There has been some alarming media coverage recently about house theft, two men who had their houses stolen in the last two years.
It’s shocking to think that this can be done.
Radio 4s Winifred Robinson’s ‘You and Yours’ Consumer protection programmes originally covered this*.
The first house owner – Mike
Reverend Mike Hall lives and works in North Wales but owns/owned a house in Luton which was unoccupied. His house was broken into and the locks changed. The house was then sold to new owners who paid £135,000 for the house, half its actual value in 2021.
Even when the police got involved they initially treated it as a civil, not criminal matter. Squatting became a criminal matter in 2012.
It was the new owners who appeared on the Title at Land Registry so Mike could not have his property back. The new owners, a family, had bought in ‘Good Faith’.
Mike used form AP1 at Land Registry along with evidence to apply to get his house back. The process takes a long time. It took 2 years to get the property back in his name and then a further 7 months to get his Court application for an ‘Interim Possession Order (IPO) to evict the squatters within 24 hours.
Squatters moved in before the home was back in his name so in June 2024 Mike’s first application for an IPO was initially refused.
Mike had to go back to court and reapply for a 2nd IPO.
The house theft had worked with social media availability and untraceable payments. The squatters claimed they had found the home advertised on Facebook Marketplace, had a fake Tenancy Agreement and paid the deposit and rent in cash.
The second house theft – owner and renovator – Angus
Angus bought his dilapidated Victorian property in Southampton at Auction for £180,000 in 2018. It took him 18 months to renovate it from its dilapidated state to a home. He got a job in Cornwall so decided to rent it. He advertised through a well-known Estate Agent for a ‘tenant’ called ‘Steven Jones’. ‘Steven’ paid the rent, bills and Council Tax.
‘Steven’ took out a tenancy with a fake ID. ‘Steven Jones’ then posed as an Estate Agent to sell the property for about £190,000. Angus believes the true value was around £240,000 -£250,000. He only discovered the situation when Southampton Council contacted him to say someone else was living at the property. Angus subsequently discovered he no longer appeared as the owner on the Title at Land Registry.
Unfortunately Angus was without a home and living with his parents at the time his house theft was reported. The local MP Caroline Nokes at that time, took up the case to try to sharpen up Land Registry processes.
You are at greater risk of house theft if you have no mortgage or the property unoccupied.
Identity Theft used to steal houses
It appears that both thefts took place using fake identities. The fraudsters applied for, and got, a genuine duplicate driver’s licence but changed the picture. Using this they then got utility bills for the property and used those to set up Bank Accounts in the name of the original owner. They may have used the same solicitor, then bought gold with the proceeds and vanished.
Let’s get House theft in context
To put this in context the Land Registry says that of the 5 million transactions 2021, 63 were fraudulent or appeared to be. They are governed by the Land Registration Act 2002 and so they have to be sure of someone’s identity which makes it challenging to reverse these situations and even more important to protect yourself.
What can you do to prevent house theft?
Not only do you need to be aware of the danger of Identity theft, but also the way in which house theft can take place. There are some simple and straightforward preventative steps you can take to protect your property and de-risk the situation.
Land Registry checks for your house
- Ensure Land Registry has the latest up-to-date address for you. You are allowed up to three, and one can be an email address. So if you move, make sure you notify Land Registry
- Register for the Property Alerts – these will be sent to the registered owner if there is any activity on the Title of that property. I do this and have in fact actually scared myself. I leapt into action when I got one of these email alerts, only to realise there was activity owing to a mortgage registration. Proof they do work and are free of charge.
- Put a restriction on the Title to help prevent a fraudulent sale. This is less straight forward but you can do it yourself without a lawyer. Completing the RX1 form is where to start but it will take time to choose which restriction and therefore which additional form applies to your particular situation. This is not part of the standard conveyancing process in England and Wales so if you want your solicitor to do this, you need to request it. If you don’t live in the property, then it is a RQ form you need. Do check all the latest forms are correct before applying.
Additional prudent measures to protect you from house theft
- Having a mortgage on the house provides an additional layer of security. Your lender takes a charge on the property and so would be notified of activity on the Title. There may be circumstances when keeping a small mortgage on a property could be beneficial for you.
- You ought to conduct strong tenant checks or at least work with a good, Letting or Managing Agent with a strong reputation will help.
- Guard and protect your ‘Identity’ as much as possible
*Inspired by You and Yours BBC Radio 4 programme 27.10.22 and 2.11.22 back in 2022 but has been re-aired as a topic since on 17.6.24
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