@The Psyentist 546814 wrote:

I’m sure the squatting laws changed not all that long ago and I don’t know what the new laws states but you used to be able to claim squatters rights after residing in a building for a certain period of time, like 10 years or something daft. But this meant if you could access a building without forced entry and the owner didn’t remove you before that time expired then you could claim to be the new proprietor. There is a possibility I’ve just made that up though, my memory is good at inventing history.

Are there no signs at all advertising its sale or availability to let?

If it was a commercial building try googling the address, you may get some contact details for the owner.

it only costs £5 to look up at HM Land Registry who owns it.

Adverse possession is extremely difficult to get / prove these days and it may be up to about 20 years of constant occupation.

In any case even if MissWannaRollHard won the lottery and bought the building outright it would not be able to be used for parties or other public events without getting in trouble for unlicensed events anyway.

There is, however a trend being introduced from Northern Europe (especially our nearby neighbours across the sea NL and DK) to make use of such buildings by renting them out to community groups. Anything from arts/music events (which can include late night events such as at the Ruigoord centre in NL) to parking bicycles in them (so they do not get stolen or vandalised whilst you visit town).

But often it is not the Council who stands in the way but the property owners wanting full market rates for the building and/or seeing this area as a extension of London which is why these buildings remain empty in the first place.

Unless you are genuinely homeless I would not suggest trying to enter/squat it as the cops are perfectly aware of its presence (along with the Fire Brigade they keep a watch over empty buildings) and that young people across Suffolk have previously “squatted” buildings and that the places have been trashed.

if you and your friends will only get warned off or arrested for some reason or other (the cops will find one), however it is still worth finding out who owns it. if you can come up with a viable use for the building for a wider community its not impossible to get it for a highly discounted rent, a young woman the same age as MWRH did just that to get the building that ICR-FM use for the radio studio.