Neighbour stole our woodland?

[TwittleBee]

Our DGrandad left me and my sister his woodland when he passed away a few years ago. It isn't anything that special (as in its not protected and hasn't any distinguished species) but does have a TPO on a couple of trees. It is a place that my sister and I visit occasionally and thought that perhaps we could use it as a place to "wild camp" with the kids this summer for a few weekends. Even had insipiration from what George Clark created in a piece of woodland in his series Amazing Spaces and thought maybe one day with enough money we could do the same.

Anyway, we went down there this weekend to have a look to see if we could maybe clear a patch for a good tent destination, Thought it be good to do this now before everything starts flourishing in the spring.

To our shock it's all been fenced off and there has been some very obvious clearing of trees and shrubs! We knocked on the nearest house to ask what's happened to our woodland and the couple that lived there informed us that they have now taken it as their own and have started keeping it in order for past couple months. They said that it now makes our land legally theirs?

Obviously we shall be seeking legal advice but in the meantime, can what they claim actually be correct?

Just seems so unfair? Surely that would mean I could just fence off any land and claim it as my own?

Fences down by now surely?

Then go and order a copy of the deeds (on the same website), this will cost £3 and it will tell you who the registered owner is

The OP has the deeds. She and her sister are the registered owners.

Wow! Some people!!!!

So these guys “took” your land within the last 8 weeks and think they have claims on it - when in reality they would need to have done so for 12 years 😒 are they living on sim time where a day is a year 😏

Nothing useful to add, just in shock at their blatant cheeky-fucker-ness. I hold all gets resolved quickly OP.

Make sure you clobber them (legally) as hard as possible, OP. They need to learn not to mess with you.

Good number of years ago a family moved into this area (rural). Father, mother and two daughters. New built private house next to park. They kept horses - leased a field adjacent to the park. Moving on a number of years, no horses I believe - they applied for planning permission to erect a house, for one of the daughters, in that field. Unfortunately for them - that field, park and surrounding area had been bequeathed to the people of the village. Nice try - stopped in its tracks!

I have no advice really just want to know what happens!

What cheeky beggars! Good luck OP

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Good luck with the solicitor , please keep us updated

If the CFs took my land I would reclaim it straight back and let them do all the running around spending money on lawyers. If they are completely in the wrong I am sure they wouldn’t do anything.

See a solicitor urgently.

This has made my jaw drop

For them to steal it in the first place and then for them to be so brazen to your face about it.

Otterseatpuffins a similar story in my district with a different outcome unfortunately - some people with horses managed to successfully squat and claim the (council) land as the council did nothing about it for over 12 years despite the locals telling them to (same district council that can't get its act together to have a local plan so developers have a free rein to build loads of houses in every town and village).

Wow, wow and wow again. I won't wish you luck as you don't need it. I wish you a stress free time in getting this solved and lots of happy memories using YOUR woodland area

I’d always assumed, probably believing urban myth, that it was fairly straight forward to claim land you’d been looking after for a period. Some 15 or so years ago we purchased an old chapel. It wasn’t registered and as a result we had to have signed statements from local people in the village that it had been used as a chapel and as far as they were aware belonged to the church. We then had to have insurance I case anyone came forward within a certain time frame (years) with a claim on the land before we got absolute title. Even though the chapel had been built in 1900 and looked after by the church for that long. You certainly can’t just claim something is yours.

this is appalling OP

No update yet...I am now seriously concerned that the OP has stood still for a fraction too long and the CF neighbours have built a fence around her...

Any update, OP?
When are you seeing solicitor?

Can't believe the cheek of these people. Lots of good advice here. Hope you get it sorted!

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Someone tried to 'incorporate' some of our land into his garden back when setaside was a thing, and no crop had been grown for a couple of years. We accessed the field by parking on a closer road and going through a gap in the hedge (which we did occasionally to check the mountains of garden waste that people chuck over their fences .)

When time came to put machinery back in the field, we found that the access road - a seemingly neglected strip of land about 30' wide along the side of someones house & garden - had been lovingly beaten into submission and was now a lawn complete with trees and a small frog pond.

The bloke that had bought the house had assumed that nobody used it - we'd probably only been through it about twice in 18 months - so had extended his garden. Although we could just squeeze past the newly planted trees, we did ask him to move them back onto his land, and the pond obviously went.

Luckily it all stayed fairly friendly, although understandably he was a bit pissed about having to move the trees. He still mowed the grass and used it way more than we ever did. Other than harvest/drilling, the field was only accessed about 6 times/year. Luckily he realised that you can't actually claim land, even if you use it.

hope it gets sorted for you

Another local land grabber was actually on the parish council planning committee!

Oh my goodness, hope you get it sorted quickly.