Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Lambeth v George Bigden and Others: CA 1 Dec 2000

A block of flats had been occupied over several years by a succession of squatters. The present occupiers appealed an order for possession, and the authority appealed refusal of possession for other flats. The occupiers asserted possessory title.
Held: The earlier occupiers had sought licences from the authority, and had submitted petitions. The letters and petitions constituted an acknowledgment of the authority’s title, and the claims for adverse possession failed.

Lord Justice Simon Brown Lord Justice Mummery And Lord Justice Latham
[2000] EWCA Civ 302, (2001) 33 HLR 43
Bailii
Land Registration Act 1925 75
England and Wales
Citing:
CitedEdgington v Clark 1963
All that is required to constitute an acknowledgement so as to defeat a claim under limitation, is that, as between himself and the paper title owner, the person in possession acknowledges that the paper title owner has the better title to the land. . .
CitedPowell v McFarlane ChD 1977
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: ‘In the absence of evidence to the . .
CitedBuckinghamshire County Council v Moran CA 13-Feb-1989
The parties’ respective properties were separated by a fence or hedge and the true owner had no access to the disputed land. In 1967 the Defendants’ predecessors in title began to maintain the land by mowing the grass and trimming the hedges and . .
CitedTimothy Ellis v London Borough of Lambeth CA 9-Jul-1999
A squatter claiming possession of land as against a local authority should not have his claim defeated because he had not completed a form which would lead to payment of community charge to the authority. His possession was not thereby made secret, . .
CitedJones v Bellgrove Properties Limited CA 1949
The court allowed the plaintiff to establish by evidence that his particular debt was included in the total sum acknowledged to be due to a number of creditors.
Lord Goddard CJ was satisfied that a lump sum in a balance sheet included the debt . .
CitedBrowne v Perry PC 14-Oct-1991
(Antigua and Barbuda) The parties disputed a claim for land by adverse possession.
Held: Any acknowledgement of a paper title must be in writing. Lord Templeman explained the rule against reliance upon oral acknowledgements in adverse . .

Cited by:
CitedAllen v Matthews CA 13-Mar-2007
The defendants appealed an order refusing title by adverse possession to registered land. They denied that the limitation period had been restarted by their solicitor’s letter acknowledging the title.
Held: The letter must be read as a whole. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Registered Land, Limitation

Updated: 17 November 2021; Ref: scu.147335