Christopher Michael Jenkins v Agustin Jausas Marti

Facts

The dispute concerned a strip of land at Goodworth Clatford ("the Disputed Land") lying between the gardens of a row of cottages to the west and a tributary of the River Anton, known as the carrier, which serves as a trout spawning ground. The land falls within Title No. HP485216, of which Mr Marti is the registered proprietor, having acquired it in June 1994 from Mr and Mrs Fiducia together with Mr Masters. Mr Jenkins, who bought neighbouring Jasmine Cottage in January 2023, applied to HM Land Registry to alter the title plan by removing the Disputed Land, contending that the Thompson brothers had deliberately retained it when selling to the Fiducias in March 1990 and had conveyed it to him in January 2024; his parallel application for first registration awaits the outcome of this reference. Mr Marti objected, maintaining an unbroken documentary chain from the British Railways Board through Hampshire County Council and the Thompsons to the Fiducias and then to himself, and relying in the alternative on more than twelve years' adverse possession as an exceptional circumstance. The Registry referred the dispute to the First-tier Tribunal under section 73(7) of the Land Registration Act 2002. It was heard over three days in August 2026, Mr Jenkins representing himself and Mr Marti represented by counsel, the judge having first conducted a site view.