Hello,
We are based in England.
When we purchased our house 4 years ago, we were made aware during the searches that an 80cm strip running down the side of the house wasn't part of the deeds, but had been treated as if it were part of the house for years. We now want to add a driveway overlapping part of this strip of land which would require planning permission, which would highlight the lack of ownership. What are our chances of securing assumrd ownership?
Some key facts:
- We are an end of terrace, and it seems long way back this was a path people could technically use to access the rear of the properties. There is another route just the other side of this path however.
- We have a letter from the owner from 10 years ago, who lived there from the 80s, that the path was never used and she exclusively maintained it as if it were her own land. At that point there was a garden fence which separated her garden from the path.
I believe at the start of the new ownership (2019), the garden fence was removed and the land was treated formally as if we're part of the property boundaries. A flower border and decking was put in, and with the exception of some steps leading up to the edge of this flower border, the path hasn't existed since then.
Give that the land was maintained by the previous property owners all the way back to the 80s, has not been used as a path for decades, and has been removed as a path since 2019, what are the odds of us being successful with an assumed ownership application?