One common issue that WHN’s experts come across when advising on house sales is uncertainty over who owns a particular parcel of land.
Here, Jennifer Prysiaznyj, Director and Head of Residential Conveyancing at WHN’s Blackburn office advises residential property clients in the area, exploring the issue and what it can mean for a house sale.
What is adverse possession and how can it affect a transaction?
Adverse possession is a UK law which means someone can obtain title to land they do not actually own.
A scenario we commonly see here at WHN is that a homeowner may be occupying a piece of land that is not within their ownership, for instance, part of a large garden.
This parcel of land may have been considered part of the property for some time, but when the process is started to sell the home, it is discovered that this is not the case.
As a result, the sale of the property can be delayed considerably while the issue is resolved.
What can be done?
If this situation is discovered, it almost certainly means the property owner will need to apply for possessory title at the Land Registry. Any buyer looking to obtain a mortgage will need the land to be registered, and it is not uncommon for this process to take more than six months.
The law of adverse possession is sometimes called squatters rights, and it can be used to claim ownership of land if a large number of legal criteria are met.
Perhaps most importantly, the person making a claim will need to demonstrate that they – or their predecessors in title – have been in exclusive possession of the land for at least ten years if the land is registered at Land Registry, or 12 years if the land is unregistered.
So, in our scenario, if a parcel of land has been used exclusively as part of a garden for this length of time, a claim for adverse possession may be made.
This demonstrates how often a property transaction may not be as simple as first thought, so it is important to appoint expert legal advisers who can help spot such issues early on and deal with them in a timely manner.
Jennifer Prysiaznyj is a Director based at WHN’s Blackburn office. Jennifer helps clients on issues involving property matters such as sales, purchases and remortgages of residential property, along with deeds of gifts and transfer of equity. To contact Jennifer, call her on 01254 272643 or email jennifer.prysiaznyj@whnsolicitors.co.uk
