News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the February / March 2000 issue RPI news archive

Squatters' rights defy natural justice - February / March 2000

In a decision which even the judge agreed did 'not accord with natural justice', a Berkshire farmer has won legal ownership of land that could be worth as much as £10m.

The land in question had been bought as part of an estate by a property development company. It subsequently took no action to prevent the farmer who took on the other part of the estate using the land for grazing, although he had no permission to do so and paid no rent.

After 12 years, the farmer's family sought to register the land in its own name, claiming adverse possession. And this month, when the case came to court, they were able to persuade it that the law did indeed give them legal title.

'We should not have allowed the Grahams to be on the land without charging them a rent', agreed John Chamberlain, a director of the development company involvd, J A Pye of Oxford.
 

other artilces from the February / March 2000 issue

• Housing mismanagement
• BPF backs research into regulation
• Squatters' rights defy natural justice
• Leasehold reforms outlined to Commons
• In brief
• Paragon launches buy to let tracker
• Buy to let guidance