Squatter who claimed ownership of pensioner’s home for free sells up for £540k

by the_real_deal_feel

7 comments
  1. This is a broken system.

    Yes adverse possession & squatting can be useful in some circumstances. But this is straight up theft

  2. It wasn’t the pensioner’s home. He lived somewhere else. Inheritied this house when when his mother died and did absolutely nothing with it.

    I think squatters rights are a great alternative to houses sitting empty for decades.

  3. It’s happened before. What’s odd is that the rights of squatters have been weakened and as in the article criminal trespass was created I think.
    There used to be abandoned mansions on Bishops Avenue London, so he should thought big

  4. Wonder how many will read this and think they can do the same?
    It seems a very unlikely set of circumstances and legal loopholes though.

  5. Barely related question: presumably he pays capital gains on the entire £540k, right?

  6. Wonder how they will deal with the backdated council tax bill

  7. I know they did it up, and apparently the original owner had died and her son “hasn’t been seen since” so he must’ve not minded or even known, but couldn’t abandoned houses like this instead be claimed by the local council as social housing, or a local housing association?

    Let the people become social tenants as part of their “squatters rights” instead of ownership and profiting off something not yours. Then maybe this country can start getting back the social housing that it lost and never rebuilt.

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