Land behind my home

[mogden]

Hello, I currently live in a terriced house wich has access to the rear of about 15 feet. the land was very neglected and has not been tidyed in the 7 years i have lived there so it has all overgrown and there is a massive tree there. I cleaned the area and removed the tree after trying to find the owners to see if i could buy the land but to no provale, since then i have erected a fence to extend my garden and the owners have got intouch witth me and asked me to remove it. what can i do?

[jake-the-peg]

Doesn't sound as if there's much you can do. You extended the boundary of your property knowing that the land wasn't yours and you've been asked to put it back.

I don't understand why you think that you should have been able to do this in the first place.

It's not illeagal to let land go untended, obviously there are issues if there are certain noxious weeds which I think must be controlled by law, but even then I can't see that giving you the right to occupy the land. 

[AliFlump]

when my parents moved into there house there was a right of way path down the side which had a gate either end so anyone could pass through. They were told that if noone had used the path for 12 years, they could legally block the gates off and claim it as their own. I know this differs from yours as it is private land and you have not been their as long but just though it might be worth looking into.

[kempie]

It all depends on the land being registered with the Land Registry. This is where you would trace the ownership of the land in question.

Prior to the Land Registration Act 2002, a squatter wishing to claim ownership of land by adverse possession would have to:

• be in actual possession of the land,
• enclose the land so as to keep out the world at large and the rightful owner in particular, thereby enjoying exclusive use of the land,
• act with the intention of being the owner,
• hold himself out to be the owner,
• cultivate the land,
• satisfy the 12 year qualifying period laid down in the Limitation Act 1980.

The above still applies in the case of a squatter seeking to adversely possess unregistered land.

However you would still fail on the last point.