Squatters Rights

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tommygirl

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I was hoping someone could advise.
We bought a property (house and 1.5 acres) in May 07. The land registry deeds said 1.1 acres but our solicitor (husbands relative) advised that the advertisements often exagerate the size of sites. The surveyor said approx 1.5 acres but we were FTB and clueless really.
Anyway when we moved in we realised that there is 0.4 of an acre at the side of the house that was not transferred over to us. It was a paddock that was owned by the original owner (previous to the person we bought from) and that they incorporated the paddock into the garden. Our solicitor checked and this land is not registered to anyone according to the land registry. We have sole use of this area.
He advised that we can claim adverse possession in 12 years time. We are now thinking about extending the original house and the side which we do not own seems the most logical place to build.
My questions are as follows:
  • Can we apply for planning permission on an area that we do not legally own?
  • The person we bought from is a bit odd but she lived there for 8 years. Can we get her to sign over her interest in the land to us. And then in May 2010 we could apply for squatters rights.
  • If we approach her on this is there any chance that she can claim some ownership as she had it longer?
  • What would the apprx legal cost be if we went this route?
  • Is there any way to get the land registered in our names before either 2010 or 2019?
Thanks for advise
Tommygirl
 
Answers to your qs:

1. Yes, but it would not be advisable to spend money on a piece of land you do not, at the moment, own.

2. Yes and yes.

3. If it had been clearly pointed out to you that this area was incorporated into what you are buying and is evidently part of the curtilage of the house then I think any court would take a dim view of her now trying to claim some title to it.

4. Squattors title application and a deed of rectification- if I were giving you a quote I would say 2,500 to 3000 inclusive. Check with your solicitor.

5. Yes, go to the actual registered owner ( ie the person previous to the person who sold to you) and ask THEM to do a deed of rectification. If they agree the whole thing is shortcircuited, much cheaper and easier and a guaranteed result.
 
There are too many variables to give you concrete advice - is the land registered or unregistered, are you squatting against a freehold or leasehold interest (in which case the Statute of Limitations may not run), what was the nature of her commencement in occupation etc. It's all a matter of fact that a specialist familiar with the facts would be able to advise you on.

Having said that, in relation to your particular questions;

  1. I believe that the permission of the owner is required to apply for planning permission - having said that if you assert you are the owner you might well be believed
  2. Yes, and maybe (again depending on the facts as set out above)
  3. As she has parted with possession, she cannot claim claim title unless she had already established a squatters title (been there for more than 12 years
  4. See the post above
  5. Track down the true owner - and offer them a few quid to do a transfer/conveyance to you. However, there will be costs associated with searching for the true owner.
 
Thanks for your views on this Vanilla & J26. I appreciate that there are a lot of variables involved that I am not familiar with.
I am of the opinion that we should not build on that area of the land until we have ownership but husband is not in agreement - he thinks the best way to deal with this would be to say nothing.
The land is not registered in the land registry so we can talk to neighbours to find out the history and try to contact the original owners - how would they go about proving that they are the owner if it is not registered to anyone? I know that whatever searches were possible were carried out by our solicitor at the time the mistake was realised.
I am sure that this will turn out to be a very expensive mistake on our part. We will be wiser if ever we buy again.
Thanks again
Tommygirl
 
Has your solicitor obtained a copy of the valuation office records for the area? This should show all the occupiers back as far as the turn of the century. This can be used to see who was the owner- then Registry of Deeds searches can establish if there was any title. If no title, you can still go to the original occupier ( before the vendor to you), get a deed of conveyance and rectification and then do a first registration. Your solicitor will advise. Alternatively stay where you are for another 12 years and then do a first reg based on possession. In the mean time if you want to sell or get a mortgage you will have a title problem though.
 
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