Neighbour keeping container on site - potential adverse possession?

mustang01

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Thinking of buying a site close to my parents, but apparently occupants of house with the adjoining garden have kept a 6foot container on the site in question for as long as my dad can remember and he’s concerned that it might give rise to an adverse possession claim if anyone tries to buy the land. Is a container enough to establish/entertain such a claim?
 
Usually when claiming adverse possession of land, the squatter has to physically openly fence off the land in question and then claim adverse possession after 12 years has elapsed. Courts will usually only entertain adverse possession claims after a period of 20 or so years has elapsed.

If the container has been there forever, the vendor would have to disclose this and the nature of the arrangement as part of the sale. Nonetheless, the container owners may have alternative or accompanying claims in addition to adverse possession eg claim of right of way, licence to use the land to store the container, prescription for long use etc.

Proceed with caution as you may well decide to go ahead and purchase, only to have an awkward discussion with the container owners and potential court proceedings after. This is something the vendors would need to sort before you think about purchasing.
 
Thank you, that’s my concern. The neighbour is a relation of the current site owner but have had a previous falling out, which is why my dad thinks the container may well only be there with adverse intent. So may well be much disentangling to get through for anyone to buy....
 
In order to establish adverse possession here the claimant needs to prove they were in possession and had sole access to the land for a period of 12 years.

The onus is on the claimant to prove they had sole use and excluded all others for that period. A container stilling in the corner of a field won't be enough.
 
I would be very wary of purchasing a site where there was an issue like this. I would not want to get tangled up in some kind of family dispute as they can run on and on across generations!
 
It's not even the container, I would be wary of ongoing issues. Maybe you fully understand the ins and outs of the issue but it would be a straight no from me, having grown up rurally and seen first hand things like this causes years of heartache for people.
 
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