Abandoned house - entitlement?

Keano!

me and a mate found this boarded up bunglaow in a field about 2 miles from the nearest village. not on any main routes and pretty out of the way. we've done some research n it and found out that the owner died 12 years ago. the house is pretty run down but we got inside and the bones of it are there. its livable if we spruced it up a bit.

thing is, are we allowed to do this or is it completely illegal? we know the man whose name is associated with the house is dead and there's no sign of family in the country.

we were thinking of un-boarding it, weeding the drive, painting the outside and then over the summer do it all up. there's no electricity or payments to be done on it like that.


views? we don't plan selling it though, more...keeping it for ourselves.

Agricola

Who owns the field the house is on?

El Siglo

Keano! wrote: »

me and a mate found this boarded up bunglaow in a field about 2 miles from the nearest village. not on any main routes and pretty out of the way. we've done some research n it and found out that the owner died 12 years ago. the house is pretty run down but we got inside and the bones of it are there. its livable if we spruced it up a bit.

thing is, are we allowed to do this or is it completely illegal? we know the man whose name is associated with the house is dead and there's no sign of family in the country.

we were thinking of un-boarding it, weeding the drive, painting the outside and then over the summer do it all up. there's no electricity or payments to be done on it like that.


views? we don't plan selling it though, more...keeping it for ourselves.

You might want to read this. The chances are that the house is in somebody's name, so you'll have to refer to the land registry. You can't go claiming something that is unoccupied, even though there's thousands of unoccupied houses around the country.

banjopaul

Look up laws on adverse possesion in Ireland.

An Irish High Court case in 2007 set out the tests for determining whether a squatter has acquired the property by adverse possession. In summary, they are:

1. Occupation must be for a continuous period of twelve years;

2. The occupier must show an intention to possess the land, rather than the exercise of grazing rights or the like over the land; and

3. The legal owner can break the period of possession by certain acts. Time then begins to run when that act terminates.

The owner, CIE, had carried out works to a station on part of the lands and had also sent out a contractor at one stage to re-establish fences between the lands and a neighbour's lands. The Court found these actions to be sufficient to start the clock running again.

Although each case will be decided on its own facts, these new tests will make it very difficult for squatters to acquire rights, where the legal owner has taken any action to assert its rights over the property.

From: http://www.williamfry.ie/article.asp?categoryID=7&articleID=1789

minidazzler

In Britain at least you will have squatters rights until such time as the owner files for you to GTFO.

Not exactly sure of the position here, but alot of our laws will mirror britains.

Also, further reading.

http://www.lkshields.ie/htmdocs/publications/newsletters/update23/update23_08.htm

Absurdum

I own it, go away or I will shoot you.

My name is URL

No sign of family in the country.. How exactly do you know that.. did you do a genealogical search? I'm sure there's someone that has more rights over it than you!

But sure do it anyway and see what happens

Ruu_Old

Pat Kenny owns that land!

galwayrush

Where exactly is it, it could be mine...............:D

El Siglo

My name is URL wrote: »

No sign of family in the country.. How exactly do you know that.. did you do a genealogical search? I'm sure there's someone that has more rights over it than you!

But sure do it anyway and see what happens

Can't wait for the mirror article:
"Squaters get the boot in bungalow bid!":rolleyes:

Keano!

Agricola wrote: »

Who owns the field the house is on?

the state. and as my friend said, we're the state so we can claim it :rolleyes:

My name is URL wrote: »

No sign of family in the country.. How exactly do you know that.. did you do a genealogical search? I'm sure there's someone that has more rights over it than you!

But sure do it anyway and see what happens

yeah, we've checked out his name and traced it. we also have in writing a letter from him to have the house knocked down in 1996 but it was refused by the people he applied to.


we were thinking of doing it up, so that if people did 'catch' us or whatever, we could just say,

• we were tidying it up, whats the harm?
• we're not avoiding any legal payment (electricity/bin charges etc...)
• the house was scheduled to be knocked down

Agricola

Keano! wrote: »

the state. and as my friend said, we're the state so we can claim it :rolleyes:



yeah, we've checked out his name and traced it. we also have in writing a letter from him to have the house knocked down in 1996 but it was refused by the people he applied to.


we were thinking of doing it up, so that if people did 'catch' us or whatever, we could just say,

• we were tidying it up, whats the harm?
• we're not avoiding any legal payment (electricity/bin charges etc...)
• the house was scheduled to be knocked down

Oh fúck it sure. Its so crazy it might just work. Good luck!

El Siglo

Sounds like a great plan op, but you're better off getting your hands on the deeds of the property. Either a bank or somebody has these somewhere.

Loopy

I would seek better advice than this before you put money and time into it..

storm2811

Ruu wrote: »

Pat Kenny owns that land!

WANT IT!

:pac:

TanG411

OP, it sounds like a good plan. I can't see any law arresting you over it, and it is a good plan for the summer.

If anything, you should be rewarded for doing it up.

