A paper title is not invulnerable: a squatter who possesses land long enough, in the right way, can defeat it altogether. This chapter starts with the core elements — factual possession and the intention to possess — and who must prove them, before explaining how permission, written acknowledgments and possession proceedings stop or restart the limitation clock. It then contrasts the two regimes, where twelve years extinguishes an unregistered owner's title automatically but ten years of possessing registered land merely opens the door to an application, and works through tacking by successive squatters, the counter-notice procedure and its three exceptions at the Land Registry. It closes with the position where the land is leasehold or burdened by mortgages, covenants and easements, and the criminal offence of squatting in a residential building.
