Land Law Concentrate 7e Student Resources is no longer available and it was replaced by Land Law Concentrate 8e.
Chapter 8 Key facts checklists
Chapter 8 Key facts checklists
Adverse possession
- To establish adverse possession of any type of land there must be:
– factual possession of the land by the adverse possessor; and
– the adverse possessor must have the requisite intent to possess. - In unregistered land, after 12 years’ adverse possession the paper owner will be statute-barred from seeking recovery of his land.
- In registered land:
– where 12 years’ adverse possession are completed prior to 13 October 2003, then the paper owner will hold the property on trust for the adverse possessor;
– where 12 years’ adverse possession are completed after 13 October 2003, then the paper owner will no longer be statute-barred but must comply with the new rules under the LRA 2002 (which radically altered the rules in relation to registered land). - Leasehold land can be subject to adverse possession but this will not act against the freeholder unless there is a period of adverse possession against him after the lease expires.
- Whilst human rights issues have been raised about this area of law, recent European case law suggests that no human rights are violated by the existence of this law.