Squatter who moved into pensioner's home and sold it insists he didn't 'steal' property

Keith Best flogged the house in Newbury Park, east London, for £540,000 - nearly £100,000 more than the average property price for the area - and insists he was obliged to do so

A squatter who moved into a pensioner's old home and sold it for £540,000 insists he did not "steal" the property.

Keith Best, 58, was embroiled in a legal battle for the home in Newbury Park, east London, for years after he submitted an application for adverse possession – under which a trespasser can win rights to somewhere they do not legally own if they can demonstrate they had 'control' over the building or land for a considerable period of time.

He was initially turned down by the Chief Land Registrar as his claim came just a few weeks after squatting was criminalised under Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act. However, this was overruled by the High Court, which found "an error of law" in the previous verdict and Mr Best became legal owner of the property. Mr Best since sold it for £540,000 but today claimed he had spent £400,000 in legal fees fighting the court battle anyway.

Mr Best, a who is a builder, also insisted today he paid the pensioner's granddaughter £245,000 in compensation – and spent £150,000 of his own money doing up the property. Speaking today, he said: "I've been portrayed as a thief who cheated an old man out of his home but that's not true. The whole thing has been a nightmare. It affected my health and cost me a lot of money. I never made anything from this and yet it's being made out that I robbed a pensioner. I have not made a profit."

Mr Best noticed that the house was vacant in 1997 and began treating it as his own before renovating it, reports MailOnline. The property was previously owned by Doris Curtis, who lived there with her son, Colin. Following her death in the mid 1980s, he continued to live there alone before moving out in 1996, leaving it empty.

Mr Best insisted that he had every right to take over the house because Mr Curtis never visited or maintained it. He said: "He didn't care about the house, never went there and he didn't even know about it. He wasn't poor. He inherited another property and never went back to the house in Newbury Park."

But the man sold it for £540,000, nearly £100,000 more than what Rightmove says is the average house price for the area. Mr Best insisted he used his savings and money earned at the time to pay for the legal fees which rumbled on for two years.

In addition to working as a builder, he was also employed as a senior manager by Virgin, he told MailOnline. And he also told the publication he believes stress of the legal battle led to the death of his mother two years ago.

Mr Best said he now lives in a "large house" in Essex and no longer works. He continued: "I've had enough of being in the courts and as far as I'm concerned after selling the property in Newbury Park and settling my mother's will, all these matters are now closed."