Helpless family unable to sell home after being told 'corner of living room' is not their land

17.12.2022 - 15:45 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A family say they have been left in turmoil for two years after a 'shocking' land dispute they were unaware of has stopped them from selling their home. When Linda Hoffman, 73, moved to put her house on the market in 2019 she was informed that roughly 400 square metres of land at her property doesn't actually belong to her, including a corner of her living room and some of her garden.

Linda and her husband, from Woodthorpe, had purchased a part of land from their neighbours in 2000 to build their own property, which was completed in 2003, Nottingham Post reports. The family were aware that the footpath in their garden did not legally belong to them and over the years had workers through their garden to access an old railway bridge nearby.

However, they were stunned to discover that more of their home was not theirs in March 2021. Despite a lengthy battle to find out who actually owns the land, the family are still struggling in their bid to find answers.

They believe it may be the property of Nottinghamshire County Council due to the proximity to the road and the old railway line but this has not been confirmed. Linda's son, Bryn Hoffman, told how his father had passed away in April 2020 when Covid-19 first hit and that his mother had been looking for a bungalow to move closer to her family.

Bryn, from Gedling, said: "A bungalow came up and it was stunning, perfect location and round the corner from me. We put the house on the market and got a buyer, and it was all going through.

"Then it popped up through their solicitors that there's a section of the land that doesn't belong to my parents which is the bank next to the road, the footpath down the side of the house to the bridge and the very edge of the house, the corner