Who owns the property next door to me?

[VWdieselnightmare]

For some context, my house and the house next door each occupy plots of around half an acre in a semi-rural setting.

For the 24 years I've lived here the house next door has been owned by Mr Jones. About 10 years ago Mr Jones went travelling and hasn't been seen in the UK since. I'm told he's now living in Kenya. While he was away his young adult son, Jones Jnr, moved into his dad's house. He also built a second, well-camouflaged property (a two-bedroom self-contained cabin) in the large garden. Jones Jnr lives in the house over the winter and lets the cabin out to long-stay tenants, then moves into the cabin after Easter and lets the house out on Air BnB.

I contacted Planning when this first happened. Jones Snr responded from abroad that he was a permanent resident in the house and that his dependent son, Jones Jnr, was a permanent resident in the cabin, and Planning told me that dependent children could be housed in the grounds.

Recently I noticed more construction activity next door and Jones Jnr has started building another cabin and seems to also have done the groundwork for a third. I phoned Planning who said they were having difficulty in discovering who owned the property. Apparently Jones Snr (still living abroad) was bankrupted in 2018 and has denied ownership. He says he transferred ownership via a bank to a third party whose name and details he's forgotten. The council haven't managed to get a response from Jones Jnr, who doesn't respond to letters. I've asked Jones Jnr who owns the property and been told to fuck off. The Land Registry has Jones Snr still listed as owner. I've been back to the Planning department with all this but they still say that Jones Snr is denying ownership and that there's nothing they can do if they don't who the owner is. Does the Land Registry have the final word on this?

The water board here certainly would be, he's contaminating ground water. Not paying water rates. Keep digging @VWdieselnightmare

Yes, EH would be interested in the drainage issues. Also having the property on for sale in an obscure place. Sounds very much like a planning ruse. You say that it has been in for sale for X many months or years with no interest, and therefore this supports the fact that you should be able to change the planning used to something else. Usually done for commercial properties where you say that you have had it on for six months and haven’t been able to rent it and therefore this supports the fact that the commercial use is no longer viable and please can you change it to domestic.

It is the Environment agency who regulates septic tanks not environmental health so that would be where you start.
Are you in an AONB or SSI as that maybe another route to go for the cabins.
If the parties are noisy you could go for noise nuisance.
Your local councillor would also be a route to highlight that planning are not looking into the structures, though if they are wooden buildings they maybe outside of planning depending on their size.

Can you send Planning copies of the AirBNB adverts to prove the property is rented out

Thanks for updating me on this. I spoke to someone at the natural environment service this morning and apparently Jones Jnr has failed to respond to letters that went out over the last few years to everyone with septic tanks, so he's on their radar. I sent them the link to the Air BnB site and they've made it a priority for inspection. I've told them that if they turn up to the property Jones Jnr will probably tell them that it doesn't belong to him and they need to take it up with his dad in Kenya.

Are you sure Mr Jones Snr is in fact residing in Kenya or is that just a big fat scam .

Glad you are getting somewhere on the septic tank side of things, OP. It sounds awful.

Does a search on the name of the 'new' owner of the original house when the property was split in two throw up anything? Is it an individual or a company? Companies House records carry a lot of information on companies and their directors, former directors, accountants etc going back decades. If you search Mr Jones and his son in CH you might come up with a link to the 'new' owner.

abigailsnan, yes, it's beginning to dawn on me that one can't take anything the Jones's say as the truth without evidence.

I tried searching the new owner but it's a generic sort of name and there doesn't appear to be a company attached. I did wonder if it's the name of the Official Receiver person allocated the case, but why would they be advertising the house for sale on a site, and at a price, that no one is likely to see?

I realise I've gone well beyond legal issues and down a wormhole. Perhaps I need to move elsewhere to follow this up.

Yes, it seems unlikely that anyone connected with the OR would be advertising/not advertising the house in this way.
A search on Jones Snr and Jnr in Companies House might still throw up some useful leads.

It might be worth getting a simple alert put on the property/properties at the LR.
The owner is not told someone has asked for an alert and it doesn't confer any rights on the person requesting it to have notice of dealings or to prevent any transfer, mortgage etc from happening. But it might be useful to be alerted if the LR is contacted to register a change in the property details.

Have you tried looking up the directors of the company that own the house at Companies House?

Have you tried searching Companies House by Postcode rather than name?

They sound awful @VWdieselnightmare Some people think rules don’t apply to them and just make life difficult for everyone else. BUT I’ve never paid cash for an Airbnb! How’s Jones Jnr managing that?

Not cash for the Air BnB, but for the winter lets — he lets the cabin on a winter let basis and moves into the house. Rent in cash each month.

How does he get tenants for the winter lets? Any advertising or agency involved you could mine for information or use as evidence of unlawful/business use?

Could it be that Jones Snr went abroad for some cosmetic surgery and returned as “Jones Jnr”?

Joking aside - this whole setup is highly suspect. Keep screenshots of everything OP - I agree with PPs that HMRC would take a keen interest as well as Council Tax!

You could contact You and Yours on Radio 4. They love anything like this.

I was thinking you could make dummy bookings for his Airbnbs and cancel last minute but you need to give your address.

Word of mouth. We live in a lovely area that many people would like to live in. They're usually young people or young families, often desperate for any accommodation. Seasonal workers (hotels etc) who get accommodation and work in the summer but are laid off in the winter.

As far as I am aware you don't give the host your address. Airbnb may keep it when you register but as someone who works in holiday lettings and regularly take bookings via Airbnb, I've never seen a postal address. Even your email is anonymised.

Sounds very dodgy!

I’m so invested

Environmental Health would be VERY interested in illegal disposal of sewage

If the Land Registry still shows Jones Snr as the owner of the legal title, then he is. Even if he transferred the ownership when he went bankrupt in 2018, if this is not reflected at the Land Registry then they forgot to register the transfer and legal title reverts to the seller. Beneficial interest would still be with the person to whom it was transferred but Jones Snr has the legal title.

But odd though, that he could go bankrupt and avoid the house being sold. Any children living there?

I'm sure HMRC will be far more interested than planning. Write to them with address and postcode and any adverts you can find it's being let out as an Airbnb. Also screenshot information saying old guy owns it. Suggest you are concerned he is not paying tax on property income. They are like bloodhounds.

Sounds like the second name of the "property owner" is a fake name and no such person exists.