UKForge: Man Leaves For Vacation, Returns To Find 15 Weird Flatmates

My in-laws' neighbor had a picket fence that ran just inside what should have been my in-laws property line. It was there when the in-laws bought the place. I don't know how many times I broke the fence or, one time broke my own side view mirror. The driveway was narrow to start with and right next to the house with the fireplace sticking out and the fence just made the whole damn thing an obstacle course.

And there wasn't a damn thing my in-laws could do about it.

They finally got some decent neighbors who took the fence down. But, physical force wouldn't have solved anything.

So the great Uncle Albert, defier of the law, can only show the snoking of doobies as evidence of his standing up against the tyrany of unjust laws.

Sounds like the physical act of removing a fence from your property would've solved the problem tidily. I would even be generous enough to offer the neighbors a chance to do it themselves first.

Ah the A-Team response, yeah I can get on board with the strategy. Maybe a makeshift cabbage cannon could be employed to rid the property of the slacker infestation. Plans would come together, cigars would be smoked and cars would do quarter-twist flips without a single occupant being injured.

Has the fact that these squatters are effectively keeping this man's property from him and are in fact using it for themselves escaped some peoples' notice? Over here we call that theft and it's a criminal offense, is it not in the UK? Can you just take someone's TV and use it and it's not considered theft?

I also noticed that it is still considered a criminal offense to damage the property in the act of squatting there. These people are keeping dogs and cats in the house. Cats especially can be very damaging to houses because of their waste products. Even if the courts finally get around to kicking these people out, this man will still have damage to his property from those animals being there. If it's a criminal offense to damage property, why have these people not been arrested?

I don't find myself in the position of removing squatters from my home. I am not confronted with anything comparable. I do know how I would be have in this person's position, and if you don't believe me...well, it is sort of cute to be called a liar by a weasely lawyer fuckstain.

Also from the opening post.....

So clearly there is two versions of events, and since none of us knows the actual truth beyond what we read in a tabloid I think debating whether or not it was a week or two years is pointless. The landlord could have just been using is for storage, as I have done in the past with my own property. Or the Squatters could just be entirely making it up.

There is argument in favour the landlord since his stuff was there. However there is argument in favour of the squatters as if you look at the pictures the living room doesn't even have a ceiling and makes the building look like it was undergoing long term rennovation, which would be consistent with their story.

So, bottom line it, us internet types don't know which is the truth.

Not legally. The fence had been there long enough that effectively, the property now belongs to the neighbor.

That's the law here in the US.

Then the people who owned the property while the fence was being built dropped the ball on that one.

Liar? Really?

Get a fucking life and get the fuck out of mine.

I'm not calling you a liar. I am saying you're full of macho bullshit, but in reality you aren't what you advocate.....and frankly that means you have been peddling far more bullshit than this weasly fuckstain lawyer has ever managed.


Bit of a twat really aren't you? Still, you'd have to be a twat to walk around with that homosexual beard of yours.

Yep. Doesn't change the fact that until the fence was removed by the neighbors, my in-laws had no recourse.

So he's stupid for believing something from the Daily Mail, but your fact ("two years"), also from the Daily Mail, is to be believed?

[Edit - To El Chup #97]

^Whether it's a week or a decade isn't the issue, the problem is that after x amount of time anybody can roll into your house when you're away and claim it as their own.

What am I supposed to do, seek out a similar situation and post video footage just to prove myself to some self-important asshat on the fucking internet?

Idiot.

Considering the story and the condition of the house, it's much more likely than a week.

But, yea, you got me.

That's it basically yes. Its quite a backward law since it is, in essense, an extension of centuries ago when you'd move into unoccupied land and claim in yours.

As the law stand today the squatters have to stay for, I think, 10 to 12 years or so, without requests to leave, before the court will consider the property lawfully possessed.

My personal view is that property abandoned in the long term should revert the state. The value of it should go back into the public purse as its entirely wrong that a squatter should be able obtain a valuable asset for free at any time in the modern age, especially when most mortgages that we pay are 25 years, compared to the 12 years wait without paying penny that this would enable.

