no owner to land

[syston96]

Next to my house is a strip of land that can accommodate approx 4 cars ,my 2 neighbors have rights to park on the land .I have contacted the land registry and there does nt appear to be a owner to this land.
My question is how easy or hard would it be to claim ownership of this land together with my 2 neighbors .
Opinions please

[EDDIE51]

If there is no owner who gave the neighbours the 'right' to park on it ?
Anyone can park on it if there is no owner to say otherwise , no one can have 'rights' to use land that has no owner.

[owdhamer]

Just after the war my uncle rented a field on which he kept Hens,over the years the landlord must have died and no rent was collected,my uncle eventually claimed the land ,it now has 4 bed det stone houses on it.

[buildersmate]

Eddie's point is absolutely correct - it is not possible for these owners to have rights to park there.

To claim ownership of the land, an individual has to demonstreate factual possession of the land and 'maintain' it for at least twelve years, after which the start of a process to claim adverse possession can occur by application to the Land Registry. Often having 'factual possession' involves fencing it off, as that excludes others.

Because there are 3 different local owners vying for the same land, it becomes more complicated, but it is still possible. You would all have to work in a pact, know and agree what you are doing together, then apply together for joint ownership of that land after the appropriate time period.

You are going to have to come clean about your scheme and explain it to the other two - you will never be able to demonstrate adverse possession alone whilst they have been parking there.

The LR Practice Guide Sheet that explains more is this one - but it is complicated and in legal terminology, because it is intended for use by conveyancers.
http://www.landregist...ides/practice-guide-5

[syston96]

In response to Eddie ,it says on my title deeds that i have a right to park there - who gave this right of way i dont know...the property is approx 150 years old.

[FredPuli43]

The fact that you park on it does not count for the purpose of the 12 year period ( now 10 years since 2003) beginning with the time that you first assert control over the land to the exclusion of whatever owner it has.

Indeed, as you know it was granted as a right by somebody, you could not begin to argue that it does. To assert a right of ownership, you'd have to fence it off or do some other positive act to show that you claim to own it, to the exclusion of anyone else.That means that the earliest you could become the owner is 2022, all subject to the procedure for registering yourself or yourselves as claiming the right to it.

What did the Land Registry say? Did they say merely that the land has not been registered? Who owns the land, if any, otherwise adjacent to the piece in question?

[buildersmate]

Please tell us EXACTLY what right over this land is inferred in your land title - it can't be a right to park there, going back 150 years. As Fred says, the implication of your land being granted this right IS that this 'parking land' is held on a title deed somewhere by someone.

Fred the minimum period is respect of UNREGISTERED land before a claim for adverse possession can be made is still 12 years.

The issue you quote about 10 years relates to the legal change made in 2002 such that REGISTERED land can be subject to an initial claim by the squatter after 10 years, allowing 2 years for the LR to write to the registered landowner and for the registered landowner to oppose the application by the squatter. As you know, since the law was changed in 2003, a squatter's application over registered land will normally fail unless specific circumstances apply - even if the registered landowner is uncontactible by the LR. Even if the application is able to go forward, the period of time must still reach 12 years in total, not 10. Its all covered in Practice Guide 4.

[EDDIE51]

Then someone must have title to the land in order to give you the 'right' to park there. The land can not have 'no owner' if someone has given you 'Rights' over it.

[FredPuli43]

Can't quite see anything about allowing two years to decide whether the applicant can have the estate, BM. The applicant may apply if he has been in adverse possession for ten years at the date of the application.[ Land Registration Act 2002 Schedule 6 paragraph 1] If there is no opposition to the application, the applicant is registered as the proprietor of the estate after the 65 business days allowed for notices to be replied to. That means he could be the registered proprietor just after ten years from taking possession.

If his application is rejected, the applicant may reapply if he remains in adverse possession for two years from the date of his original application being rejected. If he then succeeds, he would have been required to be in adverse possession for 12 years. [Schedule 6 paragraph 6(1) ].

Yes, I should have said the ten years is for registered land. The 2002 Act came into force in October 2003, hence the date given for the 10 year period.

[syston96]

The property was developed from farm type building to a house in the mid 50s when perhaps the rights to park where granted .The land is not registered and no owners are shown up in solicitors searchs.... I would be happy to purchase the land at a reasonable price if a owner could be found.