No registered estate

Hi. First timer so please go easy. I am after a self build plot. I found an overgrown plot in my estate. Buckinghamshire. The land registry has it down as no registered estate which basically means it’s not registered. Would you steer clear of trying to take possession having tried everything to trace the owner and approach them for a sale? Or is there anything more I can do ? Appreciate the replies and Thank you

 

[Cowmansam]

Try claim it you have nothing to lose I know a bloke claimed a few acres that nobody owned after a new bypass went in it was the chunk between the new road and the old road now has 12 big houses on it I’m sure he did very well out of it

 

[ISCO]

If not registered someone will have the unregistered title deeds. The problem is there is no way of traceing the owner of unregistered land other than talking to the locals.
To claim ownership or possessory title you need to have occupied the land for 12 years without objection from the owner.
It could be expensive if you just take possession and build a house and then the legal owner turns up.

 

[Cowmansam]

can you not claim bare land I’m sure this is what has been done near me

 

[Johnw12345]

Try claim it you have nothing to lose I know a bloke claimed a few acres that nobody owned after a new bypass went in it was the chunk between the new road and the old road now has 12 big houses on it I’m sure he did very well out of it

How do I go about that please? Through a lawyer and possibly expend law fees? Or something else.
Thanks a mil

 

[Cowmansam]

I honestly don’t have a clue all I know is the land near me was sold for the new road but must have been left off the deeds or something along those lines and a local guy managed to claim ownership how exactly that’s done I’ve no idea

 

[two-cylinder]

This land belongs to someone, respect their rights not to register it.
If you try to force the issue by taking control you will get thrown out and earn a bad reputation.

 

[Cowmansam]

This land belongs to someone, respect their rights not to register it.
If you try to force the issue by taking control you will get thrown out and earn a bad reputation.

Does all land belong to someone though if nobody registered it and then say died and told none of there estate beneficiaries they owned it surely it’s not owned

 

[curlietailz]

Land has been fought over for millennia
Someone will own it

 

[Cowmansam]

That’s the thing though if everyone assumes that it’s owned so never looks any further into it only takes one person to forget to draw the line on the map or something

 

[two-cylinder]

That’s the thing though if everyone assumes that it’s owned so never looks any further into it only takes one person to forget to draw the line on the map or something

You are right there could be instances where a mistake has been made?. But does it give someone else the right to try to steal it away from the rightful owner?

 

[Cowmansam]

He who dares rodders

 

[two-cylinder]

The bottom line is the registry only came into being in the late 80s, there are thousands of bits of unregistered land which were bought before then, and are still rightfully in the possession of the purchaser who is alive and well, but who hasn't for any number of reasons bothered to register.

 

[Cowmansam]

Completely agree but there is always that chance

 

[7610 super q]

Someone, somewhere will own this land. What sort of person even considers thieving land ??

 

[Cowmansam]

If you follow the proper procedure it’s not thieving is it

 

[Cowmansam]

It’s taking advantage of an opportunity

 

[Johnw12345]

Appreciate all the replies. Thank you.

 

[borderterribles]

A few years ago, an a#%ehole chancer tried to claim title to my (now) late Father's yard and buildings, as it adjoined a property that this lowlife had recently purchased. Dad didn't know anything about the Land Registry that had come into being, long after his legal purchase of his property. I am firmly convinced that the legal wrangling that it took to prove his claim to his own property was the beginning of the end for him, at the relatively young age of seventy-four.

 

[PhilipB]

If you were a sheep farmer and had a few acres next to you and decided to fence it and throw a few sheep on it for the grazing, then that would not be a stupid thing to do, though I don't feel I could say it was "mine" after 12 years.

But you're actually proposing to self build on the plot? To put one of your biggest investments into a piece of land that you know doesn't belong to you? Don't do it, it's madness.