Man found someone living in and redecorating house he'd owned for 30 years

It's a scenario you can't quite imagine; but for this man, it was all too real.

Reverend Mike Hall had bought a house in Luton back in 1990, and had spent most of the years since working in North Wales.

Reverend Mike Hall was stunned to find his house was occupied by someone else (Google Maps)

But while working there, he'd received a call from his neighbours to tell him that the lights were on at his property.

Upon returning, he discovered that the house had been sold without his permission for £131,000.

In fact, what he found in Luton was the new resident carrying out building work inside the house.

BBC Radio 4's You and Yours investigated the situation.

Hall explained: "I tried my key in the front door, it didn't work and a man opened the front door to me - and the shock of seeing the house completely stripped of furniture, everything was out of the property."

The investigation discovered a tangled web of fraud, in which a fake driving license was used to impersonate Hall. A bank account was set up to receive proceeds from sale of the house. The BBC also obtained phone recording of somebody impersonating Hall and instructing solicitors to sell the property.

In November 2023, after two years of court battles, Hall got his name listed as owner on the Land Registry.

But this wasn't the end of the story. After not seeing the house for two months, he showed up at the house with a builder.

What ensued was a series of legal proceedings (Wikimedia Commons/David Howard)

He noticed that a back window had been broken and the front door's lock 'had been punched out'.

Hall reckoned squatters had moved in, as the curtains were closed, the lights were switched on, and the boiler was being used.

He worked out there’d been about £60,000 worth of damage to the house and it was reported that Bedfordshire Police advised him to go back to the courts for an Interim Possession Order to enable the arrest of the two people believed to be squatting.

The matter of squatters and squatters' rights is a complicated matter.

Earlier this year, Gordon Ramsay's £13 million pub got occupied after it got put up for sale. The squatters wanted to use the property as a community art cafe, as they taped up a sign on the door warning outsiders of occupation.

It read: "Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation.

"That any entry or attempt to enter into these premises without our permission is therefore a criminal offence as any one of us who is in physical possession is opposed to such entry without our permission.

"That if you attempt to enter by violence or by threatening violence we will prosecute you. You may receive a sentence of up to six months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000.

"That if you want to get us out you will have to issue a claim for possession in the County Court or in the High Court."

It's technically not illegal to squat inside a unoccupied non-residential or commercial property.