What is adverse possession?

Adverse possession is a legal principle which provides for an individual, who does not have legal title to a piece of land, to acquire legal ownership over that land based on continuous possession or occupation.
The Land Registration Act sets out the process an individual must go through in order to become the legally recognised owner of the land. Crucially, the landowner (or a predecessor) must "for at least ten years of the period of adverse possession ending on the date of the application" have reasonably believed that they owned the disputed land.

However, until now, the law provided no further clarification as to the ten-year period and, as a result, it remained unclear whether the ten-year period of reasonable belief had to end on the date of the application or whether any ten-year period of reasonable belief within the period of adverse possession was sufficient.

Prior to Brown v Ridley, this requirement was typically taken to suggest that the ten-year period of reasonable belief had to continue up to the date of the application. This undoubtedly presented difficulties for applicants who had owned the land for more than ten years but had recently learnt of its true legal title.

What happened in Brown v Ridley?

The dispute concerned a strip of land lying between the two parties’ properties. The Ridley’s had been treating the land as their own since they purchased the property in 2004 and had planned to use the land as part of the site for the erection of a new house. However, in October 2019, it came to light that the land had belonged to Mr Brown, having purchased it in 2002.

The Ridleys subsequently made an application to the Land Registry to be registered as the owners of the land on the grounds that they had been in adverse possession for at least ten years.

The dispute was eventually heard by the Supreme Court who had determine whether the ten years of reasonable belief had to have elapsed on the date the application for adverse possession was made, or if it could have happened at any point during the applicant’s possession.

What did Supreme Court decide?

The Supreme Court determined that the ten-year period of reasonable belief does not have to extend up to the application date and that as long as the applicant can demonstrate a continuous ten-year period of reasonable belief, within the overall period of adverse possession, the application may succeed.

In reaching this decision, the Supreme Court acknowledged that it is unreasonable to expect an individual to continue holding a reasonable belief that they own the land until the application date if it becomes apparent that they are not the legal owner of the land.

The ruling introduces more flexibility by acknowledging previous periods of reasonable belief, as long as the applicant takes prompt action upon discovering the land’s actual ownership.

What does this mean for you?

This decision offers greater leeway for individuals seeking to claim land through adverse possession. Those who have occupied land under the assumption that it belonged to them can now rely on any ten-year period during their overall occupation, rather than being restricted to the ten years immediately preceding their application.

If you have any queries, or require further advice regarding an application for adverse possession, please feel free to get in touch with a member of our expert Property Dispute Resolution team or call us today on 01482 324252.

Author: Danielle Kennedy