Adverse possession affecting leases: tenants, landlords, chargees; rent arrears, oral periodic tenancies, encroachment; registered/unregistered land under LA 1980 and LRA 2002 (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Property Disputes expert

Practice notes

This is one of four Practice Notes on adverse possession. The others are:

Establishing adverse possession of land
Claiming title by adverse possession under the Limitation Act 1980 or the Land Registration Act 1925
Claiming title by adverse possession under the Land Registration Act 2002

Adverse possession of the demised premises by a squatter

The tenant’s position

A squatter will defeat and extinguish the tenant’s title to the demised premises if they can demonstrate continuous adverse possession for at least twelve years:

at any time (if the lease is unregistered), or
before 13 October 2003 (if the lease is registered)

Consequently, the squatter will be entitled to apply to be registered as the proprietor. For additional guidance, with specific reference to unregistered leases, see HM Land Registry Practice Guide 5, para 7.1. For more detail, see Practice Notes: Establishing adverse possession of land and Claiming title by adverse possession under the Limitation Act 1980 or the Land Registration Act 1925...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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