Squatting

[Sysman]

In Wales, if you could put a house up on a piece of land overnight, & have a fire burning in the grate in the morning, it was yours.

Dunno if that still applies under the Town & Country Planning, mind you.

That was the essence of the squatters' cottages I mentioned above.

This was in Yorkshire and the houses were built circa 1800-1830 as far as we could tell from old OS maps.

[Sysman]

I heard that somewhere too. Probably one of those old laws that are still on the books but hard to get away with due to other newer contradictory laws.


Another one I found interesting was if you have ~12-15 acres of land you are entitled to turn it into a farm with certain types of buildings that the planning office can't refuse, apparently. There's a book on the subject ('Field to Farm' IIRC) but not sure if it's as simple as it sounds.

A neighbour bought a 12 acre farm and was determined to keep its status as a farm. All sorts of other advantages such as cheap (metered) water for the livestock, Forestry Commission advice and grants for planting trees. The planning office still had considerable power over living accommodation. Tenant farmers get a good deal as well, and if you compare their rent to your mortgage repayments you will weep.

New Labour's secret weapon against this was their mismanagement of the foot and mouth outbreak.