A family has been left in limbo for two years due to a land dispute that has prevented them from selling their home. Linda Hoffman, 73, of Woodthorpe, discovered around 400 square metres of land at her property doesn't belong to her, which includes the corner of her living room and garden space.
Linda and her husband bought a section of land from their neighbours in 2000 with plans to build their own property, which they did in 2003 and have lived in ever since. The family knew that the footpath did not belong to them, and have let workers go through the garden to access the railway bridge and conduct checks over the years, but the rest of the land not belonging to them came as "a shock" in March 2021.
Despite extensive efforts, the family are still struggling for answers over who actually owns the land. They believe it could be Nottinghamshire County Council due to the proximity to the road and the old railway line but this has not been confirmed and they are still waiting for answers over the ownership.
Linda's son, Bryn Hoffman, explained his dad sadly passed away in April 2020 after Covid first struck, and that later that year he and his mum started looking for a bungalow for her closer to his home in Gedling. He 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.
Read Next: Police ban 14 people from town centre after spate of crime
"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."
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 explained it has been a "difficult" experience as they got planning permission to build on the land and had no idea two areas of land, rounded up to a combined 400 square metres, wasn't theirs. Due to this Linda can't buy the bungalow she had hoped to move to yet, but the people hoping to buy her house decided they would want until she could resolve the issue, as it was such a lovely house.
The family have estimated that market value for the piece of land disputed is £1,000. Due to the land's position, the family are uncertain over who the land does belong to and believe it may be a mix of parties due to it being a footpath and land next to a road.
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."
Linda described the process as "slow" and that she was originally warned by her solicitors it could take up to a year to sort, but now it is coming up to two years . Bryn added: "We found out very recently that the application for adverse possession, as we have been looking after that land for 20 years, and there's nothing you can do with it, it's a footpath and a bank, you couldn't build anything, has been rejected.
"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.
"Last week the buyers understandably said they can't wait any longer and have pulled out, so that's where we are." Bryn explained that the whole situation is "frustrating" and that his mum has lived in that house for two decades, and his dad was very well known and would open the house and garden up each year for the National Garden Scheme and raise money for charity.
Bryn added: "It's just been shocking, and an abysmal experience. There's no reason that this couldn't have been resolved before this." 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.
"HM Land Registry received around 1.8 million more service requests in 2021 than in 2019. 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. Mrs Hoffman’s applications involve adverse possession, which is a highly technical area of law. 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 Live has attempted to contact Nottinghamshire County Council for a response.
Read More:
