How do i find the owner

[Des1975]

I've found a farm house and have fallen in love with it. It's been boarded up for at least 2 years now. How can I find the owner to see if I can buy it. Thanks in advance

 

[rvf400]

Google the address and see if it pops up on any estate agents sites(even old listings might give you a lead) or in news articles.

It could be owned by a property developer and they are just sitting on the land, in that case you probably don't stand much chance of buying it.

 

[wolfism]

Short answer is to carry out a title deeds search on the Registers of Scotland website, or the Land Registry website if it's in England or Wales. If the property's been sold in the past 20 or 30 years, it will probably be listed. If the last time it was sold is decades ago, chances are the records won't be digitised, so you'd have to spend time and probably money getting the registering body to carry out a paper search…

 

[LadyReverb]

Long shot - but where is it? (county or vague area will do) My friend's farmhouse has been boarded up for roughly that length of time!

 

[Roderick]

If the land registry don't help: Often asking around at the nearest houses / pub / post offices is a good start, check with the town hall and their planning department. The historical electoral register will probably give you a name which might help too. Check if the mail is being redirected. Asking around has always worked for me.

 

[Sam Haltin]

You could try a people finder website like www.192.com but you'll need to register with a username and password and you'll need to pay some cash for credits so you can use the search.