BP Properties Ltd v Buckler

Court of Appeal

Citations: [1987] 2 EGLR 168.

Facts

The appellant’s parents were in adverse possession of a farmhouse and its garden from February 1955. Possession proceedings were brought against them in December 1962, but no steps were taken to enforce the subsequent possession order until September 1974 (the order remained valid and prevented extinction of title in the meantime).

In October 1974, the property’s landlords wrote to the appellant’s mother offering to let her remain on the property for the remainder of her life. Though the mother never responded, the landlords withdrew the warrant for possession. The mother remained in occupation until she died in 1983. Later, the owners sought possession of the land, which the appellant resisted, claiming that his parents extinguished the owner’s title via adverse possession.

Issue(s)

1. Was the parents’ possession adverse for the entirety of the relevant period?

Decision

The  Court of Appeal held against the appellant. From the moment the mother received the offer to remain on the land, she occupied it under a licence and her possession was no longer adverse. It did not matter that she never accepted the offer.

This Case is Authority For…

• Adverse possession must be exclusive, hostile, open and without consent.
• An adverse possessor’s possession can be rendered non-adverse if they receive the owner’s permission at any point.