Property Developer Awarded $1.6 Million Property Under Squatters Rights

A property developer has recently been granted official ownership of a derelict property in Sydney he discovered two decades earlier. The three-bedroom, one-bathroom house which Bill Gertos renovated and rented out has been valued to be worth an estimated $1.6m.

Mr Gertos, a former accountant, came across the property in the suburb of Ashbury in 1998 and, upon determining it to be vacant and in “disrepair”, he took control of the property’s maintenance. Mr Gertos spent around $35,000 on renovations and repairs before deciding to lease it out to tenants in 1998, and a further $108,000 in 2014.

The property previously belonged to Thompson Downie who purchased the house in 1927 and passed away in 1947. There is no evidence that Mr Downie had left a will. Following this period, the property had been leased to a sole tenant – Mrs Grimes – who lived there until her death in April 1998.

Last year, Mr Downie’s daughter and two grandchildren challenged Mr Gertos’ application for ownership on the basis that he had not acted in an “open” manner, i.e. being able to prove in court that the neighbours in the area consider him to be the owner.

Squatters Rights in NSW

Under NSW law, squatters can be granted ownership of a property if they have “openly occupied it for more than 12 years, without the permission of the owner.”

The court ruled in Mr Gertos’ favour, with Justice Rowan Darke stating: “Mr Gertos succeeded in taking and maintaining physical custody of the land, to the exclusion of all others.”

The descendants of Mr Downie intend to appeal against this decision. The case has attracted media attention due to the fact that the law typically applies to those who inhabit the property rather than those who lease it.

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