Ask the Legal Expert: I have purchased some land with the intention of developing it, but it is registered as common land. What can I do?

Common Land is the term used to refer to land on which there is a general right to roam by the general public. The restrictions on what you are and what you are not permitted to carry out on common land are onerous on owners of common land, with the most notable being a prohibition of development on the land without certain consents.

Succeeding in an application to deregister the area of common land is the ideal outcome in the above scenario as the land will now be free of all the restrictions associated with common land.

The Commons Act 2006 governs the rules around common land. The mechanism for deregistering common land is contained in this act and is something in which the Property Litigation Team here at JCP have broad experience.

Applications of this nature are decided by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State, with the outcome depending on certain factors such as the historical relevance of the site. Each application has a consultation period (within 28 days of the date of publication or advertisement) during which members of the public or interested bodies are able to make representations or object to the application.

The application is more likely to succeed if ‘replacement land’ is offered. This is where the applicant offers land to the Planning Inspectorate for registration as common land in exchange for the land referred to in the application being relieved of its common land status. The offering of ‘replacement land’ is essential in applications where the land exceeds 200 sqm.

The fee for making the application currently stands at £4,900 (correct at the time of writing), whether the application succeeds or not. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you take legal advice in relation to preparing the application form. There are also other technical obligations in making such an application beyond this form that must be followed in order for the application to have a chance of succeeding.

JCP are experienced in dealing with issues surrounding common land, and deregistration of common land is no exception. Please get in touch with our  Property Litigation team who will be happy to help on 03333 208644 or email hello@jcpsolicitors.co.uk