It might be one of the most bizarre occurrences ever, and something you’d only really experience in a bad dream, but Rev Mike Hall went through this in 2021.
The British reverend had bought the Luton home in 1990, but found out over three decades later that somebody had impersonated him and sold the property on for just £131,000.
Hall had been working in North Wales when he was told by his neighbours back in Luton that the lights at his property were on, and that someone was in.
The reverend got a shock when he got to his Luton home (Getty Stock Photo)
After the long drive back, he found that a new owner was carrying out some building work.
BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours did some further investigating, as the locks had been changed and all of the Hall’s furniture and belongings had been taken out.
“I tried my key in the front door, it didn’t work and a man opened the front door to me – and the shock of seeing the house completely stripped of furniture, everything was out of the property,” he said.
The team managed to obtain the fake driving license that was used to impersonate him, a bank account set up to receive the payment, and even phone recordings of someone pretending to be Hall, telling solicitors to sell the property.
But this week, the reverend finally received some good news.
On Monday (10 March), the BBC reported that Rev Mike Hall was told by Judge Elaine Vignoli at Luton County Court that he would be granted outright possession of the home within 14 days.
He admitted he was ‘quite angry’ about the course of events in the past few years, calling the situation ‘quite sad’ for him and the family that have now been ordered to move out of the home.
This comes more than a year after his name was listed as the owner of the terraced house on the Land Registry back in November 2023, shortly before another problem came up.
The home now rightfully belongs to Rev Mike Hall (Google Maps)
Upon arriving at the property at the time, he found that one of its back windows was smashed, while the front door’s lock was ‘punched out’.
Hall believed squatters were living in the home, as curtains were closed, lights were on, and the boiler was being used.
At the time, the reverend said that approximately £60,000 worth of damage had been done, with Bedfordshire Police advising him to obtain an Interim Possession Order to get the two alleged squatters arrested.
After Hall reclaimed rightful ownership of the home, a BBC reporter went to the address, speaking to a man, woman, and young child that lived at the residence through a forged rental contract.
Luckily, Hall has finally managed to have the property returned to him after years of drama.
