Successful Claims In The Press

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="044085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>thebubblingpot</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="thebubblingpot"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="legal dragons"><U>legal dragons</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="legalise on claiming land"><U>legalise on claiming land</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The New Law"><U>The New Law</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Finding Plots "><U>Finding Plots </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" How To Stake Your Claim"><U> How To Stake Your Claim</U></A>   |   <B>Successful Claims In The Press</B>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FLOW CHART"><U>FLOW CHART</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Title 60"><U>Title 60</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="045d2e83.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Successful Claims In The Press</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Chapter 4 - Successful Claims In The Press</div> <div> The Telegraph - 11.12.02</div> <div> "Squatter Wins Right To £1m Mews Flat"-</div> <div> A squatter is living free in a £1 million mews flat in one of the worlds most expensive neighborhoods because the owners abandoned their home, joined a religious order and renounced their worldly possessions.</div> <div> Elizabeth Smee has won the right to live in the two-story property in South Kensington, West London, because she has squatted there for so long. She has had at least £50,000 of lawyer's bills paid by legal aid in her fight against the eviction and in the making of compulsory repairs.</div> <div> After Miss Smee had lived there 12 years, the freehold - and therefore the right to occupancy - became hers under the "right of adverse possession" in 1987.</div> <div> The Telegraph</div> <div> "Artist Wins Ownership Of Squat Now Worth £150,000</div> <div> An artist became the legal owner of a £150,000 flat in London yesterday after the Appeal Court ruled he had squatter's rights.</div> <div> Jack Blackburn, who moved into the property in Brixton, South London, when it was burnt out and semi-derelict, was entitled to be registered as the freehold owner of the flat because he had lived there for more than 12 years, the judges said.</div> <div> The judges allowed Mr. Blackburn's appeal against the county court eviction order obtained by Lambeth council. The county court judge had ruled that although he had established physical possession over 12 years, he had not shown the necessary intention to possess the flat during that period.</div> <div> But Lord Justice Clarke, sitting with Lords Justices Judge and Laws, said Mr. Blackburn's actions in February 1988 in breaking the council’s lock on the flat and replacing it with a new one of his own, and thereafter living in the flat as his home, were "unequivocal indications" that he was intending to exclude everyone, including the council.</div> <div> Lambeth council had "done absolutely nothing" about the flat since 1983 and, along with some of the seven others in the block, it became a squat, the court was told. When Mr. Blackburn moved in, the flat was regarded - even within the squatting community - as uninhabitable and in a horrendous condition, said the judge.</div> <div> As time went by, Mr. Blackburn set about improving his home and eventually he made all the rooms habitable. He installed a bath and rewired the flat, which now consists of an artist’s studio, living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. It was now a potentially a very valuable "des res". Similar flats in the area sell for £150,000 upwards.</div> <div> It should have been obvious to the council from the start that Mr. Blackburn was actively seeking to take possession and not simply passively occupying the property, the judges ruled. By the time the council took court proceedings against him last year, it was too late because he had by then established the necessary 12 years of adverse possession.</div> <div> Mr. Blackburn, who funded his case by legal aid, said afterwards he understood that some people might think he was a scrounger but they had to understand the history of his case. There are 685 homeless households in Lambeth, 240 of whom live in bed and breakfast accommodation.</div> <div> He said: "What you have got to understand is that when I came here it was totally derelict, burnt out and had been left to rot for a few years. There was no electricity, no fuse box, no gas or anything like that. I have done everything to it, I've rewired it, painted it, and re-plastered it. When I started there was a big hole in the living room ceiling and soot and rubble everywhere."</div> <div> The case is another example of the failure of Lambeth council to monitor its properties. Several houses, which they had forgotten they owned, have been taken over by squatters. In 1999, they lost a £200,000 council home when an Appeal Court ruling gave ownership to a squatter who had illegally occupied the four-bedroom Victorian house in Brixton for more than 16 years.</div> <div> The Independent</div> <div> "Squatter Claims £400,000 House That Council Forgot"</div> <div> A Squatter is claiming ownership of a £400,000 house that he has lived in for more than 16 years after the local council "forgot" that it owned the property.</div> <div> Michael Stewart, 57, is attempting to take possession of the four-story, six bedroom, detached Georgian house in Stockwell, South London, which is owned by Lambeth borough council.</div> <div> Chris Legg, 34, a company director who lives next door to Mr. Stewart, said: "The problem here is Lambeth council. They are fully aware they own it and do nothing to enforce their rights".</div> <div> But Anthony Gladstone-Thompson, chairman of the Stockwell Park Road Residents' Association, said: "This is absolutely typical of Lambeth. Good luck to him for outwitting Lambeth. I am sure he's got the better of them. He hasn't done anything remotely improper. Apart from finding the property slightly unsightly, neighbours are very warm towards him." </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>