Elizabeth Roseanne Dobson & Anor v Alison Unsted & Anor
Decision date: 2 March 2026
Neutral citation: [2026] UKUT 93 (LC)
Overall AI summary confidence: medium
Short overview
This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.
AI confidence in this short overview: medium
This Upper Tribunal appeal concerns a tiny triangular strip of land between 27 and 29 Pointers Hill and whether the appellants (or their predecessors) had the factual possession and intention to possess it for the ten‑year common‑law period prior to 2018. The First‑tier Tribunal found adverse possession only from 2018 when the area became a planted flower bed, rejecting earlier claims based on intermittent mowing and maintenance. Permission to appeal was granted on the narrow ground that the FTT may have erred about possession before 2018; the dispute over Schedule 6 was not decisive because paragraph 5(c) was accepted.
Ratio decidendi
This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.
AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: medium
Factual possession must be assessed by reference to the nature and sensible use of the particular land: acts sufficient to constitute possession on one type of land may be insufficient on another. Possession requires exclusive, obvious and unequivocal control such that a reasonably informed owner would understand an occupier was asserting possession; routine maintenance of an open lawn can amount to possession but whether specific acts suffice depends on their character and context.
Obiter dicta
This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.
AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium
The Tribunal did not need to resolve Schedule 6 in full because paragraph 5(c) (reasonable belief) was accepted. Historical evidence from multiple occupiers and features such as prior drive layout, setts, mowing and planting are relevant to the factual assessment of possession, but no broader principle on Schedule 6 was established.