This is the story of a 71 year old, homeless man squatting in an ex-nursing home who’s just won a two year legal battle against developers who tried to evict him from his shack. His name is Harry Hallowes and he now has his name on the title of a 800 square meter block of land.
I’ve just learnt this new concept of ‘adverse possession’. If you can prove that you’ve lived unchallenged and you’re the sole occupier of the land for more than 12 years, you can rightfully file a claim for ownership. In Harry’s case, he was able to prove that he’s being squatting there for 21 years.
Harry’s land is in Hampstead Heath. It’s estimated at being worth over ₤2 million! Hampstead Heath is apparently an upmarket kinda place where celebrities and the truly mega rich live. That’s not bad for a Irish man who’s been homeless and on the dole for 50+ years.
Perhaps I should start squatting on someone’s front lawn in Toorak. How bout Eddie McGuire’s vacant patch of grass… hmmm what’s the chances that he won’t drive past in the next 12 years of so. :P
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[…] What I had to do in the end was do a search for what I wanted to write about (in this case I chose Harry Hallowes) and only then did it present me with a link to create an entry because it found that none existed […]
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