Querying common land

tk123

(Not sure if this is the right place for this)

I live on a cul de sac with 2 rows of terraced houses..there's an area of common land behind behind our row. Approx 50 years ago the owner at one end put gates on each end of the land, built some out buildings/sheds and ran a business from it. According to elderly neighbours nobody argued as the guy had a young family etc The buildings were rented over the years but have been idle for approx 10 years. When the businesses were open it caused us major headaches as most of the work went on behind our house, strangers hanging over the walls, robbers breaking into the buildings and trying to break into our house a few times etc etc. Same family tried to divide the land up a number of years ago and sell it to the neighbours (for tens of thousands) but pulled out saying they were keeping it. They're now asking again as they've been approached by somebody who wants to rent the land - a builder this time so trucks etc passing the back of the houses all day.

My questions are does common land ever become common again/does he even have more claim to the land than us? Any maps we were given last time they tried to sell showed the area as either common land or right of way. Where would I begin in trying to find out about this so we know where we stand?

nuac

The man who took it over 50 years ago seems to have established title by long possession.

Keep an eye on the planning position

Ken.

Check with local planning office if the land is designated residential or commercial. You can't just convert your front room to a shop and work away. Same for any land.