Is it possible to adopt unregistered land yet is a right of way for cars?

[Loulou100]

There, I have lived at my property for 11years nearly and I'm an end terrace but have a piece of land adjoining my property and in which I have parked my car for the whole time,we maintain it and always have,we have 8 houses beyond that that use this land to drive round to the backs of there houses but they then come out at an opposite piece of land. We would like to adopt this land but only for maintenance reasons( as we already have been doing!) we would never build or even think of it as we have a good relationship with our neighbours and appreciate they have used this for longer than we have ever lived there but we would like to be able legally to own/ adopt it so we can make sure this area says free of unessersary people parking or blocking this route and for anything else being dumped there as it has in the past. With no one legally owning this area,who do we contact??? Surely all land is owned by someone somewhere and if this is not owned then why can't one one adopt it to keep the area secure for themselves and there good neighbours? Any help would be greatly appreciated,a solicitor told us that it being a right of way will stop us from adopting it,will it if no one owns it? It just means to me that no one is responsible,no one maintains it and everyone can dump and do as they will at the side of our home on this land and there is no port of call,no one to call,no one can do a thing???,glad of any ones thoughts :-) thank you!

[bednobs]

i don't understand why if you are paying for legal advice, you don't take it!

[Eve]

Unregistered is not the same thing as there being no owner. It just means the title to the land is not registered at the Land Registry so the title is likely to be in the deeds to the property, wherever they are. There are some special search agents who can help trace land owners and clues can often be gotten from neighbouring titles and local history.

This is more of a technical guide for practitioners but might shed some extra light:

http://www.landregist...ides/practice-guide-5

Factual possession could be an issue with it being used as access land by other third parties as there is no exclusive possession. It would be interesting to see if there is any case law on this - did your legal advisor give you a detailed explanation as to why?

[Loulou100]

@ bedNobs .... We haven't paid for advice,we wasn't charged!!! !!!!

Hi there,thank you Jenna ,yes we have all the deeds dating back over 100 years,land registry have even drawn a blank.we even asked the help of our mp and he came,along with land registry,to the same conclusion....don't know! We are aware not all owned last is registered but we live on a main road and all other land areas at the end of the terraces are owned by the council,the land in question used to have 2 more terraced on but were bombed during the war, the solicitor looked at our photos and some of the deeds but said as its a right of way for a few houses to drive round to and exit at the other end so adopting it would be practically impossible,we took all the deeds etc but we only took up half an hour of his time and he said to come back(fee will apply!) if he wants us to persue,just not sure what else he can tell us apart from we don't think anyone owns it which is what we already know and dont need to pay someone to find that out and if he can't find out who,what happens to this land,rights,ownership,responsiblity,very strange how there's a huge possibility that anyone can just do as they please with it???? Thank you Jenna:-)

[buildersmate]

Jenna is almost certainly correct about this; there are hundreds, if not thousands, of access arrangements that are formed in the same way - I have one outside my property - it is a wide public bridleway but the land is not owned by anyone that can be identified and it is not registered at LR.
One can gain rights to pass / repass along such pieces of land on foot or by vehicle whatever through 'long use' or other methods of gaining an easement over it (as former owners before you have presumably done), but you will never be able to take possessionary title.
The best way to deter people from dumping on it is to maintain it and keep it tidy as if you do own it.
'Adoption' is a legal process that local authorities undertake when they agree to accept maintenance responsibility in future. But the process is effectively a hand-over by the (known) landowner of the land in question such that it is dedicated as public highway. You can't do it.

[Loulou100]

Thank you all for your help :-)

[Graham-W]

I thought if you register an interest with the Land Registry and maintain the land "without let or hindrance" for 12 years you could claim it as your own.

[Loulou100]

Sorry can I also ask that if someone actually did something on this land they shouldn't,who do you call to sort it,eg somone parks a car and no body else can pass? It's not a problem for us as we don't drive passed it,we just park next to our house but neighbours will struggle,just wonder who you approach,surely the police can only do so much as no one can say its private property? It's so sad that we're willing to pay legally to have it just purely to maintain and protect the area but can't yet someone can come along and do as they please. We did think actually that we would get no where but it's just sad as we were willing to be responsible,Tarmac it etc out of our money but we wont be now,we will clean and weed and do what we already have done just to keep the area tidy plus we feel we have no choice! I'm glad we're an end terrace and things will probably stay the same as it always had ,we just wanted to have the powers to move anyone who shouldn't be there or who cause damage or trespass . Thank you for all your help it's been very useful :-)

[Loulou100]

I think graham because a small amount of cars drive round to the back of there houses( 8 houses,aprox 7 cars,they then exit further round ) the solicitor we spoke to for all of 15 mins said its now a right of way and we would have to go through him to do the checks and to ask for certain documents from the land registry that the public can't access?? Then he will have to legally apply for any adoption to land registry but he thinks it will not get us anywhere!we do have alot of documents so I don't know what he can access but I don't know ! :-/

[buildersmate]

Graham is incorrect. One has to fence a parcel of unregistered land to the exclusion of others, maintain it for the necessary number of years before an application can then be made to LR for adverse possession.
There are no documents held at LR that can only be accessed by lawyers; all their files related to property titles are available for anyone to request a copy on payment of a fee; the issue is laypeople is often knowing what documents to ask for.
The 'people round the back' will have gained a right of access (an easement) over time through long use (normally 20 years) to pass / repass up and down this track by foot and by vehicle. They cannot register that claim at LR (because the track itself is not registered) but if anyone showed up with a deed to the land, each of them would be able to make a formal claim to the easement.

[magicmick]

Have you checked the deeds of your house we live in a end semi and we did have a unadopted road at the side, it was just a mess but cars could get through, the deeds said if it was ever made into a road the other seven houses in our row would pay for the work, there are six houses on this road at the side, the work was done and all fourteen houses paid a sum each. It is now a nice road with trees pavement etc, so I can only suggest check your deeds if you have not all ready done so.

[bigbadmarty]

somebody once told me that if you fenced off a bit of land and nobody complained it was yours after nine years .
mind you he used to money under my pillow for lost teeth and say a fairy put it there ..

[EDDIE51]

If someone decided to park a car or lorry on it I don't think there is much you can do. No one could build on it though as they could not get planning permission.

[Loulou100]

Thank you all again, I never really thought it would be in our favor but still find it amazing that there isnt anyone responsible for it at ...? Sad really as we could leave it to become a mess,unpassable and potentially a dump but as we wouldn't and don't feel as we have a choice,I suppose we will all ( especially the neighbours who drive on it!) will just have to hope it stays the way it is as there's no one by the sounds of it who could help us anyway.do appreciate your comments :-))) !