3 ms·

When I see properties like this that have been abandoned, I often wonder what the story is... UK: Someone (and I'm trying to find a source now) worked out ther

When I see properties like this that have been abandoned, I often wonder what the story is... UK: Someone (and I'm trying to find a source now) worked out there were something like half a million empty houses in UK because of developers going bankrupt, owners dying, abandonment &c. There are some legal tools to get housing back into use. And you need planning permission to change things sometimes.

sikosmurf 10y ago
In some parts of America, if the taxes for the property go unpaid for long enough, an interested party can start paying taxes and improve the property to gain legal ownership. This is effectively a formal method of squatting called "adverse possession".
- kendallpark 10y ago
  Yeah, this happened a few years ago: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/texas-man-claims-mansion-16/story?id=14099714 http://abcnews.go.com/Business/texas-man-claims-mansion-16/s...
e15ctr0n 10y ago
The story here is Prop 13. Homeowners are incentivized not to make improvements to their home, so that their property taxes remain tiny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prop_13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prop_13