JonathanL Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 As I understand it, the laws are a lot tighter on this sort of thing now. At one time you could claim the eqivilent of squatters rights after seven years. However, some years ago there was a flurry of "how to do it" books which led to a lot of very dubious almost criminally motivated stunts. Something had to be done about it as it was becoming a bit of a get rich quick scheme. I think it was always twelve years. The change was made in respect of registered land, I think. You had no notify the registry after 10 years (or it may stil have been 12) and then they would notify the owner that a claim had been made. If he didn't object within 2 years you were able to apply to be registered as the owner. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) The problems came from scammers who did things in an underhand way in order to obtain the land by deceit. From memory what they would do is go to a solicitor and put it on record that they were intending to occupy a piece of land. this registered the date. Then they did various devious things like errect a "fake" fence for one day and move a load of empty beehives onto the land just to take photos. The photos would then be processed by a processor like Trueprint who printed the dates on the back. By tricks like that, always supported by dated photos they built up a complete dodgy dossier of supposed occupation. Then, when the time came they would whack in a claim supported by a load of basically fake evidence. I don't know how often it happened but it most certainly did happen and people were tricked out of land. There were get rich quick books sold in the 'business opportunities' sections of magazines like Exchange & Mart years ago Edited December 7, 2012 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 part of the issue is with land not on the land registrys current digital register, this can be un occupied or it can be covered with old paper deeds. The main issue is if these turn up after you have "claimed" the land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanL Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 part of the issue is with land not on the land registrys current digital register, this can be un occupied or it can be covered with old paper deeds. The main issue is if these turn up after you have "claimed" the land That wouldn't make any difference if you had been properly registered under the adverse possession rules though. If someone had come along and proved that it was their land via producing paper title deeds then they still wouldn't be able to get the land back as it would be registered as being yours. The rules of claiming land through the doctrine of Adverse Possession came about in order that land couldn't be efectively abandoned and never reused by anyone. Similar reasons to why you cannot create a trust that exists for ever, bascially. If someone owned a piece land and had died and no one else knew he had owned it then the land would just sit there for ever going to waste and no one would ever be able to use it as there would always be the fear that the legal owner would show up and claim it back. No one would invest in land, or in doing anything with it, if that were the case. Twelve years evolved as the point at which a line had to be drawn. If someone was using your land without permission and excluding you from it, or you couldn't be bothered to check on it and have them evicted, then it was taken that you didn't actually want it any more. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvid wings Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Ultimately all land is owned by The Queen, so ask her. mmm not so sure about lizzy owning my garden . may have been the case 300 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest1957 Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 mmm not so sure about lizzy owning my garden . may have been the case 300 years ago Owned ultimately by the crown but you own an estate in the land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcock1 Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I reckon if you and a couple of mates drive into it with a couple of transit vans towing a caravan or two you'll find out who owns in a matter of minutes. You might not get permission to shoot but you will know who owns it. :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanL Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 mmm not so sure about lizzy owning my garden . may have been the case 300 years ago The monarch owns all land in England and Wales. Everyone else owns an Estate in Land. The only remaining legal estates in land are the Fee Simple Absolute in Possession (Freehold) and the Term of Years Absolute (Leasehold). J. Owned ultimately by the crown but you own an estate in the land. Beat me to it. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikingRebel Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Its pretty common practice in the more remote parts of the country. I guess its somewhat tollerated in places, a bit like wild camping is. Still illegal though and not worth risking your FAC/SGC over imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.