Why does land fall out of use

Many of the properties that i found when I first started looking were the unfortunate consequences of poor incomes in an agricultural based economy. When things became difficult, people literally walked away from the places they owned as they had little or no value and they were clearly unable to continue living there and supporting themselves in the local economy.

Rural ireland is still like this with thousands of derelict properties. Many eastern european countries were identical with properties in rural bulgaria, east germany etc going for a few thousand even up until recently, and villages still full of derelict properties.

However many rural areas in the uk will have become more accessible over time with better roads, and the people moving here often have capital, and probably very comfortable fixed incomes. The better quality of building, heating systems, windows and insulation have meant that properties in the most isolated locations can now be as comfortable as any other.

An example of this is the number of tiny blocks of woodland that you see in many rural areas. In the area where i live there are loads of these. It took me a long time to realise that the majority of these were not actually planned woods, but most have the derelict remains of a cottage in the middle of them. 

So what has clearly happened is that the owners of the property had abandoned it, the building had collapsed down over time as they do and the trees naturally started to take over. They would normally have trees around boundaries anyway and it doesn’t take long for saplings to spread themselves around any piece of land. Neighbours don’t tend to take any action because they don’t own the land or the property and so they just allow it to develop into what then appears to be a natural piece of woodland 70 or 80 years later.  

One of the characteristics i look for as I’m scanning satellite imagery is exactly these small blocks of woodland, particularly when they sit in places where they seem disconnected from anything else.  This same process of abandonment and the natural regrowth of the background woodland is taking place constantly. As you will have seen by some of the satellite images it probably only takes 20 years before an abandoned piece of land becomes what is indistinguishable from any other piece of woodland. 

The way you discover if a cottage or buildings are in a location is to compare a satellite image with the 1905 maps to see what buildings were in existence. I always do it the other way around as well. I look at the 1905 maps and then compare this to the satellite to see what should be there, possibly concealed by the trees. I really do find a large number of locations this way. The Scottish National Library maps offer a side by side service which allows you to do this easily. Just choose satellite for one side, and the 1905 OS map for the other. No go and compare..and find..

Many properties in the area of where i look would have had a certain amount of land with them. Back in the day when you could buy a cottage and get 10 or 20 acres of land with it for virtually no extra cost. It was very common for neighbouring farmers to buy up properties near to them, separate off the land for their own use, and then either abandon the property, or sell it to an incomer, often as a holiday home, occasionally with an acre or two if they were feeling generous.

Unfortunately, there are also lots of examples where a farm has been taken over, and the buildings just allowed to decay while the land around is actively managed. Farmers often have little concept of the value of their properties, and rarely see further than the land itself. This situation only appears to change when someone eventually dies, and the new owners realise they may have a potential asset. Of course there is also the common situation where a new owner lacks the resources to improve a property, and also the vision to see that someone else may want to.
I know of dozens of abandoned yet very active farms.

 Interestingly, one of the reasons why there are now lots of derelict properties available is, I believe, because people bought them in the 60s, 70s and 80s, when they could pick up a semi-derelict cottage for a couple of thousand pounds in cash. 

You can see by planning records etc that attempts were often made to restore these properties, work with them etc, but when these were refused, in many cases people simply walked away and left them, probably very disappointed at their failure to create their new life and just writing off their losses.

 What is a much more recent trend is people with probably quite significant amounts of money moving to rural areas, buying up small holdings which they then work on and build up over a number of years. These then for no apparent or obvious reason seem to get abandoned over time. 

I suspect that part of the reason for this is health and age, and a combination of the two. The area I am in, there are few places where public transport is available, you always need access to a vehicle and to be mobile, 

People often think that living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere is absolutely fantastic, but then realise as they get older that the dream may have some significant downsides that leave them moving back to where they came from in the first place where they have access to support and services at the time when they need them. 

You can see this process happening now with the number of ex-pat brits who appear to be moving back to the uk, particularly if they don’t have any right of access to local health services without paying through the nose. 

