finding ownership of field

[crazycoloured]

There is a empty field near where I live its been empty for years but no one seems to know who owns it.i have tried the council and the forestry commission but no luck with either.is there any other way of finding out??

 

[onemoretime]

You need to contact the Land Registry. Find a map of the exact area and give them the details. If it is registered they will know who owns it.

 

[crazycoloured]

You need to contact the Land Registry. Find a map of the exact area and give them the details. If it is registered they will know who owns it.

I have just contacted them with a postcode of the area where the field is...the motorway took part of the land to build on...it has been empty for 25 years plus....

 

[ROMANY 1959]

I knew someone over 20 years ago who "found" a field, asked about all the local farmers, no one knew who owned it, it had a little lane to it and a stream in the hedgerows, it had been standing there, 6 foot hight in weeds, neglected for 15 yrs... So she took it over, knowing full well an owner could turn up, it had high hedges on all sides, and a dilapidated shed/barn... She cleared weeds off, and over 4 years she slowly got it to a decent pasture, I was speaking to her a few years ago, and she has since claimed rights to the land, and it is now hers.. It's about 4 acres, she uses about 2/3 of the field, other bit is all builders rubble and its fenced off to stop horses using it.. I believe it's something like squatters rights, not sure how many years you have to have used land that has no owner so to say,, think it's 12 years.

 

[smellsofhorse]

Land registry.
Pay the fee and the details are yours!

 

[ribbons]

I knew someone over 20 years ago who "found" a field, asked about all the local farmers, no one knew who owned it, it had a little lane to it and a stream in the hedgerows, it had been standing there, 6 foot hight in weeds, neglected for 15 yrs... So she took it over, knowing full well an owner could turn up, it had high hedges on all sides, and a dilapidated shed/barn... She cleared weeds off, and over 4 years she slowly got it to a decent pasture, I was speaking to her a few years ago, and she has since claimed rights to the land, and it is now hers.. It's about 4 acres, she uses about 2/3 of the field, other bit is all builders rubble and its fenced off to stop horses using it.. I believe it's something like squatters rights, not sure how many years you have to have used land that has no owner so to say,, think it's 12 years.

I also know someone who's house backed onto a 3 acre field, no one locally knew who owned it so they started using it. Years later ( can't remember how many) they claimed legal ownership. To my knowledge the previous owner has never come forward, but it doesn't matter if they do now apparently. House owner is now legal owner of the land.

 

[Orangehorse]

If someone turns up with proof of ownership, deeds, etc. then they will still own it! However, what has sometimes happened is that someone has died and the documents have been lost so no-one uses the land. There is a patch near us that is unused, but it is a swamp in the winter.

Also some small areas of land in a village may be owned by a local small charity or the church.

 

[tankgirl1]

What happens if you start using the land and then the owner comes forward - would you get done for trespassing? Assuming you had made every reasonable effort to find the owner beforehand of course!

 

[be positive]

What happens if you start using the land and then the owner comes forward - would you get done for trespassing? Assuming you had made every reasonable effort to find the owner beforehand of course!

As trespassing is a civil matter it is unlikely that the land owners would bother to follow it up, especially if you have improved the land, you may lose any fencing in the process so it could prove expensive to go round fencing in other peoples land in order to use it unless you really made every effort to find the owners first and were prepared to lose any money spent on it.

 

[tankgirl1]

As trespassing is a civil matter it is unlikely that the land owners would bother to follow it up, especially if you have improved the land, you may lose any fencing in the process so it could prove expensive to go round fencing in other peoples land in order to use it unless you really made every effort to find the owners first and were prepared to lose any money spent on it.

Thanks I'm not planning to start using any unused land lol, but there are a lot of empty fields round here, and no one seems to know who owns most of them, so I was just thinking out loud In fact there is a field right next to my house which hasn't been used for years.... I may have to get onto the Land Registry

 

[popsdosh]

As trespassing is a civil matter it is unlikely that the land owners would bother to follow it up, especially if you have improved the land, you may lose any fencing in the process so it could prove expensive to go round fencing in other peoples land in order to use it unless you really made every effort to find the owners first and were prepared to lose any money spent on it.

Tresspassing is a civil matter as you say ! however errecting fencing or any other action ie topping would be considered criminal damage and enforceable under criminal law.
A guy local to me tried to establish ownership of a field and has ended up losing his house in legal fees .

 

[happyclappy]

Land registry.
Pay the fee and the details are yours!

This. If it comes back as unregistered you can make a claim on it.

 

[rowan666]

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/articles/need-to-know-adverse-possession-of-land
If grazing a pony on said empty field is sufficient enough to start the ball rolling in terms of adverse possession and then the owner turns up or nosy neighbour reports to police you could also be classed as fly grazing which is a criminal offence aswell though couldn't you?

 

[crazycoloured]

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/articles/need-to-know-adverse-possession-of-land
If grazing a pony on said empty field is sufficient enough to start the ball rolling in terms of adverse possession and then the owner turns up or nosy neighbour reports to police you could also be classed as fly grazing which is a criminal offence aswell though couldn't you?

I am going to see the advice of a solicitor who can hopefully help me..

 

[fatpiggy]

If someone turns up with proof of ownership, deeds, etc. then they will still own it! However, what has sometimes happened is that someone has died and the documents have been lost so no-one uses the land. There is a patch near us that is unused, but it is a swamp in the winter.

Also some small areas of land in a village may be owned by a local small charity or the church.

The old lady who lived down the road from us had 3 fields, one next to the house, and two across the road. She allowed a local small-time farmer to keep his cows on them. There was never any agreement and I think they didn't bother with rent either as it kept the fields tidy. Further down the line when she was very elderly, the farmer's son who had now taken over the cattle claimed squatters rights on the fields across the road - and won! Because there was no paperwork and everything was oral, there was no proof she hadn't given him the land. We were absolutely disgusted and had the old farmer still been alive he would never had sanctioned it.

 

[jrp204]

This. If it comes back as unregistered you can make a claim on it.

Not quite correct.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...stered-was-acquired-before-13-october-2003--2

 

[Art Nouveau]

The old lady who lived down the road from us had 3 fields, one next to the house, and two across the road. She allowed a local small-time farmer to keep his cows on them. There was never any agreement and I think they didn't bother with rent either as it kept the fields tidy. Further down the line when she was very elderly, the farmer's son who had now taken over the cattle claimed squatters rights on the fields across the road - and won! Because there was no paperwork and everything was oral, there was no proof she hadn't given him the land. We were absolutely disgusted and had the old farmer still been alive he would never had sanctioned it.

[/QUOTE]

How horrible :-( I was under the impression though that squatting has to be without the owner's knowledge, otherwise implied consent is given for the person to use the land, which prevents adverse possession. Also that an oral contract is sufficient - 'An oral acknowledgement may be evidence that the squatter did not have the necessary intention to possess: Pavledes v Ryesbridge Properties Ltd (1989) 58 P & CR 459'
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...stered-was-acquired-before-13-october-2003--2

Not that that really helps the poor lady now!