A family say they have been left in turmoil for two years after a 'shocking' land dispute they were unaware of has stopped them from selling their home. When Linda Hoffman, 73, moved to put her house on the market in 2019 she was informed that roughly 400 square metres of land at her property doesn't actually belong to her, including a corner of her living room and some of her garden.
Linda and her husband, from Woodthorpe, had purchased a part of land from their neighbours in 2000 to build their own property, which was completed in 2003, Nottingham Post reports. The family were aware that the footpath in their garden did not legally belong to them and over the years had workers through their garden to access an old railway bridge nearby.
However, they were stunned to discover that more of their home was not theirs in March 2021. Despite a lengthy battle to find out who actually owns the land, the family are still struggling in their bid to find answers.
They believe it may be the property of Nottinghamshire County Council due to the proximity to the road and the old railway line but this has not been confirmed. Linda's son, Bryn Hoffman, told how his father had passed away in April 2020 when Covid-19 first hit and that his mother had been looking for a bungalow to move closer to her family.
Bryn, from Gedling, said: "A bungalow came up and it was stunning, perfect location and round the corner from me. We put the house on the market and got a buyer, and it was all going through.
"Then it popped up through their solicitors that there's a section of the land that doesn't belong to my parents which is the bank next to the road, the footpath down the side of the house to the bridge and the very edge of the house, the corner of the living room basically. Nobody knew, my mum didn't know and my dad isn't there to ask."
Frustrated Linda said: "Thankfully I’m a strong person but it’s just draining. I was ringing the land registry day for a month and every time I spoke to someone I got a different story.
"Why couldn’t they have just said they own it and this is how much they want for it. I’ve had to pay a lot of money for a solicitor."
Linda went on to say that it's been a 'difficult' situation as they were granted permission to build on the land years ago and were unaware that two areas of land did not belong to them. Now she is unable to move out of her home and the patient buyers who initially said they would wait until the problem was solved have now understandably pulled out.
The family believe that the market value for the piece of land in question is around £1,000. However, due to the land's position the family think it may belong to a mix of parties.
Bryn stated: "All this has been dragging on for nearly two years. My mum has spent a fortune on a solicitor, and we found out that Adverse possession was the best way to go.
"She also made a cash offer to buy, just to give them some money for the land to get it done and I don't think they even responded. Last Christmas we said there's no way we will be here next year, but here we are."
Since then the family's application for adverse possession has been rejected and they are still no further forward almost two years later. Bryn said: "They said their legal team would be in touch with our solicitors, which was about five weeks ago, and we still haven't heard anything about what the reason is.
"We are still no closer and it's Christmas again. Bryn said that the 'abysmal experience' has been highly unfair on his mother who has lived in the house for two decades and was only made aware of the land dispute when she went to move.
He added that his father was also very well known and would invite people into the house and garden each year for the National Garden Scheme to raise money for charity.
A spokesperson for His Majesty's Land Registry has since stated: "In 2021-22, we saw an extremely high level of property transactions as the property market bounced back after Covid-19 restrictions and stamp duty and land transaction tax holidays fuelled demand.
"That increase did affect our processing times, including the time taken to initially consider Mrs Hoffman’s application. We have apologised to Mrs Hoffman previously and do not hesitate to repeat that apology.
"HMLR cannot proceed with an application until it complies with the relevant statutory formalities. Unfortunately, the initial delays were exacerbated by defects in the applications originally lodged on behalf of Mrs Hoffman. These meant we had to cancel some of the applications and request replacements."
They continued: "The replacement applications have since been submitted and considered by HMLR. Consequently, once the applications are in order, HMLR is bound by certain statutory timeframes.
"We cannot deviate from these. We have also received an objection to one of the applications. When we receive such an objection, we cannot complete the application until the dispute has been resolved."
Nottinghamshire County Council have been contacted for a response on the matter.
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