how to trace owners of a field

[unlacedgecko]

Yes that's right. Sheep will graze ragwort though if they get it in the spring as it appears and 12 months of grazing with sheep will kill it I'm told. I only know this as we were asked to graze sheep on some land locally where ragwort was a problem. Six months later and there's no sign of ragwort and someone else is going to graze it with sheep over the winter so it should be sorted.

Live ragwort is just as poisonous as dead ragwort. But the effect is cumulative. Best graze with cull sheep for two seasons after topping.

 

[caveman]

One needs to go back and start at William the bar steward to find out how land "ownership" works. I think one may find that they only own the right to occupy and make use of land. One can buy that right from a previous occupier. One can even use that land for free, as in walking public footpaths. Staking a claim to occupy and use land that has become unoccupied is in no way theft. This can be done by actually occupying and using land and excluding all others.

 

[Potato Man]

+ use it yourself for 12 years and then register it as your own.

You need to fence it off for 12 years i think

 

[Potato Man]

Yeah sorry about the mess, but the fields mine. I tell you what, send me about £120 acre rent and you can farm it for me on my behalf.

Oh yeh, i just checked, its mine, just remind me where it is as i have to run a fence round it

 

[davidroberts30]

Tried ASW?

whats asw?

 

[alex04w]

I am not sure of the position in England, but I assume it is the same / similar to the position in Northern Ireland.

There are two types of land - registered and unregistered.

Registered land is where there is a single title deed - folio - which records the history of ownership. The title deed does not describe the situation of the land, it just records its area. The folio has a number on it and this corresponds to a numbered plot on a master map. The map shows what is owned under that folio number.

Unregistered land is where there is a bundle of deeds recording previous changes in ownership. The Register of Deeds records a memorial of a change of ownership each time this happens. The original deed in the bundle will carry a clear description of the land in words, with maybe even a simple map of the plot thrown in for good measure. Every time the property changes hands, the solicitor acting for the buyer should check every previous deed and transfer to see that it is in order.

To find who owns registered land is easy. Go to Land Registry and look at the master map (these days it can be done online). Get the folio number and order the folio (again can be done online in NI). Read the last entry and this will give you the owners name and their address at the time they bought it. If England is online, then you could do this yourself and it is not expensive (unless you get nosey and start looking up every neighbouring plot of land).

Unregistered land is a horror story. Some bright civil servant in the dim and distant past (and boy was the civil servant dim) decided that all the memorials recording changes in ownership should be recorded by date of sale and sellers name! So to find out who owns it now, you need to know who owned it previously! If the land is unregistered (i.e. is not on the master map at land registry) then it is best to get a law searcher to do a search for you. However you will need to give them a name to start with. Ask the old folk in the area if they remember who owned it in the past - 25, 30, 40, 50 years ago. If you get a name you can get a search done going forward. The law searcher will charge by the hour so this may not be cheap.

The law of adverse possession is clear. If you take possession of a plot of land for 12 years without challenge or interruption, then you can claim adverse possession. It is 30 years if it is Crown lands. This is the law - it is not theft in the eyes of the law. Is it moral - that is a whole different question.

At the end of the 12 years, you will need to apply to Land Registry to have the land recorded in your name. You will need evidence of occupation for 12 years. You will need to also show you made efforts to trace the previous owner and you will need to advertise your intention to claim possession.

Hopefully this helps and clarifies.

 

[llamedos]

The law of adverse possession is clear. If you take possession of a plot of land for 12 years without challenge or interruption, then you can claim adverse possession. It is 30 years if it is Crown lands. This is the law - it is not theft in the eyes of the law. Is it moral - that is a whole different question.

Worth noting you can not claim adverse possession of any piece of land with foot path across it, you also need to 'stake' an initial claim to the start of your adverse possession, and ascertain correct boundary's.

 

[alex04w]

Worth noting you can not claim adverse possession of any piece of land with foot path across it, you also need to 'stake' an initial claim to the start of your adverse possession, and ascertain correct boundary's.

Technically you can claim adverse possession of a footpath (at least in this part of the world). You just need to prove that no one walked on it for 12 years. If no one walked on it, you had 12 years uninterrupted and unchallenged possession of it and can claim possession of it. And the chances of that...

 

[renewablejohn]

I wish adverse possession was actually that easy. We have a piece of unregistered land which belongs to the farm which we have tried to register. We can trace the history back to 1795 when it was given to the farm as part of the Enclosure Act we have records showing it is still part of the farm upto the 1930's at which point the trail dies. Land Registry will not register saying anything could have happened since 1930's and we have already had 17 years of adverse possession.