The Moved Fence, the Unilateral Notice and the Bank's Charge

First, obtain an official copy of the register and title plan for both 14 and 16 Elm Row, and the unilateral notice itself. A unilateral notice is a protective entry under s.73 LRA 2002; it does not establish the claim, but it gives the claimed right priority and will bind Priya if she takes subject to it. It also triggers the Land Registry's notice procedure. Write to the neighbour's solicitor for particulars and evidence: when the right of way was first used, by whom, whether permission was sought, and whether any deed or statutory declaration exists. Search the index map and any pre-registration deeds; ask Gerald for his pre-contract enquiries and for any boundary correspondence. The title plan is likely a general boundary plan under s.60 LRA 2002, so the plan line is not conclusive of the legal boundary; the physical fence may not determine it either. Instruct a surveyor to measure and photograph the strip; consider a boundary agreement or a determined boundary application if the line matters to the lender. Check whether Northbank will accept an indemnity policy, a retention, or a solicitor's undertaking. Do not exchange until the notice is withdrawn, the neighbour's claim is documented as unfounded, or the lender approves a solution.

Adverse possession and prescriptive easement are separate. For the strip, because 14 Elm Row is registered, the old 12-year limitation period does not extinguish Gerald's title. Under LRA 2002 ss.15 and 97, the neighbour may apply after 10 years' adverse possession. The neighbour's use since 2003 is long enough in duration, but the application would be met by a counter-notice from Gerald; the neighbour would then succeed only if one of the conditions in s.98 or Schedule 6 applies, including the boundary exception. The moved fence may support a boundary exception, but that is fact-sensitive: the neighbour must show the exact line was not determined and the land was treated as belonging to him for at least 10 years. For the right of way, the claim is prescriptive. At common law or under the Prescription Act 1832, 20 years' user as of right is needed. Bin access since 2003 gives 20-plus years, but user must be nec vi, nec clam, nec precario, and by or on behalf of a freehold owner. If the neighbour used the gate openly and without permission, a legal easement may have arisen. On registered land, a legal easement may be overriding under Schedule 3 para 3, but the unilateral notice means Priya has actual knowledge, so it is not automatically overriding. The easement claim is therefore arguable and must be resolved before exchange.

Advise Priya in writing of the risk and obtain her instructions; do not simply rely on an indemnity policy. Practical structure: first, require Gerald to procure withdrawal of the unilateral notice before completion, with a special condition that if it is not withdrawn by a stated date, Priya may rescind and recover the deposit. Second, require a statutory declaration from Gerald and, if possible, the neighbour, plus a boundary agreement or a determined boundary application. Third, if the lender will accept it, obtain a title indemnity policy covering the boundary and the easement claim, and a retention from the seller for the lender's benefit. Fourth, draft the transfer with a fixed boundary if the lender insists, and include an express grant or reservation of any agreed right of way. The contract should make completion conditional on Northbank's written confirmation that the title is acceptable. Check that the Mercantile Bank charge is redeemed and a DS1 is lodged. Include full title guarantee, vacant possession, and a provision that the seller assigns any cause of action against the neighbour. Register Priya's transfer and the charge promptly at HM Land Registry.