The court considered a claim for the adverse possesion of land.
Held: Dyson LJ said: ‘to establish a claim of adverse possession for the requisite period of 12 years it is necessary to establish: (1) actual possession; (2) an intention to possess. That has two elements. First a subjective element requiring the person, the trespasser, to establish that he intended to possess the land, and also an objective element, namely an establishment of what Clarke LJ referred to as a possession which was apparent or would be apparent to the owner if he visited the site.’
Dyson LJ referred to Batt v Adams and said: ‘In this particular case, the purpose of the fence appeared to be, and Mr Baker said it was, to keep sheep in. It does not seem that he would have put that fence up if he had been grazing cattle rather than sheep. In those circumstances it was open to the judge to conclude that there was no intention of Mr Baker to possess the land.’
Judges:
Dyson LJ
Citations:
[2002] EWCA Civ 1733
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Powell v McFarlane ChD 1977
Intention to Establish Adverse Possession of Land
A squatter had occupied the land and defended a claim for possession. The court discussed the conditions necessary to establish an intention to possess land adversely to the paper owner.
Held: Slade J said: ‘It will be convenient to begin by . .
Cited – J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd and Others v Graham and Another HL 4-Jul-2002
The claimants sought ownership by adverse possession of land. Once the paper owner had been found, they indicated a readiness to purchase their interest. The court had found that this letter contradicted an animus possidendi. The claimant had . .
Cited – London Borough of Lambeth v Blackburn CA 14-Jun-2001
The appellant had broken into an empty council owned flat, and subsequently occupied it. After twelve years the authority obtained a court order for possession. The court had held that the appellant had not had a sufficient animus possidendi since . .
Cited – Michael Batt Charitable Trust v Adams ChD 2001
The court looked at what was required to establish adverse possession in a claim for land. Laddie J said: ‘The only factor that appears, at first sight, to point in the direction to exclude anyone, is the fact that Mr Higgs maintained and repaired . .
Cited by:
Cited – Chambers v London Borough of Havering CA 20-Dec-2011
The defendant appealed against an order for him to surrender possession of land he had claimed by adverse possession. The Council was the registered proprietor. The defendant said he had used the land since 1981 for dumping of motor vehicle parts. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land, Torts – Other
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.217832