El Siglo

storm2811 wrote: »

WANT IT!

:pac:

I hope they do a t-shirt of this chap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmVopEs9yI

minidazzler

El Siglo wrote: »

Sounds like a great plan op, but you're better off getting your hands on the deeds of the property. Either a bank or somebody has these somewhere.

The whole idea is that you get it for free. If he establishes it as his then there should be no problem really after a certain amount of time.

OP, give it a shot, don't invest too much money TBH, but do give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Don't expect to own it for years though.

Keano!

Larkin91 wrote: »

OP, it sounds like a good plan. I can't see any law arresting you over it, and it is a good plan for the summer.

If anything, you should be rewarded for doing it up.

Thats exactly what we were thinking.

El Siglo

minidazzler wrote: »

The whole idea is that you get it for free. If he establishes it as his then there should be no problem really after a certain amount of time.

OP, give it a shot, don't invest too much money TBH, but do give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Don't expect to own it for years though.

Wouldn't he not have to establish squatters rights then? That's twelve years so it is.

The_Minister

AFAIK you even if you clean it up, you don't have any rights until you have squatted for twelve years (longer if the council own it).

You can just be kicked off by the rightful owner.

CreepingDeath

Keano! wrote: »

views? we don't plan selling it though, more...keeping it for ourselves.

Still sounds a lot like stealing to me.
Never agreed with squatters rights.

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Advers possesion on state owned land is 30 years - see The Statute of Limitations 1957

minidazzler

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Still sounds a lot like stealing to me.
Never agreed with squatters rights.

Would you rather see land or houses go to waste not being used for 30+ years?

Take it OP, and turn it into the ultimate Man sanctuary, I am talking all the trimmings.

miss_shadow

I took on a house like that once apon a time...

put alot of time,effort and a heck of alot of cleaning,travelling etc into the place.

The person who owned it died. And after he died his ex-ginger haired girlfriend claimed it as hers because she had his two daughters

Only problem is that I went away for one night and she broke in the window and changed the locks!! god knows what happened to the place but it was lovely, and its probably all messy and back to crap again just because she wanted it back..

crazy.

Don't paint the outside of the house or any changes..you never know who might catch wind of it and want their slice

DonkeyStyle \o/

Start a secret gang and use the cottage as your club house.

PARKHEAD67

El Siglo wrote: »

I hope they do a t-shirt of this chap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmVopEs9yI

so do I.Everything he said was 100% spot on.He just got a small bit carried away. Pat Kenny is as ignorant as they come off camera.Know a fella who installed his alarms and he told me what a prick he is.Do this.Do that like hes the queen of sheeba or something.He was doing an interview in Ennis before also and Im reliably informed that he took about 4 times what an average woman takes to get ready for a night out to plaster his ugly mug with make up so he could look normal on tv.TOSSER;)

Mike 1972

If someone dies without a valid will and no relations the property reverts to the state.

On the other hand you might be able to claim either abandonment and/or squatters rights

miss_shadow wrote: »

The person who owned it died. And after he died his ex-ginger haired girlfriend claimed it as hers because she had his two daughters

Nope it wasnt hers but it may have been her daughters.

miss_shadow

Mike 1972 wrote: »

If someone dies without a valid will and no relations the property reverts to the state.

On the other hand you might be able to claim either abandonment and/or squatters rights



Nope it wasnt hers but it may have been her daughters.

We were aware of that, we'd rather had looked after the place until the daughters had grown up and taken on the property instead of someone who couldn't maintain it!

Keano!

Thing is, we're willing to put in time and effort and (a bit) of money into doing it up and then having it as 'sanctuary' at times if that makes sense. If we're told to piss off or whatever, we would be more then willing to and the same case if someone else claimed ownership. Otherwise, we'd treat it as our own.

From the replies here...sounds like its all systems go!

Loopy

miss_shadow wrote: »

We were aware of that, we'd rather had looked after the place until the daughters had grown up and taken on the property instead of someone who couldn't maintain it!

Must have been v frustrating for you..

Slugs

They tuuk oooourr house!!!

Prof.Badass

Sounds like a plan for a summer of epicness at least. I wouldn't get too used to it though.

In my comepletely non-expert opinion, doing up the outside sounds like a bad idea. It'll attract only attention (and it hardly changes your living conditions anyway).

If i owned a run-down house and there were squatters in it (in all it's shitness) i'd probably let them stay, for a while at least. However, if they did up the house and started acting like it was theirs i would kick them out asap.

sponsoredwalk

El Siglo wrote: »

I hope they do a t-shirt of this chap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmVopEs9yI

The chap PWNED HIM!!!

phasers

Take it OP, and if the government don't like it they can Git oouuuut

gnxx

Make sure you keep good records as to the expenses related to the upkeep, bills paid etc. To prove the time spent in the property stuff like ESB bills etc will be worthwhile. Make sure that any water charges etc are paid. Take photographs and date them.

