To just use the decade long abandoned house on my street?

[CheekyBeggar]

I moved into my house ten years ago, and noticed an empty house with a badly grown garden opposite us.

The house has never had anyone come into or out if it. The garden was overgrown to the point that you couldn’t see the front door but apart from that the house appears sound. I was originally concerned that it was an elderly neighbour so went around to check.

I say the garden ‘was’ overgrown because about five years ago I’d had enough and I started clearing the front out. I’ve been doing it regularly to keep it ok ish looking.

I’ve reported it to the council three times, they say they haven’t got the ‘funds’ available to do anything about it.

I’ve contacted the land registry and tried to chase down the prior owner, but from what I can gather they had the house repossessed, by a mortgage/debt company that has since folded and that I can’t contact either.

My neighbour must have gotten confused and today when I was tidying up the fly tipping that happens regularly outside there, he demanded to know when I was going to do something with the place. He thought that I owned it.

When I told dh this he said he’d been looking it up and that we should just change the locks on the house (the back foot has been open for some time, some youths broke into it a few years ago. I boarded it up and left it.) and claim squatters rights in ten years.

I’ve googled it myself and it all looks very complicated and I don’t really understand how it can be legal? But it’s always been such an eyesore that I must admit the idea of going in and tidying it up does appeal to me.

Or are there other avenues I could go down instead? I’ve tried a few companies who say they will deal with abandoned hoses but they all seem to be based in London, we are much further north.

The sort of thing your describing used to be legal and might possibly have led to adverse possession over time. Sadly this is not the case anymore.
The Advisory Service for Squatters is pretty clear that squatting in residential property is illegal.
Given the circumstances, I can't imagine anyone calling the police on you but it definately won't ever lead to a situation where you gain legal title to the house!

OP I think you are to be applauded for at least trying to do something about this situation.

It's one thing tidying up a garden and another entering inside the house. I would imagine there are registered owners somewhere. You can't just enter the house and take possession of it these days. You would become liable for Council Tax even if you could.

The procedure was changed some time ago because of the number of people who were taking advantage of the law as it stood.

Whether it’s 10 years or 12 years, and whether it’s a simple or a complex process, depends on whether the land is registered and whether you can claim to have been in adverse possession for more than 10 years prior to 2003.

As you say it’s registered, and presumably you’d struggle to get evidence to show that you started occupying in 1993, you are looking at 12 years.

You would need to have decent supporting evidence to make an application to the Land Registry that you’d been in adverse possession for over 12 years. Here is their info on the process:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land#hm-land-registrys-response-and-registration

You’ll note that they give notice to everyone of your application. If there’s an objection, it can be very hard to proceed. It’s hard to prove that you had the necessary intention to exclude the owner, and your own efforts to track them down would probably shoot you in the foot there. You’d also need to be careful about what you said, because it’s now a criminal offence to squat in residential property.

It sounds here as if the land MIGHT have gone to the crown, if the house had been repossessed, then the mortgage lender went bust, and the mortgage wasn’t sold as part of the assets (google “bona vacantia”). If that’s the case, notice will be given to the treasury solicitor, and if the house is worth anything at all, you can expect an objection from them.

As for whether it’s morally right - well - that’s a question for you. It wouldn’t be for me, but i’m not you!

I notice weird abandoned houses and wonder why they’ve become like that. There’s one I pass, it’s a bungalow and the brambles and weeds are now higher than the house. It’s in prime development area and looks so out of place. I’d love to find out the history of it and how it came to look like it does. I’ve been watching it over the years disappear under the weds and brambles.

I'd do it. It happened with two houses in a village just away from our city about 15yrs ago. The guy got the house down the road from his. Worth 1.2mil now

It’ll cost you £3 to find out who owns the property via HM Land Registry:

www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Good luck 😊

It's not about the OP being special, it's about the OP being the only one who gives a shit!!

Oooh yes, because everyone wants a crowd of grubby squatters living next door! Lovely. hmm
At the moment she is living next to an abandoned boards up house with overgrown garden. Why wouldn't she prefer squatters to have a home and look after the property.

What's criminal is that property lies wasted while people struggle to find and afford decent housing.

Definitely do it. Do some proper research first. Be careful who you tell or they will claim it for themselves. Pay council tax. Set it up online.

If you want to do a good deed contact the previous owner and they can have it back.

Since the Land Registration Act 2002 in order to claim adverse possession, you make an application to the Land registry after being in possession of the land for more than ten years. They will notify the owner of the property and any other person holding an interest (if traceable). If the owner objects you can only take legal ownership if you hold the reasonable believe the property is yours and it is adjacent to your own. If there is an objection to your application for registration AND you remain living in the property for a further 2 years you can then apply again for registration AND this will normally be accepted even if there are objections from the owner. That's the quick guide!

People used to do that years ago, encouraged by SHELTER. There were plenty of big, old, abandoned houses around after the second world war and people moved in.

Go for it girl! I think it's a marvellous idea.

If you report the house that’s fine but if you’ve been tending the garden couldn’t you claim some of that? Just to add to yours? Make yours bigger? Adverse possession or something? I’m sure you can!

Joe66 has corrected me - it is indeed 10 years for the new regime; 12 years for the previous/interim/unregistered land regime! Sorry!!

It used to be that you could simply move into unsecured houses and change the locks and you were squatting it.

If you could prove you'd been there 12 years it became legally yours.

I know of a couple of houses that were given to people who'd squatted them like this.

If this were me, damn right I'd be putting locks on it. I would take it for myself though - I've already got a house as has the OP.

But I know plenty of people who are struggling and could do with a home. If the council can't be arsed to deal with it, at a time when we have a housing crisis, that's morally wrong IMO. Not morally wrong to put someone in it who'll look after it. Houses need maintenance, not to be left to the elements.

But - I don't know much about the squatting laws these days.

The local authority can use the empty dwelling management order legislation to bring the property back into use. The legislation is there for them to use, but most LA s seem reluctant to use it for some reason.

It happened with two houses in a village just away from our city about 15yrs ago. The guy got the house down the road from his. Worth 1.2mil now

How are people not ok with people inheriting property which has massively increased in value since it was purchased, but they are ok with this??

I would just use the garden as an allotment, and therefore not break any law but at least get some fruit and veg and make it look maintained.

Apart from your assumption that it is the same people doing both how about Because they are taking neglected properties and maintaining them, investing in them, turning them into homes over a decade or more rather than just inheriting them for zero effort?

I read recently that there are companies that are looking for derelict houses to do up and you may receive a finder's fee. I can't remember the name of the company, but you may find it online. If you legally own a house, even if it's empty, you are liable for council tax. So I would take this into account if you start trying to take over this property. Surely, it belongs to someone ?

No idea on the legals but if you go in be very careful in case of rotten floors, asbestos etc.

I would speak to a solicitor about it to find out what the law really is and get them to do a proper thorough search for the owner.

be very careful in case of rotten floors, asbestos etc yes, being on the look out in any older building is good advice,

Hmm,
Can the fact that the neighbours think you own the property act as some sort of reasoning that you have a claim to it? You have been taking care of it for the past 10 years.,

Can you not just have a couple of letters sent here? Just like loyalty cards or something?