2
years; or
■ whilst the registered proprietor is under a disability.
The application must be made on a specified Land Registry form,
accompanied by a statutory declaration made by the applicant not
more than one month before the application together with any
supporting evidence, which the applicant considers necessary.
The statutory declaration must, as with unregistered land,
include certain details and must exhibit a plan to enable the
land to be clearly identified on the Ordnance Survey map.
Following an application the Land Registry will give notice in a
specified
form to the registered proprietor, a registered chargee, a
superior registered
proprietor (if leasehold) and anyone registered as a person to
be notified.
The time limit for a reply is noon on the 65th business day
after the date of issue of the notice. Any person receiving the
notice may either do nothing, in which case (assuming no other
objections) the applicant will be registered as a proprietor of
the property free from any registered charge, or give a counter
notice to the Registrar within the time period.
A counter notice can either:
■ consent to the application;
■ require the Registrar to deal with the application in
accordance with Schedule 6 of the LRA; or
■ object to the application on other stated g rounds.
In practice a paper title owner is likely to object to any claim
as the onus is on the squatter to show that they are entitled to
be registered. As with unregistered land, in the case of
disputes adjudication procedures are available.
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