"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ill.network...
On Sat, 7 Jun 2003 01:04:59 +0100, Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson
wrote:

Is there still such a thing as a ten year rule whereby if you have
actually been changing the use of the land for ten years without
anyone protesting, it will be rubber-stamped by the council on
application?

There is with the Land Registry. ie you fence off and use a bit of
land for 10 (or is it 11?) years with *no* objections being raised you
can then apply for title on that land. My parents (and neighbours) all
"won" about 10 yards onto the end of their back gardens by quietly
taking over the back lane. I don't think this applies to planning
though only the title.


Obtaining title via 'adverse possession', which is what you have described,
has nothing to do with planning consent. However, it certainly used to be
the case, at least from the 1960s, that if land had been used for a very
long time for a purpose for which planning consent was required, but which
had not been obtained, the user probably had established use rights, and
could obtain an established use certificate. This meant the planning
authority could not take enforcement action to terminate the otherwise
unlawful use without compensation until there was a change in ownership.
This was replaced from 1992 by the slightly different Lawful Development
Certificate.