Adverse Possession And Registered Land

• Published date: 18 September 2020
• Law Firm: Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
• Author: Oliver Park

In Dowse and Another v City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council [2020] UKUT 202 (LC), the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (following a fully remote hearing conducted over Skype for Business) highlighted how the right of 'adverse possession' has been severely limited by the effect of the Land Registration Act 2002 for registered land.

The Land Registration Act 2002

Before 13 October 2003, if a squatter with the necessary intention to possess, occupied land with a sufficient degree of occupation and control for 12 years then they could (subject to some exceptions) gain registered title to the land through adverse possession.

The Land Registration Act 2002 ("the Act") dramatically restricted this right (as indeed it was intended to). The time period that land had to be possessed for in order for an occupier to qualify for a claim for adverse possession was reduced to 10 years. In addition, it was made far easier to defeat a claim for adverse possession for registered land because when an adverse possession application is made, the Land Registry contacts the paper title owner to give them a chance to respond (a key reason why addresses on title registers should be kept up to date).

If the registered owner follows the objection process, then the squatter can succeed only on three grounds set out in statute. The relevant one in Dowse was the 'adjacent land' exemption. For this ground to succeed the following must be made out by the squatter (as set out in Schedule 6 of the Act):

(a) the land in question is adjacent to land belonging to the applicant,

(b) the exact boundary line between the two had not been determined,

(c) for at least ten years prior to the application, the applicant (or any predecessor in title) reasonably believed that the land in question belonged to them, and

(d) the land had been registered more than one year prior to the of the application.

Dowse and Another v City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council [2020] UKUT 202 (LC)

Mr and Mrs Dowse claimed approximately two acres of land, which bordered land they owned (the garden of a residential property). The Council's land formed part of...