Monday, 13 October is an important day for both squatters and landowners. This is when the Land Registration Act 2002 comes into force, introducing significant changes to the law of adverse possession.
As mentioned in
The authors of
Bear in mind, too, the provisions in para 18 of Schedule 12 to the Act, which preserve the rights of squatters who are entitled to be registered as proprietors on or before 13 October to be registered on the basis of the pre-2003 law.
Monday, 13 October is an important day for both squatters and landowners. This is when the Land Registration Act 2002 comes into force, introducing significant changes to the law of adverse possession.
As mentioned in PP 2002/161, the new legislation requires squatters to give due notice of their claim to the existing proprietor. They will be entitled to apply for registration after 10 years’ adverse possession, and the legal owner then has a two-year period within which to oppose the application, with three exceptions. Kate Cartnell, of Nicholas Graham & Jones, explains this in more detail in Put up the shutters, Estates Gazette, 17 August 2002, p90.
The authors of Squatters will now be adversely affected, Estates Gazette, 20 September 2003, p140, describe the correct procedure to be taken by persons wishing to resist a squatter’s application. They warn that failure to respond appropriately to an adverse possession claim will result in the automatic registration of the squatter as proprietor of the land.
Bear in mind, too, the provisions in para 18 of Schedule 12 to the Act, which preserve the rights of squatters who are entitled to be registered as proprietors on or before 13 October to be registered on the basis of the pre-2003 law.
