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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

157 replies

CheekyBeggar · 12/08/2018 18:20

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.

OP posts:
Havabiscuit · 13/08/2018 18:30

It’s also possible that if you start the process and owners come forward the council might be able to force them to clean it up

Housequeen101 · 13/08/2018 19:33

I haven’t read the whole thread so sorry if this has been suggested, can’t you go into the property and see if there’s any letters or documentation’s in someone’s name? Surely some post has been going there. Maybe try the loft?

ivykaty44 · 13/08/2018 19:35

House queen, as the house has been repossessed and the folded company own it - why would letters be sent to the property. Op explained this in the first post

Housequeen101 · 13/08/2018 19:38

There might be letters inside?

Housequeen101 · 13/08/2018 19:40

I’ve also viewed a house to buy, it was a repo and there was junk main on the floor from specsavers ect

leighb23 · 13/08/2018 19:44

@Housequeen101 if I remember right OP said there'd been a fire, so any letters likely to be destroyed.

Housequeen101 · 13/08/2018 19:47

Oh no that’s really sad. The one I viewed was horrible, it had kids height markings draw on the walls

Original poster
CheekyBeggar · 13/08/2018 19:57

Hello, the fire I mentioned was only a little one, it was contained in a bin in the bedroom.

I didn't rifle through anything when I went in but I didn't see any letters by the front door as I went past to the stairs.

I did actually pay the £3 fee to download the land registry files on the house, that was how I found the original owners name and that the house had been repossessed four years after he bought it.

OP posts:
Jayfee · 13/08/2018 20:38

You have to prove you have lived in the property for 10 or 15 years. Far too much hassle if you are not actually living in it.I would just contact my local MP and newspaper if you have a local paper and tell them with the shortage of affordable housing it is a disgrace for this house to stay empty.

ToeToToe · 13/08/2018 20:53

My mother claimed adverse possession on a piece of land in front of her house, so it can be done. They found out nobody owned it (she has assumed the council owned it - they didn't) and built a fence around it, including it in her front garden. Pavement was unaffected - she wasn't allowed a fence over 6ft tall there, that's all. She got a lawyer to do the paperwork for her.

It's funny to thing of land/houses that nobody owns in this day and age isn't it?

If the back door was already broken, you wouldn't be breaking in. Can you prove you boarded it up - is there a record somewhere of the break in?

If you wanted it, register for council tax, water etc, pay the bills, and it sounds like it could be yours in 12 years.

ferrier · 14/08/2018 00:47

A private owner should not have to pay £10,000 to be able to get a squatter out who isn’t paying anything towards the house.

I think you misread or misunderstood that post. The original owner paid £10K in part at least to thank the residents/squatters for looking after/maintaining the property.

Fabulousdahlink · 14/08/2018 10:18

I'd book an appt with a local solicitors specialising in abandoned homes/adverse possession and pay for an hours time. Better to spend a few pounds getting current legal advice from a specialist then proceeding rather than muddling through and then not being successful at the end. At least you'll have a full accurate picture !
Good Luck !

DagenhamRoundhouse · 14/08/2018 12:01

You need to talk to a solicitor who specialises in property law. Don't assume anything. This sounds like a complicated situation!

DagenhamRoundhouse · 14/08/2018 12:03

Or as Jayfee suggests, go public and shame the council/whoever into doing something about it!

leighb23 · 14/08/2018 12:36

@DagenhamRoundhouse in my experience of trying to get LBB&D to do anything, they don't give a damn, no amount of shaming would make them jump into action!

WiddlinDiddlin · 14/08/2018 13:05

A private owner should not have to pay £10,000 to be able to get a squatter out who isn’t paying anything towards the house.

I think you have misunderstood that quite a bit Witch - they didn't HAVE to pay, they chose to do so - the 'squatters' had kept the house from rotting and falling down (empty houses do that, they need to be kept warm and maintained, by being lived in), and done presumably a fair amount of renovation work.

So the actual owner was in a FAR better position than had the property actually stood empty for 20 years.

DagenhamRoundhouse · 14/08/2018 13:23

Leigh
Would that be London Borough of Barking & Dagenham?!

manicmij · 14/08/2018 15:21

As tempting as it may seem the property will be registered to someone. If the mortgage company has gone bust it should have been accounted for in their assets. Ex Directors may well have an interest and could still be traced through bankruptcy/ administration records for company. Bit of a risk if you do move in. Your angry neighbour may well have started looking at ownership too.

gallicgirl · 14/08/2018 15:36

So the company that repossessed it subsequently went into liquidation before it could be sold?

Technically it is an asset of that company and the liquidator should be doing something about it. I assume you have the name of the company from the land registry title? You can look the company up on Companies House and see who the liquidator is. If you contact the liquidator they should be able to do something about it. I suppose it could be they don't know anything about it.
In order to claim Bona Vacantia, I think you have to have a legal interest, for example, be owed a debt by the title holder so I'm not sure you could go down that route.

Councils do have an obligation to deal with properties that have been empty for more than 2 years. Any costs associated with this can be claimed back from the proceeds of the sale. They have to make efforts to contact the legal owner first and help them to get it back into use. Depending on the housing market in your area, it may be difficult to sell. The other scenario is the outstanding mortgage may be more than the property is worth so the liquidator is reluctant to sell. In reality though, they have a duty to realise whatever assets they can for the creditors.

In short, I would contact the liquidator and your local councillor in order to put pressure on the council to do something.

banivani · 14/08/2018 16:07

In the vein Quite Interesting Information Related to Topic - I have a friend whose family owned property somewhere in India. The property had belonged to their grandparents and included coconut palms. The grandparents were dead, and all the children had emigrated. But once a year someone in the family had to go there and pick the coconuts, because this showed that the property was being taken care of. If you didn't pick the coconuts it would be classed as abandoned and - now I'm unsure, either claimed by anyone or pass to the town, one of the two. Since they wanted to keep it (nostalgia + holiday home) they had to get this done every year. Interesting, isn't it?

EmmaC78 · 14/08/2018 16:19

Gallic - Bona Vacantia is the right the Crown have. They can't take title to any abandoned property whether there is a debt or not. The OP would then have to agree a purchase from the Crown's representative. She can do this even if she does not have any debt owed.

leighb23 · 14/08/2018 16:48

@DagenhamRoundhouse yes it would be them, cynical bastard that I am (though not without good reason!)

DagenhamRoundhouse · 14/08/2018 16:53

Leigh
Despite my ID, I don't live anywhere near LBBD. I just use the name as I have happy memories of seeing bands there way back when!

peridito · 14/08/2018 20:53

@EmmaC78 could you say a bit more ,I'm trying to understand .

The Gov site says

‘Bona Vacantia’ means vacant goods and is the name given to ownerless property, which by law passes to the Crown.

The Treasury Solicitor acts for the Crown to administer the estates of people who die intestate (without a Will) and without known kin (entitled blood relatives) and collect the assets of dissolved companies and other various ownerless goods in England and Wales.

And I've read that as meaning that the state can take ownerless goods .

EmmaC78 · 14/08/2018 21:21

Peridito - sorry it is a typo. My can't should be a can in the second sentence. I was correcting a previous poster who said there had to be a legal interest for bona vacantia to work. In fact the opposite is true. The Crown step in where there is no legal interest.

Sorry for the confusing typo 😀