Adverse possession

The Land Registration Act 2003, which came into force in October, provides for the introduction of ‘determined boundaries’ enabling landowners to mark and register their boundaries by filling out a simple form. Additional protection is provided by the requirement that squatters or neighbours claiming adverse possession will have to register their intention to take ownership with the Land Registry after 10 years of residence. This will give the owner two years to contest the application before the expiration of the 12-year limitation period. According to the New Law Journal of 17 October, there are 15,000 successful applications made to the Land Registry from squatters each year, mainly against unregistered titles of which there are 4m, or 20% of land in the UK.