Someone is renting out my garden!!!!

[NorthSouthDivider]

So long story short. We have recently found out that a neighbour is renting out their property with backs onto ours. Our garden ends in woodland. Unbeknownst to us they have fenced off part of our tree lined area and included it in the parcel of land they are renting out as their property. So they are renting out their house and their garden but including a chunk of our garden as part of the deal!! What should I do?! I’m fuming.

I can’t help thinking 🤔 that an electric ⚡️ fence, like the ones that farmers use, might be an idea 💡🤣😂🤣

You need to remove their fencing, and contact a lawyer asap. My fella's dad had a property that his parents lived in until they died. When he moved in he found out that several neighbours had taken parts of their garden as theirs. One had even had a conservatory built. So he took most of them to court, and reclaimed the land.

There is a lot of out-dated info on this thread and, even before the law changed, it wasn't as simple as just fencing off someone else's land and helping yourself - if it had been, everyone would have done it.

Prior to the coming into force of the Land Registration Act 2002, a squatter could acquire the right to be registered as proprietor of a registered estate if they had been in adverse possession of the land for a minimum of 12 years. However, the doctrine of adverse possession did not fit easily with the concept of indefeasibility of title that underlies the system of land registration. Nor could it be justified by the uncertainties as to ownership which can arise where land is unregistered; the legal estate is vested in the registered proprietor and they are identified in the register.

The Land Registration Act 2002 has created a new regime that applies only to registered land. This new regime is set out in Schedule 6 to the Act. It makes it more likely that a registered proprietor will be able to prevent an application for adverse possession of their land being completed. The following paragraphs provide a brief overview of the new regime; the remaining sections of this guide discuss it in more detail.

• adverse possession of registered land for 12 years of itself will no longer affect the registered proprietor’s title
• after 10 years’ adverse possession, the squatter will be entitled to apply to be registered as proprietor in place of the registered proprietor of the land
• on such an application being made the registered proprietor (and certain other persons interested in the land) will be notified and given the opportunity to oppose the application
• if the application is not opposed (by ‘opposed’ we mean that a counter notice is served; see Giving counter notice to the registrar in response to notice. Instead, or at the same time, the registered proprietor may object to the application on the ground that there has not been the necessary 10 years’ adverse possession; see Objecting to the squatter’s application for the implications of such an objection.), the squatter will be registered as proprietor in place of the registered proprietor of the land
• if the application is opposed, it will be rejected unless either
• it would be unconscionable because of an equity by estoppel for the registered proprietor to seek to dispossess the squatter and the squatter ought in the circumstances to be registered as proprietor
• the squatter is for some other reason entitled to be registered as proprietor
• the squatter has been in adverse possession of land adjacent to their own under the mistaken but reasonable belief that they are the owner of it, the exact line of the boundary with this adjacent land has not been determined and the estate to which the application relates was registered more than a year prior to the date of the application.
• in the event that the application is rejected but the squatter remains in adverse possession for a further 2 years, they will then be able, subject to certain exceptions, to reapply to be registered as proprietor and this time will be so registered whether or not anyone opposes the application

Sounds like they know what they are doing then, and are trying to claim the land as theirs through adverse possession.

In that l case definitely get a solicitor to send a letter to them, to make it absolutely clear you are contesting them claiming the land.

Like some other posters (and possibly not recommended) I would be buying myself a sledge hammer.

Yes you need to take action now and document it all to make sure they never get close to having a valid adverse possession claim. I've seen it work and LR register to the 'new' owner

This.

Same here! not the best approach but the one I'd probably take 😆

Someone is trying to steal your land and put a fence up. Take it down and fence the correct boundary line yourself.

Not “notional” but “general”, which is slightly different. It means they aren’t accurate on the ground and if you’re disputing for example a 50cm strip in the front garden you can get it determined.

That’s not the same as a larger piece of land like the OP describes, unless the woodland is only a meter deep.

The Land Registry guarantees title, and there is some very inaccurate legal advice on this thread. It’s almost never as simple as people make out.

What I do know, having dealt with several potential adverse possession and similar claims, is that is takes ages for the Land Registry to make any decision. This can cause a delay in selling, re-mortgaging etc. that’s why you protect your land, and why OP needs to act clearly and unequivocally as soon as possible.

My brother had this. When they bought their house, the previous owner had been living abroad for two years and renting it out. It’s on an estate where the plots are all different shapes and sizes and the house directly behind had built a conservatory, which was rectangular. Apparently the only way to get it to fit was to remove my brother’s boundary fence and encroach onto his land by about 2ft, so they did.
He went to a solicitor who wrote to inform them they either had to knock it down or buy the land they had used, which is what they did. I think they paid about £6,000.

Get legal advice asap, using a piece of lend for a long period, I think it's 12+ years, only gives the user rights if the land isn't registered.

Moving fence now would be my 1st thought.
Manure delivery is genius, btw.

Could you go and stick a sheet up in the trees? Seemed to work for the neighbours of another poster on here.

Haven’t read the FT and agree that you need to reclaim the land - but even if they’d gone to HMLR to claim adverse possession, HMLR would need to serve you with notice. At that point, if you reclaim the land - that is that and it continues to be yours. It couldn’t have just happened without you being made aware (unless you lived away from the land and didn’t read the letters or have them sent somewhere where you would be).

This happened here when my dad lived in this house. It was a mistake but he was too soft to complain and now after 20 years we have lost that bit of land. The other 2 neighbours had also fenced off our bit but when I pointed it out they removed their fences.

Have you actually spoken to them yet?

OP has already confirmed that they are not the ‘sail in my tree’ poster.

See a solicitor asap.

Speak to your home insurer as your policy probably covers legal action (insurers / lenders have an interest in keeping the value of your property too!)

As a first step I’d write a short letter to all estate agents in the local area stating that this person is attempting to rent out land which belongs to you, that this is fraud, and you are hereby putting the estate agents on notice that you are the landowner of xyz and any attempt by them to facilitate this fraud may result in legal action againat the estate agent as well as their client. Don’t go into loads of detail but do sound firm and ominous.

Hopefully this will scare off agents from representing them, which may make the idiot neighbour more inclined to give in.

Personally I would hire a fencer to move the fence back onto their land, or perhaps even burn it down. Maybe send them a letter first saying their rubbish has been left on your land and if they don’t remove it within 5 days you will in incinerate it and invoice them for the costs. But you want a lawyer involved before that ideally.

I’m sorry this is happening to you.

Not since 2002. Land registry have to notify any such claim to the registered owner and give them a chance to reclaim it.

OP has updated that neighbours are contesting the land so I don’t think any of this can be done. Best to get legal advice before acting.

What is the sail in the tree thread?

Surely they can’t allow something to be rented out if the garden on offer includes a piece of someone else’s land?!

They might not be aware or just made presumptions. A house near me was advertised for rent with plenty of parking. It has one space, the rest of the parking space belongs to the house next door.

Please don't listen to most of the posters on this thread who as usual are making it up as they go along.

Go onto the Garden Law website and read up.on boundary disputes then post in their forum.

The problem with the law is the cost of enforcing it. I was in your position and after spending thousands I couldn't afford to go any further as my neighbour wanted me to take him to court. I would have won but full costs are rarely awarded in boundary disputes because judges believe people should work it out between them. My legal cover on my insurance also didn't cover me for the same reason.

See my user name? All because of a boundary dispute. It nearly killed me.

It would be helpful to understand what the OP means by "contested land".

Make sure you send all the letters by recorded delivery. Keep a copy of the letter and proof that it was sent by recorded delivery attached. Make sure you keep excellent records.