Squatters have always been a landlord’s worst nightmare when they move into empty residential properties. If the landlord is unwilling to risk the possible repercussions of peacefully evicting the squatters he/she will need to go through the County Courts to obtain an order that the squatters give possession back to the landlord. Once the order for possession is obtained the landlord then has the choice of wither waiting for sometimes eight weeks for county court bailiffs to attend to evict the unwanted guests, or spending in the region of £1000 for High Court Enforcement Officers to act.
Fortunately for landlords the Government has recognised the problems a landlord of an empty property may face in regaining possession of their property and turned squatting from just a civil offence to also a criminal offence.
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012. Section 144 of the Act provides for a new criminal offence of squatting in a residential building. Anyone found to be squatting in a residential property now risks committing an offence which is punishable by up to a year in prison or by a fine of up to £5000.
S.144 provides for a person to have committed an offence if:
he is in a residential building having entered as a trespasser (i.e. without permission);
he knows or ought to have known that he is a trespasser; and that
he intends to live there.
The occupied premises have to be residential either by design or by adaptation but include temporary or movable structures. This of course excludes empty shops and factories, as it would also exclude empty fields and land.
This change in the legislation is the only recent step taken by the government to deal with squatters and follows the Ministry of Justice’s formal consultation on “The Options for dealing with Squatters”, the response to which was published by the Ministry of Justice on 26 October 2011. This can be found at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/dealing-with-squatters
The new legislation has not been met with appreciation from all sectors of the community. Homeless charities allege that it unfairly targets the homeless, an already vulnerable section of the community. Commercial landowners complain that it does nothing to deal with their concerns as to the (high) cost and (slow) speed of evicting squatters under the existing procedures set out above.
Squatting is already a criminal offence under the Criminal Law Act 1977, although this legislation only covers displaced owners. The new legislation covers owners who have empty residential property. It is certainly a respectable argument that we do not need a new criminal offence as it is doubtable that the existing legislation is ever enforced.
The new offence is of limited value as it targets a very narrow group of squatters – those occupying residential premises. It does not cover squats in commercial property or on land. As a criminal offence you potentially have a quick fix to remove occupiers – subject to the police acting of course.
There is also the concern that in the current climate of a weak market in commercial property with the resultant empty commercial properties in abundance; former residential squatters may simply relocate to commercial properties.
The Act does not become law until at least September 2012. In the meantime there will be extensive consultation with interested groups. It will remain to be seen however, notwithstanding s.144 of The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act whether residential squatting will ever properly be criminalised.
Paul Rogers, Benchmark Solicitors LLP – 11 June 2012