One of the perks (or misfortunes, alternately) of being a law student is that you learn to pick up when people are making sweeping generalisations on topics they dont really know about. Be it incorrect comments on Land law concerning adverse possession (i.e. squatters), the Human Rights Act 1998, the nature of the legal profession, different kinds of (unexpected) theft and the consequences of contract and family law, University lawyers have heard them all. Whilst there are far too many legal rumours to list in this particular article, Ive compiled my top ten worst offenders in order to shed a brief light on some of the most controversial inaccuracies of current UK law.
10. Squatters Can Easily Steal Your Home
One of the most common ideas being thrown around at the moment is that squatters (people who adversely possess land not legally belonging to them, who can then go on to gain a better legal title to the property) can easily remove you from your home. This rumour usually entails scare stories like
returning home to find your locks changed after a brief period of time, and being unable to do anything about it. The image conjured is of a family rendered destitute, a lazy squatter residing happily in your favourite arm chair, whilst you and your three children have to go and sleep outside on the pavement and face the elements... Wrong. As a result of the LRA 2002 (an Act which governs registered land, totalling a huge ninety percent of the country) a squatter would not only have to adversely possess your land for ten years, but you would be informed when the squatter tried to register their title over yours. This would allow you sixty five business days to respond and have their claim thrown out of court. Even in unregistered land (the last ten percent of owned land in the UK), the squatter would have had to have been in possession of your land for twelve years before they would have a claim that would beat yours (as per the Limitation Act 1980). Moreover, there is a wealth of other criteria that apply, such as showing factual possession, (i.e. openly using the land as the landowner would), and intention to possess (i.e. excluding the world at large). So unless youre going on holiday for an entire decade and think that replying to someone trying to steal your home in sixty five business days (thats not even including weekends) is not enough time, adverse possession is well and truly not something you should be concerned about.