Property Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Property Law - Essay Example †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦broadly, I think what must be shown as constituting factual possession is that the alleged possessor has been dealing with the land as an occupying owner might have been expected to deal with it and that no-one else has done so.†6 Another condition that may invoke such possession right includes an intention to possess the land7 without the consent of the actual owner8. One of the salient points noted by Browne Wilkinson in allowing the judgment for the defendant was the issue of whether the defendant squatter had â€Å"dispossessed the paper owner by going into ordinary possession of the land for the requisite period without the consent of the owner.†9 Adverse possession will not be valid if the illegal occupant gives written notice of the true owners10 or if the actual owners physically occupy the land. After twelve years of occupation, the squatter on a land may apply for registration of title as proprietor of a new or registered estate11. Therefore, by w ay of these limitations, the granting of title to the squatter was provisional and the required time period had to elapse before a squatter could legally claim the title to the land. However, the issue of ownership did not rise in this case. But according to the provisions of the new Land registration Act12, which came into force on 13 Oct 2003, squatters may directly put in an application for ownership. The law relating to adverse possession has undergone several changes, whereby the issue at stake is not title to the land, so much as direct ownership of the land, either by the squatter or the paper owner. In a recent case, the Court suspended the possession order against a widowed mother who had enjoyed possession of land for thirteen years13. However the Land registration Act of 200214 clarifies that no matter how long the possession of the land, it will not bar the paper owner’s title to the registered land. Adverse possession in itself will not give the