A landmark ruling in the High Court could mean that squatters who live in a property for at least 10 years could become the lawful proprietor under the law of adverse possession.
In this case, Keith Best moved into a house in Ilford in 2001 after the owner died and her legal heir could not be found. Since then he has renovated the run-down property, which could fetch up to £395,000 on the open market.
In a groundbreaking legal battle against the Chief Land Registrar last month, Mr Best won the right to apply to register title to the property in his name under the provisions of the Land Registrations Act 2002, on the basis that he has been “in adverse possession”, also called “squatter’s title”, for a sufficient number of years.
The adverse possession principle dates back to Roman law and allows someone in possession of a good without title to became the lawful proprietor if the original owners cannot be found.
The Registrar tried to block the application for title, made in 2012, because residential squatting was made a criminal offence by section 144(1) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
However, the judge said that, even though he had broken this law, that did not prevent Mr Best from claiming adverse possession, as section 144 did not apply to squatter’s title.
The judge did give the Registrar permission to appeal, however, describing the case as a test for the other cases that are sure to follow, adding that the indications are that there are many of them, not just one or two.
Meanwhile, Mr Best’s lawyers said that the judgement recognised that making residential squatting a criminal offence was not intended to impact on the law of adverse possession, which, although “quirky”, benefits the economy, as it recycles unused and unclaimed land and property back into use.