Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Brown v Ridley: UKSC holds any ten-year period of reasonable belief suffices for boundary adverse possession under LRA 2002 Sch 6 para 5(4)(c) (England and Wales)

Published on: 26 February 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Property Disputes expert

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Article summary

Brown v Ridley [2025] UKSC 7

Background

This case concerns adverse possession. Mr Brown holds the registered title to a parcel of land situated to the west of the Promenade in Consett, County Durham, acquired in September 2002 (the 'Brown land'). Mr and Mrs Ridley are the registered proprietors of an adjoining plot of land, purchased in July 2004 ('Valley View'). An earlier proprietor of Valley View put up a fence and planted a hedge along a line they thought marked the boundary between the Brown land and Valley View; the parties now accept that this line in fact enclosed a portion of the registered Brown land as registered, referred to as the 'disputed land'. The Ridleys initially treated the disputed land as part of their garden and later incorporated it into the footprint of a new dwelling (into which they ultimately moved). Planning consent for the new house was granted in early 2018, and the fence and hedge were subsequently taken down later that same year to enable the required construction works. In October 2019, Mr Brown notified the Ridleys that, in his view, the construction work breached the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (PWA 1996)...

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