Adverse Possession – Squatters Rights To Property And Land
The owner of land can sometimes lose ownership to a squatter by “adverse possession”.
Where the land is unregistered or where the land is registered but the squatter notched up 12 years adverse possession before 13 October 2003, when the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force, one set of rules will apply – see Land Registry Guide 5
On the other hand where the land is registered and the squatter did not acquire 12 years adverse possession prior to that date the provisions of the 2002 Act, which are very different, will apply. Under that Act the squatter must show 10 years adverse possession in order to apply for registration but there are then extra provisions to be taken into account – see Land Registry Guide 4
You can apply to claim adverse possession if you can prove:
You, or a succession of squatters, have occupied the property continuously for 10 years (12 years if not registered with Land Registry).
You (or your predecessors) acted as owners of the property for the whole of that time.
You (or any of your predecessors) did not have the owner’s permission (e.g. the property was not originally rented to a squatter).
What to do if the Property is Registered?
Fill in a form for adverse possession. Available here.
Complete and sign a written ‘statement of truth’ (or use a solicitor for this). Available here.
Send your form and statement to the Land Registry Citizen Centre.
Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester GL14 9BB
Land Registry will then determine whether your application is valid. They will also inform the property owner.
The property owner has 65 days in which to object. If they object then your application will get an automatic rejection, as a rule.
If there is no objection you get registered as the owner of the land or property.
You can apply once more after 2 years providing:
The owner did not try to remove you.
The property did not get reclaimed.
You are still in possession of the property.
Land Registry will usually then register you as the owner.
What to do if the Property is Unregistered?
Complete and sign a written ‘statement of truth’ (or use a solicitor for this part).
Apply for first registration.
Remember to include your statement with your application.
Land Registry will then:
Inspect the property (there is a fee for this service).
Determine whether your application is valid or not.
Inform the property owner (if they have their contact details).
What happens if the owners object?
In this case you can try to come to an agreement with them. If you cannot agree (or choose not to) Land Registry will help you arrange a tribunal. The tribunal will help decide who the genuine owner of the property is.
A list of unclaimed estates held by the Treasury Solicitor -Last updated 28th March 2017
The Division publishes a list of unclaimed estates which have been recently referred, but not yet administered, and historic cases which have been administered but not yet been claimed within the time limits for doing so.
The list is published in a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file format. This acts like a spreadsheet and although it can be opened in any text editor it is is best viewed in a spreadsheet application, such as Hyokai
If you are looking for a particular estate you can search by using Ctrl-F in your browser, text editor or spreadsheet application.
Unclaimed estates list (CSV, 1.61MB)
Street System Soundz 