Date: 02-06-2007 - Source: www.bbc.co.uk

FREE Land

BBC Inside Out has unearthed a scheme designed to appeal to anyone who has ever dreamed of being a landowner.

With free land supposedly up for grabs and claims that 15,000 people successfully secure plots each year, we find out if this get rich quick scheme is just too good to be true.

The scheme, advertised in the press, has already come to attention of many of those keen to be landowners, but the promise of free land has also raised suspicions.

"We've had telephone calls and letters from members of the public asking 'are the claims true?'" explains Mike Westcott Rudd, a lawyer with the Land Registry.

"They just seem too good to believe."

To get to the bottom of the scheme, Inside Out presenter Nick Lawrence, answers the advert, digs out his wellies and his wax jacket and prepares to become a member of the landed gentry.

Stake your claim

The key to securing this supposedly free land lies in a book titled 'A Layman's Guide to an Immense Free Fortune', published by a company calling itself 'Lord and Thomas'.

For the princely sum of £69.95, the book gives step by step instructions to staking a claim.

According to the book Nick must first find a piece of land that has no traceable owner.

Then to make his mark, he could, for instance, erect a fence, tend to the grass and wait.

Twelve years later - the land will be his.

But according to the guide, this doesn't stop Nick putting the land to good use in the meantime.

The book is full of top tips as to how Nick can make money while he waits; from growing fruit and vegetables to grazing animals and even breeding earthworms!

Possession is 9/10ths of the law?

According to the Layman's Guide, all this is possible due to the law of adverse possession.

But according to Mike Westcott Rudd, the law of adverse possession is not there to help speculative squatters become landowners, but to settle disagreements, such as garden borders.

"It is used generally to sort out minor discrepancies of title," explains Mike.

"It's absolutely true that there has been some major new property legislation, but one of the purposes of that legislation was to make it more difficult, not more simple, to acquire a title by squatting."

The Land Registry is the official government agency in charge of land ownership.

According to them, the claims in the guide and advertisement are seriously misleading.

Been affected?

If you have bought into a scheme which you were unhappy with and would like to make a complaint, please contact Trading Standards.

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