If somebody arrives at the door claiming ownership, I'd tell them you bought the property legitimately and wait for them to take a legal action. Make sure that you have the ESB bills etc for when you call the Gardai to have them removed from your property

Also keep it reasonably tight it terms of who you tell. Other parties may try and evict you if they find out your plans.

As a final point, I hope this works out for you. In the best case, you get a house for free. Worst case, you pay maintenance etc on a property but have no rent. Best of luck.

Keano!

vinylmesh wrote: »

Sounds like a plan for a summer of epicness. Enjoy it while you can, but I wouldn't get too cosy in it if i were you.

In my completely nonexpert position doing up the outside sounds like a bad idea. It'll attract only attention (and it hardly changes your living conditions anyway).

If i owned a run-down house and there were squatters in it (in all it's ****ness) i'd probably let them stay (for a while at least). However, if they did up the house and started acting like it was theirs i would kick them out asap.

cheers. maybe just doing up the inside then. need to take some of the boarding on the windows down though because the place is in darkness even with the sun out.

cheers for the advice. kinda excited about this idea.

Keano!

gnxx wrote: »

Make sure you keep good records as to the expenses related to the upkeep, bills paid etc. To prove the time spent in the property stuff like ESB bills etc will be worthwhile. Make sure that any water charges etc are paid. Take photographs and date them.

If somebody arrives at the door claiming ownership, I'd tell them you bought the property legitimately and wait for them to take a legal action. Make sure that you have the ESB bills etc for when you call the Gardai to have them removed from your property

Also keep it reasonably tight it terms of who you tell. Other parties may try and evict you if they find out your plans.

As a final point, I hope this works out for you. In the best case, you get a house for free. Worst case, you pay maintenance etc on a property but have no rent. Best of luck.

We weren't planning in using electricity. Crazy eh? haha.

have small portable power generators to power some things like speakers, small cooler, lamp etc.. only thing is we'd need a few more and recharge them at home and bring them with us

few butane tanks and a nice setup and the cooking is sorted. theres an table still there.


Also, something we noticed too. The floor boards had been ripped up in certain spots and wires hanging out of them. We're presuming the ESB came to the house and cut the wires.

kelle

If it has been unoccupied since 1996, and you are absolutely sure nobody has been to visit it, could you pretend to have inhabited it since then? That would be 14 years occupation.

I like your idea, OP - but are you not worried it could be haunted???

CantGetNoSleep

Strictly speaking you can't break into the house either, so just claim you came in through an open door

kelle

kelle wrote: »

If it has been unoccupied since 1996, and you are absolutely sure nobody has been to visit it, could you pretend to have inhabited it since then? That would be 14 years occupation.

I like your idea, OP - but are you not worried it could be haunted???

Legendary if it worked but 14 years with no ESB etc. might sound a bit far fetched.. Plus I'm sure there's record of OP living elsewhere.

OP, I'd only be worried about rodents etc. You don't want to get comfy over the summer and forget the place could be home to Weil's Disease.

Mike 1972

Deleted User wrote: »

but 14 years with no ESB etc. might sound a bit far fetched.. .

There was something on the TV a few months back about a pensioner in some remote part of Co. Antrim who only got electricity recently.

miss_shadow wrote: »

Only problem is that I went away for one night and she broke in the window and changed the locks!!

Breaking and entering/Criminal Damage/agrivated trespass..........

Noreen1

I have just one question for you OP. Is the field this house is built on overgrown with weeds? If not, someone is maintaining it - which probably means they are paying rent for the field, and therefore ,the house.

I have some land a couple of miles from where I live. I couldn't begin to count the number of times people have arrived uninvited - usually tourists.

As a general rule, I tend to be polite, while confirming that yes, the land is privately owned, and no, it's not for sale.

On the other hand, if I arrived to find someone claiming squatters rights - then I guess I wouldn't be polite - much as I was less than polite to a certain American who informed me that he was buying my land, and proceeded to tell me where he would build his house............

Mike 1972

You should at least have established how much he was willing to pay first :pac:

Lone Stone

Do it i dare you i bet it is haunted and you get raped by ghosts woo aww ghost sex.

RMD

Jesus man, imagine if you were a teenager again, the free gaffs you could have in that joint once the place was cleaned up and made habitable:pac:

El Siglo

RMD wrote: »

Jesus man, imagine if you were a teenager again, the free gaffs you could have in that joint once the place was cleaned up and made habitable:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBShN8qT4lk

JONJO THE MISER

Where is this place O.P, ive spare time on my hands and wouldnt mind doing it up.

Gillington

I wanna invite to the house-warming!

seanybiker

Noreen1 wrote: »

much as I was less than polite to a certain American who informed me that he was buying my land, and proceeded to tell me where he would build his house............

Did you happen to go a bit mad and drive your cows and your son off a cliff? Your the bull

DamoDLK

Good luck OP, but the chances are as soon as you make it nice and done up - some chap will pop up and have a legitimate claim on it, and all the clean up work done already will be in vain..