About to buy land but adjoining farmer has been cuttin hay on it, adverse possession?

B

ballage

Guest
Hi,

We are about to purchase a small piece of land, there is a possibility that a farmer who has adjoining land and has been cutting hay on this land may have a case for adverse possession of this land.

Does the sale of this land to us (by the registered owner) negate any claim he may have?

Also, this land has been used by countless people as part of a walking route for generations, would this fact disqualify any claim the farmer has, as he would not be able to prove 'sole, exclusive' possession?

We will of course be seeking assistance from a solicitor in due course but I would like to be prepared for any meeting.


Thanks
 
Any purchase of open farmland has to be approached with caution.
Firstly, do not rely on pieces of paper or titles that appear from out of a vacuum.
Finding out that its the route of a planning road or drain after you've bought is too late.

Make sure competent legal and building/surveying professionals check out the parcel of land for you and the provenance of the title.
Ensure there are no bits of it "hived off" to someone over the years and no rights established or leases let out for others to farm it or cut hay from it!!!
The walking route causes concern - a Public Right of Way may be established or challenges could arise from hill-walking groups should you choose to fence it off.

Such cases are not as open and shut as you might think, even with unimpeded title, but others here can advise you far better than I.

ONQ.

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
Thanks for the replies, The problem is the vendor (the state) has no information about the piece of land. The land forms part of an access road to our property, and has been used by us and the previous owners of our property for more than 50 years.
We are aware that there may be a public right of way issue, and it would not be our intention to interfere with that.

our concern would be that the farmer would have a right of adverse possession over this land.

The state would not have used this land since the early 70's.

Would the farmer have to have actively excluded the state for 30 years, i.e. by fencing off the land? or is it sufficient for him to prove that the state had not visited the site for that length of time?

Thanks
 
Hi ballage

It's terribly important that you appreciate the role of askaboutmoney in something like this. It is a good source of suggestions e.g. as in onq's reply

But it is not a subsitute for legal advice. If you are buying a piece of land, you must be using a solicitor. What are they saying about this issue?

You can get a second opinion on askaboutmoney by all means, but if you are not happy with your solicitor's service, change solicitor.
 
Yes, we fully intend to have a solicitor deal with the sale, and I'm not really looking for legal advice here just some opinions on whether the farmer may have adverse possession of the property.

From what I've been reading the farmer would need to prove he had 'sole, exclusive' use of the land for 30 years (state land).

If the land was used as an access road by third parties throughout this time, would that fact negate any claim he may have?



In asking these questions I'm just trying to find relevant information to give our solicitor.

Thanks.
 
I think he would find it very difficult to 'prove' that he has been using the grass from that field for the past 30 years. That said, you don't want a row with your new neighbour and proper legal advice from solicitor who has experience of dealing with such issues is a must. If your gut tells you that the solicitor doesn't really know what they're talking about you should change solicitor
 
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