should i bill them

[mendiplogs]

I've been maintaining a hedge on the side of our land for the past 20 plus years (we have lived there 34 years). We don't own the hedge and could not find anyone who did. Its on the side of the footpath next to a housing estate so only in our interest to maintain it to keep sheep in and neighbors happy. We have now applied for planning to build new houses on the land and the local estate agent/corrupt I own everything rich bloke has tried to claim he owns the hedge through land registry.

. My question is Is there anything we can do to stop him (we have contested the land registry claim but he has money and we don't) and if he is successful could I bill for the work done and how far backdated

 

Hi RUSH if he has pots of cash as you said then there's no way your going to win let your insure sort it out cost you little then thanks Jon

[geoff]

Thanks for the info so far. We were asked to maintain the hedge by the council because they couldn't find an owner. All documents regarding the hedge from the previous housing estate are missing (no surprise there). But we have knowledge that he claimed he did not own the hedge when asked to maintain it by the parish council and it just so happens that 10 years worth of records have gone missing. Yes Geoff you right

 

Thought so, get all the info you can,from official sources & any witness statements, you really want to try & fend him off if you can possibly do so, sounds like you have right on your side, utilize it for all it's worth & get some decent legal advice on how to progress before rocking the boat too much, sounds like you have a clued up adversary to deal with, but bear in mind, if documents etc have gone astray, people responsible often retreat if the proverbial looks like hitting the fan, it's their job at stake if things get hot.

[Essexlogman]

As long as there are no "right of way and access issues" eg ransom strip with regards to your planning application or the houses assuming you get permission you have had a good result and I would just put a line under the matter and put up a six foot fence right on the boundary of the hedging or just leave when you get permission for the new owners to maintain if they so wish, I can see your point though regarding your maintenance over the years though.

The land registry will be able to tell you if there is ownership title on the land just my opinion and hope this helps and it all works out OK for you

[Bren.]

surely if the council asked for you to maintain the hedge, you should invoice them. They can then reclaim the cost from your dodgy estate agent.

[Stubby]

surely if the council asked for you to maintain the hedge, you should invoice them. They can then reclaim the cost from your dodgy estate agent.

 

Yea surely you were either ....maintaining your own hedge ...or maintaining it for the council . If its the former its yours if its the latter bill the council . They cant have it both ways .

[peatff]

Can you claim squatter's rights on a hedge ? If you've been maintaining it for 20 years and no-one has contested you doing it you have as much claim to it as anyone else. Why does it matter who owns the hedge at the side of a footpath, do you need it for access to the land ? This might cast a different light on the subject.

[Old WoodChip]

I had to register a building we had when someone else tried to steal it from us by saying it was theirs. land registry came out and looked at it, we had the deeds going back 100 years he had nothing. we won but they said people nationwide are trying it on saying they own land when they dont and pre computer there were paper deeds, not everyone has these so contest his claim and go for it.

what dont make sense to me is you say your going to build houses but have no money to fight the claim? Dont be tight you will spend far more building houses, moneys made round to go around.

as for the work you done, no one asked you to do it. look on that as a labour of love and you kept in neat and tidy. some things we do in life because we like doing it.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Old WoodChip

[NoRush]

The fact is he claims he owns the ransom strip but has no proof. He now claims rights on the hedge which he has disowned untill now. He seems to think it fine to deny ownership untill there is likelihood of money coming his way. He even tried to claim ownership on a non existent ransom strip between ours and the neighbors field. Why should we have to pay anything to a greasy arrogant piece of work who thinks he can do what he likes because he's got money. We have worked hard for what we have, like alot of people, so why should we give anything to this greedy b#*tard without proof

[TIMON]

The fact is he claims he owns the ransom strip but has no proof. He now claims rights on the hedge which he has disowned untill now. He seems to think it fine to deny ownership untill there is likelihood of money coming his way. He even tried to claim ownership on a non existent ransom strip between ours and the neighbors field. Why should we have to pay anything to a greasy arrogant piece of work who thinks he can do what he likes because he's got money. We have worked hard for what we have, like alot of people, so why should we give anything to this greedy b#*tard without proof

 

 

We have a neighbour who wants to move her fence 3ft onto our land (she says the last owner put it up in the wrong place...) she complains if we let the grass grow. Etc.. Then she asks if we can come and cut her trees cheap/give her free logs etc, but it doesn't matter that much because we're "only" a charity.... Hmmm.

I told her "sure". Just show us the deeds and she can move the fence..

No problem...

Funnily enough I haven't heard anything more from her.....,,,,,,,,

[felixthelogchopper]

The fact is he claims he owns the ransom strip but has no proof. He now claims rights on the hedge which he has disowned untill now. He seems to think it fine to deny ownership untill there is likelihood of money coming his way. He even tried to claim ownership on a non existent ransom strip between ours and the neighbors field. Why should we have to pay anything to a greasy arrogant piece of work who thinks he can do what he likes because he's got money. We have worked hard for what we have, like alot of people, so why should we give anything to this greedy b#*tard without proof

 

Given that you have been maintaining the strip for many years, I would suggest that the onus is on him to prove his ownership.