They want to sell my garden - I'll fight them all the way

Peter Chapman was at work when he received an unexpected call from his wife.

She had just been told by a neighbour that there was a for sale sign at the end of the garden.

"I rushed home from work," he told the BBC. "We had a look at the sign out the back, went to the website and discovered that they were auctioning off half of our garden."

The seller Ladbroke Projects is owned by a parent company called Asset Invest, which later told Chapman it held an "unencumbered legal title" for the plot. The BBC contacted both firms for comment.

Chapman lives with his wife and children in a semi-detached home in Staplehurst, Kent, which he has owned for eight years.

The family has built an outbuilding at the bottom of the garden, where Chapman's wife works from home.

After the sign went up, Chapman said he found the end of his garden up for sale on property auction website Auction House with a £14,000 guide price.

He said: "They dropped the price down to around £10,000 towards the end of the auction, got a few bids, but didn't reach its reserves.

"It went straight back up for auction again in three weeks from when it closed."

This time, the price was lowered to £4,000, he said.

After Auction House was contacted by the BBC, the sale was withdrawn.

A spokesperson said the sale was "suspended and removed while Chapman and Asset Invest negotiate on the plot" and its involvement had "ceased currently".

There is no suggestion either company has broken the law.

Based on their title deed, which does not contain measurements, the Chapman family had believed their plot went all the way to the fence at the end of the garden.

It now appears that when the house was built in the 1960s, the plot actually ended prior to the fence and tree line.

Chapman told the BBC he has filed a claim of adverse possession - a legal process where a person can claim ownership of land they have used uncontested for a long time.

His evidence includes an "estate agent's advert in 2010 where it advertises that the garden goes all the way to the rear tree line" and evidence from the home's previous owner.

Chapman said: "Never once through all of the sales and purchases of these houses has it ever been brought to anyone's attention, solicitors or anyone, that not all of this land is technically owned by the title deed of the building."

Asset Invest claimed to Chapman they hold "an unencumbered legal title" on the land they are attempting to sell.

The company wrote to him via Auction House, and said it was "well-versed in defending" adverse possession claims and was "confident that any such application will not succeed".

"We strongly encourage you to register as a bidder for the auction," Asset Invest said to Chapman.

They offered to settle this dispute with a direct sale of their deed for £2,500.

Chapman said: "They know that the only people this land is actually of any value to is the people that currently occupy it."

The children "love the garden", his wife's work room could be at risk and he has considered settling "for the peace of mind", but he ultimately decided to keep contesting the issue.

He said the family "keep getting advised by multiple people to just settle" but he was "stubborn" and would keep going on principle.

"I get it, I understand settling would take this all away, but it's also putting money in the pockets of people that I don't believe should really get that money," he said.

"If this highlights what's going on and saves other people then it's worth fighting for. "

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