A squatter has been granted the rights to a plot of land on Hampstead Heath worth £2m for nothing. The Independent


Harry Hallowes, who has lived in a shack on the corner of the heath in north London for more than 18 years, has been given deeds to the site in the grounds of Athlone House nursing home.

Dwyer Asset Management bought the Victorian nursing home and its grounds from the NHS to create 22 flats and had already decided to give back a hectare of land to the heath as a buffer.

But now Hallowes has taken possession of his site under a section 106 agreement.