An Irish tramp has found himself the legal owner of one of London's most sought after bits of real estate.

Harry Hallowes, 70, has occupied a secluded woodland spot on the edge of Hampstead Heath since 1987, but stood to lose it when property developers moved in in 2005.

The nature-loving vagabond lives off a weekly pension from Social Services, payment from odd jobs and the benevolence of friends in the area, including film director Terry Gilliam.

Now Harry's rickety 12ft by 8ft shack, set in a 90ft by 90ft garden, has been safeguarded by the Land Registry ruling that he should be given the deeds to the property that has been his home for 20 years.

Mr Hallowes faced losing his home when Kensington and Chelsea NHS Hospital Trust sold the Athlone House nursing home, which nestles on the heath, to property developers Dwyer International.

The property firm plans to turn the former nursing home into more than 20 luxury flats and donated the patch of land wich Mr Hallowes' squat is on to the Corporation of London, to act as a buffer zone between the new development and the heath.

Leafy Hampstead in north London

But the Land Registry ruled that it belonged to Harry anyway.

Hampstead Village and the surrounding area is highly sought-after.

Gary Reichman from Foxtons estate agents said: "We have got a 2,645 square-foot house on the market for £2.1m in Highgate at the moment.

"The area is very, very popular."

According to The Corporation of London, under covenants attached to the land, Mr Hallowes could not sell it for development even if he wanted to.

Spokesman Lesley Mair said: "Our lawyers are looking into whether Harry does have the land and if he does, what the implications might be for us."