When you’re 50 and fit and healthy you may have made themselves and that how how you are managing your future, however when you’re 70 or 75 and still healthy and they start to become a little bit pragmatic, no many things are like exchange not too distant future. 

People die. It’s part of the circle of life, and an essential way that assets and property get passed from one generation onto the next. There are however lots of ways that the ownership of something may naturally become disconnected from the people themselves.

I seem to keep finding holiday cottages where they appear to be in good condition, are completely kitted out as if someone is about to arrive for their annual holiday…But then don’t. There are numerous examples that appear to have been abandoned for decades. Because they clearly had money spent on them in the past, they are unlikely to decay quickly, the only signs of their disuse being the encroachment of surrounding foliage, paths becoming overgrown, and gardens becoming wild and untamed. They are usually intact, and still full of furniture and property, and often have that marie celeste look about them as if someone was having a meal one moment, and dissapeared the next.

They also tend to remain untouched, partially because they only need to be a few hundred yards from a road, and after a few years, the only people who know of their existence will be a couple of neighbours, and someone like myself actively searching for anything that has that particular look.

I suspect that the proof of ownership is lodged either at the property itself, or with a solicitor local to it. Either way, the death of the owner appears to break the connection, and they fall into abandonment.

I suspect that another route is where someone with assets chooses to spend some of it outside of their normal area, either to keep the assets hidden, and out of the view of others. Yet again, if you are hiding something…And then die..who would ever know, unless you have kept accurate records.

The mere fact that many properties are registered to people at the address of the property itself means that there is a high potential for disconnection whenever someone dies, particularly if they live hundreds of miles away, paid cash in the first place, and just keep up with the bills as they land.

Historically, having the use of something may not be the same as ownership. I’m sure there are numerous examples of property left to tenants where the tenant assumes ownership of the property after the death of the owner, and no one came chasing up the rent for a few years.

As you can see, there are the potential for any number of scenario’s where the end result is a property, abandoned, and apparently without an owner.

There is one example I know of where the owner actually owned a huge and incredibly valuable property in the south east. He has died, there is a will, and the main property has clearly been sold, and the estate probably distributed to the heirs. But the little plot of land with a derelict cottage on it, and a static caravan that has now become vandalised. Probably bought back in the 70’s when he was a young man with aspirations of dropping out. It clearly never happen, and there has been no activity on the site for years. It has clearly become disconnected from the man’s estate for whatever reason. It is registered, and there are addresses for service. I suspect that when i take it over, and claim it in 12 years time, the people who should be informed will be long gone as well.

I have heard a number of tales where people have rented a property, only to discover that the supposed owner has no proof of such, and had just assumed the mantle of ownership.

There are numerous examples where someone has clearly taken possession of a property, and used it as their own, even renting it out, but have never actually formalised their ownership by ensuring they have the actual title, despite having every bit of evidence needed to be able to do this, and ample time to have done so.

In some of these cases, people stopped paying rent, and there was nothing that could be done to challenge it. They later made a full and successful claim for the title.

Another common theme appears to be properties where they are bought as a project. You will find the property having had major work done, building materials, and often tools left wherever they were last used. And these are further examples of the marie celeste situation. Despite having a huge investment made, people seem to just walk away, and seemingly dissapear.

I know of one farmhouse where the house has been beautifully renovated, enlarged, re-roofed. If you look through the windows, you can see the entire interior is complete, and even decorated. The kitchen has been half installed before being left. But this was clearly all done 15-20 years ago. The wooden windows were never treated after being installed, and are now starting to rot because of this. There has been no sign of activity for a decade. The owner is alive and well and lives in surrey.

Another location is a mostly complete victorian mansion. The property is registered, sold in the early 90’s, there is scaffolding around part of it, and the front lawn is covered with building materials. And the place has clearly not been touched for the last 20 years.

Quite frankly I often struggle to make sense of why people leave valuable assets to deteriorate till they’re worthless. There is much that will never make sense.