Adverse Possession

Unregistered land (fee simple) – after 12 years – land is possessed

Unregistered land (lease) – after 12 years – possessory rights granted

Registered land – if 12 years are completed before Oct 2003 – LRA 1925 applied – trust of
land is created

Registered land – if 12 years are completed after Oct 2003 – LRA 2002 applied –

Registered Land – possessed after 2003 – only 10 years required for possession – nothing
will be granted but only be eligible to apply to registrar and request him to grant you the
ownership – registrar will check the application himself to make sure it’s not bogus – if
satisfied – registrar will let the owner know himself that your land is being possessed – 3
options are given to the owner;
1. Consent of owner to hand him over the land
2. Object (go to court and prove on factual base that you are the owner
3. Serve a counter notice which means that an adverse possessor can never become
the owner unless he comes in any one of the 3 exceptions; (Best Option and used
always)
a. Adverse possessor must prove propriety estopple and then he must justify that
he should be the owner. Since this is a relatively new law and there is no case
law available but HM registry gave examples that if there such a scenario then
exception granted
i. Where neighbors have entered into a sale contract and amount is
transferred and possession is also given but the property is still
registered on the old owners name then the new owner will be
considered as AP. However, this is a useless law because if there is a
contract the new owner can sue him under the contract law why should
he wait for 10 years.
ii. Where the owner mistakenly believed that it’s his property and he is
spending money on the property and the real owner knows that already
but he is waiting for him to spend more on the property then he will
make him vacate the property
b. For any other reason ought to be registered. Narrow interpretation as there is no
case law. HM Registry gave examples:
i. Where the AP is entitled to the land in a will. but this failed as if there is a
will there are laws under Succession law and if applied from there it will
be easier rather than waiting for 10 years and become eligible
ii. Where 2 parties have entered into a sale contract and amount is also
given but the registered owner is the old one and new owner is
considered as AP. This was also useless as this could be challenged in
Contract law if there is a sale contract.
c. Boundary exception, only applied if there is an encroachment situation but 4
points have to be met;
i. Both lands have to be adjacent to each other
 ii. Both lands have to registered for more than one year
iii. Physical boundaries are not clearly defined (there should not be any wall
or boundary in between)
iv. Honest mistaken belief
The real owner will be given 2 years to take control of his land but if he fails to
do so then the land will be given to AP.

If factual base is met and the clock has started then we need to see when will the clock
stop.
The clock can be stopped by any three points;
a. Possession is taken back from the AP this can be done by either the help of police or
by the owner himself. When the possession is taken back the clock will stop which
means that the time won’t be paused but rather if it is possessed again the time will
start from the beginning;
b. File a case against the Adverse possessor but filing a case will not stop the clock
unless court orders that the party has to move out of the property.
c. Acknowledgment by the AP .either express (written only) or implied
acknowledgment (by behavior e.g., start paying rent).

Possession Period (PP)

 Unregistered land LRA 2002 and LRA 1925 both have different law for PP.
 Possession period means if Factual base is proven then the time starts and the time
is known as possession period.
 It is a property right
 In LRA 1925, it was noted that the PP can be transferred or sold to another party in
unregistered land.
 There was a unique point that if a AP take place of another AP then the time is
transferred to the new AP.
 However, in LRA 2002 this law was terminated and now the PP can only be
transferred through will.

Q: Andrew was the registered owner of Afon, a private reservoir set in extensive
woodland. There was a disused building in the woods near the edge of the reservoir,
which Andrew left empty many years ago after he upgraded the reservoir’s pumping
system. For many years, Andrew had been looking for financial backers to redevelop the
site as an adventure park. In 1990 Tanzil discovered the building when on a bird watching
trip to Afon. Over the next few months, Tanzil used the building to photograph wading
birds on the reservoir. Tanzil decided it would be a good idea to renovate the building and
live there. In 1992 Tanzil took to staying there overnight at weekends when working late
on turning the building into a home. In 1994 he and his partner, Linda, moved in. Linda
cleared some of the trees and shrubs to create a garden and she rebuilt the perimeter wall
around the building to keep her pigs from wandering off into the woods and eating
harmful plants. Andrew was aware that Tanzil and Linda had moved into the building but
he raised no objection. Tanzil continued to live in the building until his death in 2000,
leaving all his property by will to Linda. In early 2022, Andrew finally gave up his search for
finance to allow him to redevelop Afon. He sold the registered title of the reservoir to
Sally. Acting on legal advice, Sally wrote to Linda stating that she was content for her to
remain in the property for the ‘time being’. (a) Advise Linda. (b) How, if at all, would your
advice differ if Andrew had expressly told Linda that he did not mind her and her
boyfriend using the building while he was seeking finance? (c) How, if at all, would your
advice differ if title to Afon was unregistered throughout?

