Is my house being squatted?

chappers

Wise advice by giving him consent to live there he may have more rights than a stranger who just moved himself in.

tek-monkey

Its your brother, yeah? Its family. At least have the balls to confront him, tell him the score, and offer him a way out. Failing that, sell the place and **** him off.

duncan303

When you go to see a specialist, prepare a timeline of events and rough dates. when gift made: who was in occupation at time:when you were living in property: when you moved out: when your brother moved in: when your brother aquired 2nd property: when work was done to property: who and when insurance payments made: payments to general household bills:etc etc
If you can set this out on a piece of paper as best you can and pass it over to the specialist it will save a lot of time and money:money:



Has your brother used the property for gain; ie has he listed it as primary residence that he has declared as owner and that has no mortgage to obtain an unsecured loan for example? you probably may need to do some form of credit check on your property: not sure about this one but others will be able to help.

He may have already got himself into a deep muddle and the last thing he wants is for you to sell up, do not be decieved by appearances especially within family. Families can hide terrible secrets from each other because they KNOW the people they are decieving.

You say you own the property and that it is your sole name, May I ask if this is a registered property and have you checked that the name and address is correct in the proprietorship register. Take a certified copy with you to the specialist.

Now onto the main reason for this post:

I helped him out, allowing him to stay there rent free, to help him out so that he could get on his feet but since then family relations have strained and now he tells me that he has more right to the house than I now that as he has had work done to it and refuses to move out or buy 50% from me.

There are two words which I believe should be considered.

BENEFIT and BURDEN

one also has to make a clear distincion between the two phrases "home improvements" to which you infer and "essential maintenance".

I propose that he is not permitted to do anything to the property that increases your BURDEN without your "express"(in writing) permission. eg he decides to have a super duper boiler installed that costs 5 times more a year to service, therefore he has increased the BURDEN on the true owner.

He may decide to splashout on really disgusting furniture and colour scheme, to him this may seem an improvement. He may decide to cover the walls with silver foil and sardine paste to protect himself from alien
detection, to him this is an improvement, but has clearly increased the BURDEN. This increase in burden will cost you to correct.

Now he probably has spent money on essential maintenance, but it would have to be "like for like" otherwise it is an improvement, furthermore he not only is responsible for but also has the BENEFIT of the essential maintenance not you. To clarify; this essential maintenance is wear and tear as a result of his sole occupancy.

Now to get a bit nasty..... has he applied for planning permission or building control to any of these improvements? If so did he sign the forms as agent or owner? Has he obtained statutory certificates for any
of the applicable alterations. You need to get down to the local Planning office in person and ask to see the file.

You may find that he is entitled to only 50% after you have billed him to correct the interference he has caused to your property by unauthorised increase of BURDEN.

If he has put a conservatory on for example a member of RICS surveyor has lists of the agreed values some of these so called improvements can add to overall value, cut glass cystal doorknobs add absolutely zilch! say he spends £10,000 on a conservatory and RISC say that only 20% adds recoverable value. So your 50% share should only be half of £2000 which is £1000. or he only gets back £1000 of his £10,000


Therefore he may be liable to compensate YOU to almost the whole value that he maintains that he has spent. So play dumb and ask him to intemise all the work he has done and the money he has spent on your house. And take that with you to the solicitor.

You should not let this linger too much longer....


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