Adverse Possession

[purplelily]

Hi all, My parents bought their house back in the 70's, but weren't able to purchase the front garden in this agreement, as there was a right of way between the front of the house and the garden. This ceased being a right of way around 25 years' ago (there are now fences/hedges between the houses), and my parents would like to buy their garden so that, when they come to sell their house, the front garden is included on the deeds. I thought that this could be 'signed over' to my parents under adverse possession (as they've cared for the land since 1975)? My mum spoke to the Land Registry, and they sent her a form for 'First Registration of Land'. On phoning them back with a query, they sent her the 'Adverse Possession' form. Does anyone know which should be used? As extra info, my parents' neighbours have since bought their houses, along with their front gardens, so there's definitely no problem re the old right of way. Also, the house was previously a council-owned house, so if the land is registered (I assume it is), it would be registered to them. I'd be really grateful for any help. Thanks in advance, purplelily

[Eve]

First the best thing to find out is whether the land is registered or not. If you've spoken to the Land Registry then they may be able to confirm either way for you or you can send off an index map search with a plan with the area marked...

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/assets/library/ documents/sim.doc

These are free for the first 20 titles and extremely unlikely that it will be any more than that. Any queries about the form let me know.

If you let me know where the property is I can tell you the appropriate land registry to send it to if you're not sure.

Trying to obtain adverse possession differs depending on whether the land is registered or unregistered.

These are the LR practice guides, more for practioners...

Registered
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/assets/library/ documents/lrpg004.pdf

Unregistered
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/assets/library/ documents/lrpg004.pdf

These will give you an idea of what you will need to prove and information which would be needed in any supporting statutory declaration (declaration of facts supporting your application which is sworn in from of a solicitor etc...and is a criminal offence to swear a false stat dec).

If you come back with some more info I can help you try and structure this if needs be, not the info itself but how to set it out and the kind of things to include etc...

[Nether Edge]

Yes to above post.
However, there are two different time periods (10 and 12 years) and three different application forms (AP1, ADV1, and FR1) for adverse possession cases. Essential to use a solicitor,as many inadequate applications are rejected by HM Land Registry on evidential grounds.

[purplelily]

Thank you both for your answers, that's really helpful.
Jenna, it's good of you to offer to help further - my mum's phoning the LR this morning, so I'll let you know!

Thanks again for taking the time to answer,
purplelily xx