Editing Adverse possession (section)

===Timing===
For registered land, adverse possession claims completed before 13 October 2003 (the date the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force)<ref>Section 1 The Land Registration Act 2002 (Transitional Provisions) (No 2) Order 2003).</ref> are governed by section 75(1) and 75(2) of the [[Land Registration Act 1925]]. The limitation period remains the same (12 years) but instead of the original owner's title to the land being extinguished, the original owner holds the land on [[Trust law|trust]] for the adverse possessor.<ref>Section 75(1) Land Registration Act 1925.</ref> The adverse possessor can then apply to be the new registered proprietor of the land.<ref>Section 75(2) Land Registration Act 1925.</ref>

For registered land, adverse possession claims completed after 13 October 2003 follow a different procedure. Where land is registered, the adverse possessor may henceforth apply to be registered as owner after 10 years<ref>Schedule 6 Paragraph 1 Land Registration Act 2002.</ref> of adverse possession and the Land Registry must give notice to the true owner of this application.<ref>Schedule 6 Paragraph 2 Land Registration Act 2002.</ref> This gives the landowner a statutory period of time (65 business days) to object to the adverse possession, object to the application on the ground that there has not actually been the necessary ten years' adverse possession, or to serve a counter-notice. If a counter-notice is served, then the application fails unless
* it would be unconscionable because of an equity by [[estoppel]] for the registered proprietor to seek to dispossess the squatter and the squatter ought in the circumstances to be registered as proprietor, or
* the squatter is for some other reason entitled to be registered as proprietor, or
* the squatter has been in adverse possession of land adjacent to their own under the mistaken but reasonable belief that they are the owner of it, the exact line of the boundary with this adjacent land has not been determined and the estate to which the application relates was registered more than a year prior to the date of the application.

Otherwise, the squatter becomes the registered proprietor according to the land registry. If the true owner is unable to evict the squatter in the two years following the first [unsuccessful] application, the squatter can apply again after this period and be successful despite the opposition of the owner. The process effectively prevents the removal of a landowner's [[right to property]] without their knowledge, while ensuring squatters have a fair way of exercising their rights.

Where a tenant adversely possesses land, there is a presumption that they are doing so in a way that will benefit the landlord at the end of their term. If the land does not belong to their landlord, the land will become part of both the tenancy and the [[Reversion (law)|reversion]]. If the land does belong to their landlord, it would seem that it will be gained by the tenant but only for the period of their term.<ref>''[[Smirk v Lyndale Developments Ltd]]'' [1974] 3 WLR 91.</ref>

Since September 2012, squatting in a residential building is a criminal offence, but this does not prevent title being claimed by reason of adverse possession even if the claimant is committing a criminal offence.<ref>{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Joseph |date=31 August 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/31/criminalising-squatting-poor-rich |title=Criminalising squatting hurts the poor and benefits the rich |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/10/section/144/enacted "Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012"]. The National Archives.</ref> This was confirmed in ''Best v Chief Land Registrar'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Best v The Chief Land Registrar & Anor [2014] EWHC 1370 (Admin) (7 May 2014) |url=https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2014/1370.html |access-date=2021-02-03 |website=www.bailii.org}}</ref> where it was held that criminal and land law should be kept separate.