I own a commercial property with a piece of waste land behind it adjacent to my building. This waste land has access via a lane to shops and pedestrian walkway. Its always been a security risk for vandalism behind my shop.
When I bought my property 6 years ago, I cut down some trees which were dangerously overhanging my building. In the process, I discovered the land was unregistered. I did all the requisite searches and asked around. Land registry confirmed it was unregistered.
I've been doing small scale maintenance and this year I've cut down the remaining trees, cleared undergrowth and erected a fence. This also prevents access to the rear of my building.
There's a cafe next door and a flat above which overlooks the land. Until last year the woman running the cafe lived in the flat. Cafe and flat are owned by the woman's relative.
This woman was an absolute pain in the ass. Complained whenever my fire alarm went off accidentally, really nasty and abusive. Sent pest controllers to inspect my drains! Tried to stop me cutting trees down, threatened to call police, threatened contractors, shouting, screaming at me.
She's now sent a solicitor's letter claiming that she's been cultivating and maintaining the land for over 20 years! Utter bollocks! The land was waste land, massively overgrown and fly tipped when I started to do stuff there. She's never shown me any evidence of maintenance. The letter says she wishes to continue to maintain the area and wants to resolve this amicably.
Do I ignore this letter or consult a solicitor? What happens if she tries to rip down the fence? I know she's only trying to stop me getting adverse possession. She's about 70 so God knows why she's doing this apart from the fact she is a vile bitch. Doesn't even live there now.
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Unregistered land, counter claim?
13 replies
PandoraRocks · 24/11/2021 14:31
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