A couple from Surrey have won a legal battle over a tiny strip of lawn outside their home after neighbours attempted to claim the land by placing a garden gnome on it. Elizabeth Dobson and Andrew Pleming had spent years tending the eight-by-three foot patch on Pointers Hill in Westcott, near Dorking, maintaining it as part of their garden.
The dispute began when Alison Unsted and Darren Unsted moved into the neighbouring property in 2022 and decided the land was theirs. Nine months later, they removed plants the couple had grown and installed a garden gnome, sparking a legal fight over the small triangle of grass. The case centred on the principle of adverse possession, or 'squatters' rights', which allows someone to claim land if they have used it as their own for a sufficient period.
Ms Dobson and Mr Pleming argued they, along with previous owners, had treated the patch as part of their garden for years, mowing, raking, and planting herbs and wildflowers. They also let their children play on it and used it to access other parts of their garden. Former tenants of the neighbouring property supported their claim, stating they had always assumed the land belonged to number 29.
The First-tier Tribunal initially ruled against the couple, finding they had only clearly possessed the land from around 2018, falling short of the ten-year requirement. However, they appealed, and this week Judge Elizabeth Cooke of the Upper Tribunal overturned that decision. She ruled that the couple had demonstrated years of clear possession, noting that people do not generally mow their neighbour's grass or let their children play on it without agreement.
The judge concluded that the couple and their predecessors had been in possession of the strip since at least 2002, long before the Unsteds attempted to claim it with the garden gnome. She ordered that the couple's application to register the land should proceed as if the neighbour's objection had never been made, bringing the dispute to an end.