Interesting, and thank you fro posting something sensible instead of the dross I've had to read in this thread so far.

Property and land are treated differently from personal possessions, both here and in your country.

But, as I have said many times, this is certainly a situation where squatting should be criminalised.

They might have been, the article doesn't make it clear. But the likelihood is that if they were arrested then they would have been bailed pending a hearing.

Plus, any prosecution for criminal damage would not, in itself, force possession of the property. As the law stands today, the civil court is still the one in which the power to order possession lies.

This is why criminalising squatting would solve a great many problems.They would be out before they could even cause any damage....and if theydid cause damage, be prosecuted for multipe offences in one go.

I can't believe you just asked UA that question. Marijuana is illegal in the US and the man is high all the time. You lose.

Back on topic, it is kind of interesting because there is a continuum here. If the guy came home from work to find people in his house they'd be trespassers, breaking and entering. The fact that they changed the locks is the most damning thing for him.

As far as the one week/two years/why would the neighbors lie thing?
1) Maybe the neighbors didn't lie. The article, IIRC, doesn't say the neighbors said this, the article says the squatters said the neighbors said this. So the squatters could just be lying.
2) People are stupid and/or don't necessarily care about what goes on around them. The neighbors may have had no idea when he left. They might've said "he's been gone forever."
3) Maybe the neighbors just don't like the guy. Maybe the renovations have been going on forever. Maybe the guy is a douchebag so the neighbors didn't do shit. I'm on a first name basis with all my neighbors. If I was out of town for a week and they saw a dozen swarthy dagos moving into my house, you can bet they'd do something about it--at the very least they'd call the cops.

No, but no longer pretending that you are some trumpted up public crusader would be most welcome since the reality of your being a gutless turd who is full of bullshit clearly conflicts.

Meh, I'm talking about the kind of shit that he is advocating, not smoking a fucking joint.

He's saying that in the scenario discussed he'd be there armed to the teeth courageously retaking his home....and risking his long term security in the process.

I think that's a bit different from hiding away on his basement couch getting stoned.

Unfortunately in London neighbourly values have serious erroded and it is a damn shame.

When the ex and I moved into the place that was to be our marital home, we made a point of trying to get to know the neighbours. The only ones who were interested were the elder generations who understood the value of good neighbours. All the 20somethings just didn't give a shit.

Speak to your neighbours?
In London?

Well, now I know who the cunt down the hall is....

Did you miss the part about how the week he took off was a vacation from renovating the fucking house? What kind of condition do you expect a house under active renovation to be in? Hell, my friend Brian is renovating his house while he lives in it. His kitchen and living room currently have no flooring (base concrete), drywall (just frame and exterior finish), ceiling (just joists and attic), sink, cabinets, etc. There's bare plumbing and electrical in the walls and ceiling because he isn't done yet! But he wakes up every morning and goes to bed every night in the same house!

Yes, dummy, I did. Utterly and decisively.

Where in the article does it say that he was living in it?

It doesn't. It says he took a week off from the renovation. For all you know he was living elsewhere and merely going there once every few days to carry out work.

I suppose it's a decent assumption to make, since ALL of his stuff is there, including "must have" medication.

You say that, but considering the Daily Mail, its a decent assumption to make that if he had been living there they would have almost certainly said so in the article.

Like I said above, when I first moved in with my ex, my property sat empty for months with all my stuff in it....and I even carried out decorative work on it in that time! It's more than possible he wasn't living there.

Also, if his medication was "must have", why didn't he take it on holiday with him? Curious that.

So basically, you don't know the facts any better than Jenne does.

Incorrect. Go down to town hall, get the platte for the property. That shows where the property lines are. Then get a surveyor out to find the markers or establish the lines. If the neighbor's fence is on your side of the line, they must move it if you ask them to. Period. We pay armies of lawyers buckets of money whenever property changes hands for this very reason.

Yes, but if they neighbours disagree you then have to litigate, and until the court makes an order in your favour there isn't much you can do. So, while I challenge the "no recourse" assertion, it isn't always as simple as going and getting the plans.