Summary of Facts
We understand from the fact that Andrew (the “A”) is the registered owner of Afon
which is a private reservoir. A left a building in the woods near reservoir abandoned for
many years as he was looking for funds. Tanzil (the “T”) noticed the reservoir and built a
house on it and lived with his partner Linda (the “L”) and after his death in 2000, L has
continued to possess the house until 2022. The new owner Sally (the :S”) has now
written to L that she can remain on the premises for the time being. Our primary issue is
to determine whether L can claim the title to the property based on the law of Adverse
Possession (the “AP”). Although AP is technically larceny of land, it has been legalized in
the United Kingdom due to historical rules stating that title is not purchased but rather
possessed, and if anyone demonstrates superior possession, the title should be awarded
to that individual.

a) Para 1 – Factual Base

L to claim the title she must first establish the Factual Base, i.e., prove a physcial act of
possession and an intent to possess, before she can claim the title (Pye v. Graham).
Physical act can be any act that demonstrates dominion over the land and is determined
case by case. (if the land is undeveloped a smaller act will be enough compared to if the
land is developed). The intention is to consider the land to be one's own and exclude all
others. In our case we note that as T was the actual Adverse Possessor as he decided
to use the house in 1990 or 1991 i.e., an intention can be found at this time however,
there was no act .We need to meet his factual base. Firstly, he started to stay overnight
in weekends in 1992 and finally in 1994, he moved in completely. Whilst there is a
possibility that the renovations and intermittent stays can be considered as a physical
act considering the land is unused. However,, as he started living with his partner in
1994 will definitely be considered as proving the factual base. The possession period
will continue until 2000 when T died. Since he left all his worldly goods to L, the
possession period will also transfer to L who will continue to occupy the property and
the time will also continue thereon. Since the 12-year period which is required to be
completed under Land Registration Act (the “LRA”) 1925 to acquire the title of land
through a trust structure is being completed after October 2003 i.e., the 12-year period
is ending in 2006 and the time was never stopped in between as L who is the adverse
possessor never wrote anything to the owner about the time and hence the clock was
never stopped, the LRA 2002 will apply. This will prove the factual base

Para 2 – LRA 2002

LRA 2002 does not have a very liberal regime for adverse possession and under Schedule
6 of LRA 2002, upon completion of 12 years, L will only be eligible to apply to the HM
Registrar and request him to make her the owner of land. Her application will also be
supported with all evidence proving that she has possessed the land for the minimum
12-year period. Upon reviewing the application, the registrar will circulate a notice to the
 registered owner in our case to S and will request S to select an option either consent to
the transfer of title to L, object on factual ground to disprove L claim of possession of 12-
years or send a counter notice i.e., shift the burden of proof to the adverse possessor
and provide them an opportunity to become the owner of title only if they are able to
prove one of the three statutory exceptions under Schedule 6 of LRA 2002.

Para 3 – Exceptions of Schedule 6 of LRA 2002

Regarding exceptions, they are exceedingly limited and have no chance of success in a
conventional case of adverse possession. In addition, due to the narrowness of the
exceptions, adverse possessors are already discouraged from applying, so case law
regarding the interpretation of the exceptions has not been developed. On the basis of
statutory interpretation rules, the adverse possessor must prove either propriety
estoppel, any other legitimate reason that is not defined, or the conditions for boundary
exception in order to become a landowner. HM Registrar has also provided a few
examples of situations in which the exceptions will apply, such as a sale contract, a will,
or a mistaken belief that the title is owned by the registered owner, who is aware of this
but has failed to inform the adverse possessor. In our case assuming that L knew that the
title was not T’s to begin with, she does not fall under any of the exceptions set out
above. Therefore, her claim of becoming an owner will fail and S will be given 2 years to
remove L from the premises and reclaim possession. If S fails to do this, L can again apply
and become owner of the land.

b) If A would’ve given permission to T and they stayed there on a mindset that they owner
knows then the intention to possess will be finished because as the owner gave them the
permission. They will not be considered as adverse possessors anymore since the clock
never started and in that condition their case would have failed.

c) If the land was unregistered then we would simply see that the factual base is met in
1994 and when T died in 2000 and after that the time was transferred to L according to
his will and L had to spent 6 more years to complete their 12 years. So assuming the
land was fee simple, as soon as 12 years are completed in 2006, L will automatically
become owner of the land by court’s order.