Redditch Couple 'Buy Their Own Hedge' from Government
In the News
A couple say they were sent a "ransom note" from the government asking for £2,000 for part of their driveway and a hedge they thought they already owned.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-51190459
If you read this article please give thought to the fact that this could roll out all over the place as it states 'Homes England said it had written to 90 residents, adding that the trial could be rolled out across England'.
This could happen near you or to you....
I'd have told them to get stuffed.
The article states they are small strips of land, so they are probably too small for the council to sell to developers or try to build on themselves.
The last sentence carries the fear factor, but how can they dispose of small strips of land? Who would buy them unless they were big enough to park a car on? Money grabbing councils make me sick. Every service they provide these days is charged for and no longer does it serve the people who pay to keep it running.
As an ex registrar we were proud of the service we gave. We were then told to stop doing copy certificates ready for next day collection but make folk wait at least three days and if they wanted it next day to charge £25. We were also given cardboard folders by advertisers (baby milk etc.) to put the certificates in but had to charge for those too, previously placing them in an A4 envelope for free. Everything comes with a price now and no service is free as it often was in the past.
It is appalling how much is charged for by councils which, I believe, should already be included in the astronomical council tax charges. It is by far the largest bill each month and many people struggle to pay it, I know we have in the recent past when Mr Tumblespots was made redundant.
The fact that you are able to clarify certain benefits that have been changed from free to chargeable does not surprise me and that is what is probably most shocking – the fact that we are no longer shocked and just accept it as another rip-off – mind you, you have no recourse against the council do we… A very sad reflection on the society in which we live.
Selling off these smaller pieces of land is just another nail in all our coffins and is taking advantage of vulnerable people who will be 'forced' to buy these plots for whatever the council wants to charge to prevent anyone else buying it. Held to ransom yet again.
There is a possibility that if, not knowing who the owner of the land was and fencing off that land (with a hedge) without any claim against them for doing so, or that the person who they bought it from had done so, that squatters rights could be claimed. Usually the land registry would hold records of the actual boundaries of the property, that's if they're not already in the deeds.
I know from personal experience, that what appears to be part of one's property can be owned by someone else, the deeds did show that there should have been a very small annual payment for a strip of land (supposedly a footpath) that separated my house from my back garden. That small payment had never been claimed, it was so small I paid it and the next door neighbours too, that was over 40 years ago - I've moved since. Just reminded me I technically still own the garden, I'd claimed squatters rights on it and it had never been added to the deeds... the present owners can keep it! I got it for nothing!
Deeds! Hmmmm! These days most of it is electronic and you rarely get any physical deeds unless the previous owners had them to pass on. Mind you, you can get them from the Land Registry and we have a copy of our borders recently purchased (from LR) over the internet but there isn't all the intricate detail about anything else. In the past I am sure deeds were more complex, as they must have been in your case with footpaths etc. Like everything else in this country nothing is as it used to be.
tumblespots I still have paper deeds to my current home built in the 1930s (which includes a copy of borders). I do realise much is kept digitally now, I am not sure but doubt many of the things in deeds are actually on LR records. Things are VERY complicated, many people never actually see the deeds to their own house, they're usually held by the mortgage company and if the house is sold before the mortgage is paid off only the solicitors, handling the transfer, see them. They can make interesting reading.
This sounds like BS to me, the council are pulling a fast one here, that couple should be held to ransom like that. It's totally and utterly shocking, besides, if they had it seven years it's there's anyway isn't it? At landowner rights?
Don't councils (in so many ways) always pull a fast one to get what they want? There is no recourse!!
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