can I claim an abandoned property in my neigbourhood?
There has been an abandoned house on my street for over 5 years. No one is maintaining it, as the grass/foliage is nearly as high as the house. There are no boards over the windows.
Could I claim any rights to the house?
What measures could I take to claim it, if any?
Thanks,
What if I broke in, then repaired any damage, or even replaced the locks, thus giving me free passage? Assuming no-one comes forward to contest it, then I should be ok?
Before continuing with my answer I have to stress that I am talking only about property in the UK. If you are outside the UK the law may be different.
In the UK, there is such a thing as ‘informal acquisition’ more commonly known as squatters rights. Basically, if you occupy the land for eight years, you may then be able to apply to the Land Registry to have the land transferred into your name legally. If you make such an application, the owner of the land would be informed and they would then have the opportunity to exercise their right to kick you out.
However, if they did not successfully kick remove you from the land, and you remained there for a further four years, you would then be able to make another application to the Land Registry to have the land transferred to you, and this would be done automatically, whether the current landowner agreed or not.
The reasoning behind these laws is that land itself is finite – this law therefore imposes a duty on landowners to use and maintain their land resourcefully. Basically, if they don’t care enough to keep people from using it, they don’t deserve to have it themselves, and the land is instead given to those who are making use of it.
Hope this helps.
Filed under: Abandoned Property
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You cannot force an entry – it would have to be unlocked.
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What you’re talking about is called "adverse possession." It’s not nearly as simply as laying claim to it, so here is a link that will get you started.
http://www.expertlaw.com/library/real_estate/adverse_possession.html
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In your additional details, you are describing "squatting." To achieve adverse possession, you would have to start paying property taxes, among other things.
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No you can’t. All property belong to someone or some corporation or authority. It’s an urban myth I’m afraid that you can just claim abandoned property. There are some rights for squatters to claim property if they have been living there for a considerable length of time un-opposed, but none that you describe. Sorry!
References :
Before continuing with my answer I have to stress that I am talking only about property in the UK. If you are outside the UK the law may be different.
In the UK, there is such a thing as ‘informal acquisition’ more commonly known as squatters rights. Basically, if you occupy the land for eight years, you may then be able to apply to the Land Registry to have the land transferred into your name legally. If you make such an application, the owner of the land would be informed and they would then have the opportunity to exercise their right to kick you out.
However, if they did not successfully kick remove you from the land, and you remained there for a further four years, you would then be able to make another application to the Land Registry to have the land transferred to you, and this would be done automatically, whether the current landowner agreed or not.
The reasoning behind these laws is that land itself is finite – this law therefore imposes a duty on landowners to use and maintain their land resourcefully. Basically, if they don’t care enough to keep people from using it, they don’t deserve to have it themselves, and the land is instead given to those who are making use of it.
Hope this helps.
References :
Law graduate who has studied property and land law
You break in it’s unlawful entry,a felon i think. No you can’t have it. The county it’s in owns it, if the taxes haven’t been paid. The original owner has a certain amount of years to buy it back off the state, if n0 taxes were paid 0n it. You may buy it for the amount of taxes,but 1st y0u need t0 get a hold 0f the owners.
They may agree & the taxes may only be a l0w amount of $$s.it’s worth checking in t0. H0wever if y0u know nothing about that part of reality it’s a huge headache. I would try t0 buy it,fix up & sell f0r profit. How’s your hood?Check out the statue of limitations in ur state. I have a b00k here if y0u want t0 know…Best t0 y0u~;~")
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Screw you wh0ever thd me down. I can answer too! You need to g0 t0 y0ur county court house where they h0ld records. If the state t00k it over f0r taxes n0t being paid,then go t0 the tax ppl & ask t0 buy<>
N0w pick me f0r best t0 show wh0ever lowered my name,I too can answer & I kn0w what im saying! Thanks~
I pay my monthly bill f0r this.n0t you ppl!
This is in the USA~I didn’t realize I was in the UK site sry~
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Take out a planning application through your local authority if it is proved their is no one alive that has rightful claim to it.
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first of all you maust make all possible enquiries as to who the owner may be, then you need to do a search on land registry to try and find the owner. try also finding out from local people what the situation is with the people that lived there before. did they have any living relatives, are they alive still, is there anyone else likely to make a claim.
if all these things satisfy you that the house is abandoned, then by all means take possession.
being in adverse possession is not an easy thing to do to achieve full possession and you will need to read up on your rights etcetera.
also be aware, that when you take adverse possession of a property, you will immediately become responsible for all rates etcetera and there are people that need to be notified.
if you do take possession, you have to ensure that you put up visible no trespassing signs and you also have to deny entry to anyone, which includes those that have a claim against the house.
however, should someone that has any claim on the house crawl out of the woodwork, you would be best advised to simply walk away as you will not win.
there is so much involved and so many legalities that they could not be explained here in a simple way. you need to research and when you are fed up with research, start all over again in case you missed something.
adverse possession isn’t easy but it is possible.
good luck
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