The 10-year Period For Adverse Possession Of Registered Land

Adverse possession of registered land is governed by Schedule 6 of the Land Registration Act 2002 (“Schedule 6”).

There are 3 key requirements to bring a claim for adverse possession of registered land:

1. Factual possession
2. The intention to possess
3. Possession without the owner’s consent.

For registered land, the requisite period is 10 years. This means you must have been using the land and reasonably believed the land belonged to you for at least 10 years before bringing your claim for adverse possession.

Schedule 6 currently says “for at least ten years of the period of adverse possession ending on the date of the application”.

To date, this has been interpreted that the 10 years of reasonable belief must be immediately prior to the date of the application itself.

However, in Brown v Ridley [2025] UKSC 7, the Supreme Court made an important clarification on this 10-year period.

The issue before the Supreme Court was whether the 10-year reasonable belief must be 10 years immediately preceding the date of the application, or whether it could be any period of 10 years within the overall period of adverse possession.

The Supreme Court held Schedule 6 should be construed as allowing any 10-year period of reasonable belief within the overall period of adverse possession. This is a more lenient interpretation as it does not impose a longstop on when an application can be made.

If you would like some assistance with your adverse possession application, for registered or unregistered land, Wilson Browne Solicitors’ Commercial Litigation team can assist. Contact us on 0800 088 6004 to arrange your free initial call.