First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

Declan Joseph Harkin v Genesis Housing Association Limited (now known as Notting Hill Genesis) (Adverse possession : Land subject to trusts) [2019] UKFTT 449 (PC) (17 June 2019)

[2019] UKFTT 449 (PC). Adverse possession claim to a yard behind the Applicant's commercial premises forming part of the Respondent's registered title. It was not disputed that the Applicant and his predecessor in title to the commercial premises had been in possession of the yard. The Respondents case was that the Applicant's predecessor had acquired a beneficial interest in the yard under Land Registration Act 1925 s. 75 and that for the Applicant to rely on his predecessor's possession, he would have to show a written assignment of the beneficial interest under s. 53(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925. HELD that the Tribunalwas bound by the decision in Site Developments Ltd. v. Cuthbury Ltd. [2011] EWHC (Ch). There was no need for a written assignment. The Applicant's predecessor could transfer informally his interest qua squatter and had done so.

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