Piece of land behind my house.....

[Tabitha005]

I've hit a wall on trying to find out whether the piece of land backing onto my house is owned by someone who might want to sell it to me and wonder if anyone can offer me any advice.

I searched HM Land Registry, but because the piece of land isn't an 'address' - it's just an overgrown mound of land - I couldn't seem to find any information. None of the neighbours or homeowners adjoining the land know anything about who might own it, either.

I live in a bit of a strange place where, over the years, houses have been built by their owners on individual plots (eg: not by developers) on land that was once (many years ago) owned by the MoD, but started getting sold off in the first quarter of the 20th century. My house was built in 1925, but there are houses in my road that were built as late as the 1990s on previously undeveloped plots. The roads are unadopted.

The piece of land behind my house is, I think, a result of individual house builders having piled the excavated soil from digging the bases for their houses all in this one place. Over the years, some fairly large trees have taken root and the plot is now hugely overgrown and, without some fairly serious earth-moving equipment, couldn't easily be developed for building a house.

I'm interested in perhaps buying the plot and creating a sort of nature habitat. Not really 'doing' anything with it, but gradually tidying it a little, planting bee, butterfly and insect-friendly plants and flowers and putting some beehives on it.

The question is.... how on earth do I go about finding out who (if anyone) already owns the land and whether they'd be interested in selling it to me?

If I was you I’d try and acquire the land by adverse possession - sounds a possibility?

Apparently all land is owned by someone. I would suggest you ask locally, perhaps on a local Facebook group but I’d hate for someone to beat you to it if suddenly it became as interesting prospect.

Council /LA?
hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/05/search-owner-unregistered-land/

Or contact the m.o.d. See if they know anything about it ?

Some interesting suggestions - thank you!

I've talked to all the houses either adjoining or facing the plot and no-one knows anything about who might own it. I might try the Council and Parish Council to see if that turns up anything. The Land Registry is a bit of a dead end without an actual address. I got the info on the boundaries for the two houses directly adjoining the plot (the other, third, property that adjoins it is my house), and those plans don't show any boundaries of the adjoining properties on the plot in question.

@justanotherneighinparadise - yes, I thought about asking on the local Facebook page but, as you say, it might end up going in a way I'd prefer it didn't! I'm also thinking, if the other two properties adjoining the land were up for it, that we could all do something together and maybe acquire adverse possession jointly - they're approachable people and seemed keen when I suggested it'd make a lovely mini-nature reserve!

The land registry website has a map search option where you can click on an area/plot of land and it should tell you if it is registered.

The map search option is a bit, rubbish.

But before anything else I think you should try to actually call land registry and see if they can ID it from their GIS system. With the registered plot ID you could get the records from Land Registry. if it is unregistered then it is probably still owned by the MOD if it is ex-MOD land.

See here: hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/05/search-owner-unregistered-land/

data.gov.uk/dataset/c186e17f-654d-4134-aed7-b3f13469546a/central-government-welsh-ministers-and-local-government-including-property-and-land Have a look at the datasets here, if it's MOD or local council it will be listed.

You'll be able to find if it's registered or not by doing a search of the index map at HM Land Registry.
www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/search-the-index-map
You just need a decent plan of the area and show the area you are interested in precisely by some sort of colouring. Once you have the title number, you'll be able to order the register. If it's not registered then it's detective work as mentioned above.

The map search option is a bit, rubbish.

It is but it is marginally better than nothing 😂

This is all so interesting. I just checked the dataset suggested by @witheringrowan and the piece of land isn't listed anywhere on that.

I'm now starting to wonder whether approaching the other homeowners who adjoin the land with an idea about us all creating a community land trust might be an idea - assuming that no-one does actually own the land, obviously. That way, it would be protected, in perpetuity, from any development. I think the index map approach is my next move.

I need to talk to the owners of the house whose garden adjoins mine and dovetails into the piece of land about replacing some of the old fencing, anyway, so I could have a conversation with them about it then.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. It's appreciated.

I'd be inclined to make it known I was going to deal with the trees, borrow a digger, make a great amount of noise with a couple of chain saws

do some marking out and just generally look like you might be installing a large wooden garage or something

Someone will be along before you can say pie to ask wtf you are doing because this is their land.

ask the local council, try planning dept.

Is the plot landlocked, or is there any access? If landlocked then I'm surprised the neighbours haven't annexed it already!

Just fence round it and use it. If anyone owns it they'll soon make themselves known. After twelve years you could claim ownership.

Do you have a local history society? They can be very useful in these sort of situations.

There’s a lot of rubbish spouted about adverse possession. Op you need to do an index map search at the land registry. They will give you the title numbers for the area if the land is registered. If it’s unregistered it still belongs to someone

Just get started anyway. Sow wildflowers, clear out anything too invasive, make a few insect habitats, and let nature take its course. By the time anyone notices, it'll be fabulous!

Someone owns it...it may be the case that the owner hasn't bothered with it or it has been forgotten about but it still has an owner. It could be that it actually forms part of the title of an adjoining property but the boundary on the ground (natural boundary eg ditches/trees ) serves to exclude it ). You could try to acquire it by adverse possession. I'm not UK based so I don't know the required number of years....where I am it is 12 years occupation if land is owned by a private individual or 30 years if owned by the State. So until period expires, owner can seek to remove you from land. But after it, you can apply to be registered as owner. I think you need to speak to a mapper in the Land Registry or someone in your local Council who may be better able to advise as to how to ascertain the owner. I wouldn't be putting any sort of investment into this land until you are sure of your standing.

This is all so interesting. I just checked the dataset suggested by @witheringrowan and the piece of land isn't listed anywhere on that.

My guess is that it has fallen into oblivion due to the space-time continuum vortex.

I would do as a PP has said and put a fence around it. (But use pre-made panels so you can easily remove it should a Time Lord turn and demand it back.)

In some circumstances, ownerless land reverts to the Crown estate (ie, it's owned by the Queen!). I got this from the Crown Estate website:

FAQs about Escheat
What is escheat?
Under our legal system, the Monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II), as head of state, owns the superior interest in all land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In most cases, this is usually irrelevant but it can become relevant if a freehold property becomes ownerless. If this happens, freehold land may, in some circumstances, fall to the monarch as the owner of the superior interest. This process is called 'escheat'.

The types of properties that become subject to escheat are wide ranging from verges, roadways, freehold reversions and amenity land to disused coal mines and, in some cases, historically significant property. There is no comprehensive list of properties that may be subject to escheat but The Crown Estate is aware of around 7,000 properties listed as being subject to escheat. Recent specific examples of escheat include the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Carlisle and the Trent Valley Recycling site in Worksop.

The Crown Estate, by convention only, through its appointed legal advisors Burges Salmon LLP, deals with the vast majority of instances where property may be deemed subject to escheat throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Please note that where properties subject to escheat are located within the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall, they will fall to be dealt with by those bodies, respectively.