Common land and town or village greens: how a claim of ownership can affect the land
Find out if a claim of ownership by adverse possession can be made on common land and town or village greens, what effect it will have on the land and whether a claim can be opposed.
Applies to England
Overview
A squatter can be registered as the owner of common land or town or village greens (TVGs) by adverse possession of the land if the:
- current owner doesn바카라 사이트™t challenge the claim of ownership
- squatter has occupied the land for at least 10 years before they make a claim of ownership
Any change in ownership doesn바카라 사이트™t affect the status of the land as registered common land or TVG.
A successful claim of ownership doesn바카라 사이트™t affect people who have rights to use or take resources from the common land or TVG. A 바카라 사이트˜commoner바카라 사이트™ can use their rights at any time, whoever owns the land. See commoners바카라 사이트™ rights for more details.
When a claim for ownership can be made for common land or TVG
If the landowner is registered
A claim can be made for ownership of a common or TVG that바카라 사이트™s been recorded on the title register held by the Land Registry if the squatter has occupied the land for at least 10 years and either:
- continues to occupy the land without objection by the registered owner
- has made a claim within 6 months of being evicted by the registered owner (where applicable)
See the Land Registry guide for more information.
If the landowner isn바카라 사이트™t registered
Where land ownership hasn바카라 사이트™t been recorded on the title register held by the Land Registry, a squatter can claim ownership of common land or TVG if, for at least 12 years, they show:
- they were acting as if they were the owner of the land eg putting up fences without consent
- an intention to possess land
- possession without owner바카라 사이트™s consent
See the Land Registry guide for more information.
Difficulties with a claim of ownership of common land
If a squatter puts up fencing to exclude a commoner, known as 바카라 사이트˜factual possession바카라 사이트™, there are a number of difficulties in being able to claim adverse possession over the land.
Under the Commons Act 2006, it바카라 사이트™s difficult for a squatter to show factual possession of a common because the land can바카라 사이트™t lawfully:
- be enclosed without consent for the work from the Secretary of State
- exclude the public or commoners
However, unlawful works aren바카라 사이트™t a criminal offence so it may be possible for the squatter to show factual possession of registered common land, including those under the jurisdiction of a local authority that are:
- managed under the
- owned under the
Factual possession is more difficult or even impossible to show on certain commons because they바카라 사이트™re protected from adverse possession by being:
- regulated by their own act of Parliament eg
- owned by a body, such as the National Trust and declared as 바카라 사이트˜inalienable land바카라 사이트™ ie land that can바카라 사이트™t be bought, sold or transferred to a new owner without permission from Parliament
- subject to orders for regulation under the and can바카라 사이트™t be enclosed
Difficulties with a claim of ownership of TVGs
You can바카라 사이트™t use certain activities to claim ownership of a TVG by adverse possession because it바카라 사이트™s a criminal offence to:
- put up a fence or carry out works unless it improves the enjoyment of the TVG for visitors
- create private car parking
- interfere with, or prevent recreation
See and for more details.
You may, however, be able to legally claim adverse possession of a TVG to carry out improvements or safety works, such as mowing the grass or removing unsafe trees. Talk to your legal adviser for more information.
Oppose a claim of adverse possession
If the landowner is registered
An owner of common land or a TVG recorded by the Land Registry can oppose a claim of adverse possession, unless the squatter can establish one of 3 conditions:
- it바카라 사이트™s unfair to dispossess the squatter
- there바카라 사이트™s some other entitlement to be registered
- there바카라 사이트™s adjacent land owned by the squatter, where the boundary hasn바카라 사이트™t been determined for at least 10 years
See for more details.
If the landowner isn바카라 사이트™t registered
An owner of common land or TVG not recorded by the Land Registry can oppose a claim of adverse possession, unless the squatter can show that for at least 12 years they:
- were acting as if they were the owner of the land
- had an intention to possess the land
- possessed the land without the recorded owner바카라 사이트™s consent