Why it's awesome to squat mansions in the U.K.

[911fever]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344634/Latvian-squatter-Britain-easy-touch-ends-10m-mansion.html

Hahaha this is a sad story
Love the line 'living in a house like this would be really expensive if we had to pay for it'

[LadyLuck]

Bunch of meth heads...hopefully they wont be living in there much longer after making their whereabouts public!

I wonder who pays for all the utilities if they are all still on...?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by LadyLuck
Bunch of meth heads...hopefully they wont be living in there much longer after making their whereabouts public!

I wonder who pays for all the utilities if they are all still on...?

Chances are the owners are uberwealthy and the utilities are paid automatically or by their accountant.

I had a friend who owned a house in Canmore and on his street only 3 out of 15 houses were occupied year round. Several of the homes were owned by European millionaires that visited for a few weeks each year. Their utilities were paid, grass was mowed and snow shovelled even when they weren't around.

The homes on the street averaged around $750k each.

[ZenOps]

Probably a foresaken or forlorn house. Happening a lot in the US from cheap to expensive houses.

10 Million pounds? Yeesh, what would the yearly taxes be on that? Six digits per year?

I can imagine if they can't sell it, they just try to bury the paperwork about who owns it, and try to pass it off as abandoned until times get better and someone magically appears to take ownership.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Why is there no explanation as to why they can do that and, where the owners are? Weird.... :nut:

[gram]

I wonder what the going rate on making 10 crack heads disappear is. I bet the owner of the house has the $ to do it :)

[StreetRacerX]

Aren't they breaking and entering? Or is the UK just that leniant?

Such a nice place gone to waste, look at the mess they already made, can't they steal a broom and sweep the kitchen?

[JAYMEZ]

I hate squaters , they do that in Amsterdam alot to. That house looks identical to my sister and brother in laws house in Blackheath! Those tools totallly trashed it.

[ZenOps]

Squatters rights are very strong in the UK, especially the London area.

Its a very foreign concept to most Canadians, we have a ridiculous amount of land that noone technically uses (hundreds of acres before you might come across one native)

Its a throwaway society, use it or lose it. Goes back to the real Imperial days - where Lords/Dukes/etc.. had to pay their taxes on time every year or completely lose everything. Some still adhere to it.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by StreetRacerX
Aren't they breaking and entering? Or is the UK just that leniant?

Such a nice place gone to waste, look at the mess they already made, can't they steal a broom and sweep the kitchen?

Under the common law, a squatter can legally assume ownership of a home if certain criteria are met. It is a ridiculous aspect of our legal system, but it can happen in Canada or the U.S. just the same as in the U.K.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

[max_boost]

Wow. That is fucked up.

[n1zm0]

yeah surprised no B&E charges can be laid, but i guess if the owners dont know then its their loss, wouldnt you want to come check in on your vacant house from time to time, i mean to see if maybe a pipe burst and flooded everything or is infested with rats... or Latvians?

[max_boost]

^^

I mean whatever happened to alarms, steel doors etc?!?

[gram]

I can see it now

"This just in; London mansion in Highgate mysteriously burns down, police say thankfully that the family was not in the house at the time. Source of fire is still under investigation but thankfully the owner of the property is insured for all damages."

[ZenOps]

You could never get away with getting insurance on a lords house in the UK.

Everyone knows who owns the big houses. Its like everyone in California knows whos mansion is Shwarzeneggers and whos is Randy Quaids, and Mc Hammers.

At that level, its impossible to hide that you are in money troubles years before the house burns down. Which means its 100x harder to try and get away with insurance fraud.

Nope - if you have the ability to make six-digits a year, but can't quite pay the taxes, cutting and running with two years worth of pay is enough to buy a nice place on another continent and you never have to worry about "slave waging the mansion" ever again.

The mentality of the rich is that simplicity is sometimes golden. Taxes can kill all, even the rich.

"U can't touch this" Mc Hammer, McBankruptcy.

[Jmay1988]

Reminds me of this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322246/Man-leaves-home-week-decorated-15-squatters-in.html

[ZenOps]

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth". (MATTHEW 5:5).

[Supa Dexta]

Filthy bunch of fucks.

[Iceman_19]

I would find that funny, except it happened to my landlord, who is from the UK. He got fucked over and his place trashed and appliances stolen by shit turds like this, and absolutely nothing he can do. He has to keep paying the mortgage and get fucked by assholes who take over his house because the law favours fag buckets instead of the person paying the mortgage. Personally I would fly home and take a baseball bat to the lot of them.

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by Jmay1988
Reminds me of this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322246/Man-leaves-home-week-decorated-15-squatters-in.html

This makes me wish gun ownership laws were more lax... I would love to hear about some pissed off owner grabbing a gun out of the car and opening fire on these mangey fucks and then telling the cops it was in response to a home invasion. Just the thought gives me the warm fuzzies...

[ZenOps]

I dunno... Culture differences.

People in the US got where they are by force. Brits got to where they are by maintaining subjugation of others. UK people love soccer, where maintaining control of the ball is the most important. US is football where pounding the snot out of the other guy is an acceptable way to win (just like hockey)

IMO, if you want to live in London as a "Sir" you have to prove you can be a Londoner - which means paying for and keeping the general public and servants in order (Like Charles III and his 143 servants)

In the US - it tends to be more of defend yourself, or blow your neighbor away for his $10 million house.

"It is a poor man who cannot defend his own keep."

[Super_Geo]

zenops how are you already high? It isnt even noon yet.

[ZenOps]

Its the weekend mon! Games gonna start soon, I'm already on my second cup of coffee. :bigpimp:

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by Super_Geo


This makes me wish gun ownership laws were more lax... I would love to hear about some pissed off owner grabbing a gun out of the car and opening fire on these mangey fucks and then telling the cops it was in response to a home invasion. Just the thought gives me the warm fuzzies...
Gun ownership laws aren't the issue. In fact, if they were more relaxed, then there may be guns stored in that very home which could be accessible by the squatters who, based on their "rights," could then use them to protect themselves from intruders.

It's the property-ownership and squatting laws that need revision.

[Supa Dexta]

What the hell. Look what I found when looking up squatters rights in canada>

http://www.homelessnation.org/node/5231

FOR HOMELESS, BY HOMELESS

:facepalm:

[ZenOps]

Its a grey area for sure, even in Canada.

Technically - Caledonia Ontario is owned by natives, its pretty much ironclad in British Treaty. They left (for quite a few years) as natives often do as they are nomadic by nature.

They came back - only to find a whole bunch of white people start putting up million dollar homes on their land.

White people excuse "You weren't here, we thought you didn't want it anymore." Same difference here.