The practice of staking claim on free land or property is not a new one. Our history books stand testimony to this fact and if you open the pages you will get innumerable such examples.
Going back to history for a good example, one can talk about the new settlers who had come to America and claimed the free land as their own and went ahead by building homes and farmlands on it.
In today’s world, there exists countless such vacant and unused plots of land that are waiting for someone to stake a claim on, register it and put it to good use.
Coming back to the present generation, there are millions of unclaimed and unregistered plots lying around unused, abandoned and forgotten waiting for someone to claim them.
An unclaimed and abandoned plot of land can be of various forms. But whatever the form they will always have some signs about being unclaimed and unused. These sure signs include overgrown gates and gardens, broken and bordered up windows, unused garages, fields and shrub lands, abandoned commercial premises and industrial plots.
If you always drive around the neighborhood, these sure signs will probably escape your notice. Remember that these signs are not very obvious and hence you need to walk around the locality for identifying the properties.
Registration Check is the next step after you have identified your plot of land to stake your claim on. You need to see the status of the said plot’s registration before you claim it your own. Once you contact the Land Registry, they will be in a position to let you know whether it is already registered, is unregistered or pending first application.
In case the status is ‘Registered’, the implications are many. The case might be that the original owner is no more and his relatives are either non-existent or do not want the said plot of land. It might also be that the property is infact an abandoned plot the owner of which has shifted abroad.
In case the status is ‘Unregistered’, it essentially means it has never been registered before and hence does not have an owner, exactly what you want to make your claim! However, one thing that is going to become real difficult for you in this case is the job of owner tracing.
If the plot is already ‘Pending first Application’ it means that someone else has already staked a claim on the same and the best you could do at this point would be to leave it and look for another free plot.
Once, you have checked the registration status of the promising piece of land, you need to trace its original owner next as because you will be asked to provide evidence of having contacted the person while you go ahead to stake a claim on any land.
An effective strategy would be to ask the immediate neighbors regarding any information about the owner. If they fail to give so try asking the post office, probate registry office (if he is dead), local landlords, milkman, newsagents and the like. You might also go and check the electoral roles.
When you are ready to make the claim, it is a good idea to draw up a document in order to record the date of the claim commencement, though it is not a mandatory thing to do. You might ask your friends or colleagues to sign as witnesses in the document which would stay as evidence.
You can do things like creating a small fence around the plot or putting up a ‘No Trespassing’ sign which are good ways to quickly bring back any owner the plot of land might have had.
Remember, that you can use the land for doing things like holding boot sales or even rent it out in order to make some money during the long waiting period of 10 - 12 years which you have to endure.
Generally people do not like to live beside old, unused derelicts having overgrown gardens and garbage filled ponds where unwanted nocturnal activities might take place. Hence, the immediate neighbors of your chosen piece of land would always come forward to help you in your efforts.
CDs, websites, etc are openly available in the market through which you can know about the different legislation rules and the corresponding laws pertaining to adverse possession. Infact, there exists numerous websites who would undertake the detective for you in finding out the whereabouts of the original owner.
Thus, all these facilities can be put to good use in claiming a fine piece of land for yourself.
For more information please visit http://www.freelandandproperty.co.uk. Learn today about claiming land for FREE! Discover how to claim land.