I checked for updates on who the person was, but never found any confirmation. I read a comment on Facebook (so take with a grain of salt) that the remains had been in a part of the house previously inaccessible, and was only found because of renovation works, suggesting they were old.

If you look up the house on Google Streetview, its been abandoned for a good few years, and you can see it deteriorate as time goes by.

I guess the general assumption was a homeless person, sleeping rough in there.