Squatting Made LESS Simple

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Squatting made LESS simple - legal update June 2012

Written by Office

Friday, 29 June 2012 15:00 - Last Updated Friday, 29 June 2012 15:54

Squatting Made LESS Simple

Squatting means occupying empty property or land (without permission) to live in, or for other

uses. It happens everywhere, whatever the legal situation, as people need space. In England

and Wales it has until now been widespread and legal.

SQUATTING THE LEGAL SITUATION

A new law was made for England and Wales in May 2012, which we dont expect to come into

force until September 2012 at the earliest. Check our website for updates. This will make

trespassing in a residential property with the intention of living there a criminal offence.

It is so far unclear how the police will be expected to decide whether a crime might be taking

place. If people declare themselves to be squatters in clearly residential property they would risk

arrest and so losing their home. BUT the law would not cover situations where;

- people are or were tenants (including sub-tenants) of the property,

- people have an agreement with someone with a right to the property,

- the people in the property are not intending to live there, merely looking after it

maybe,- the property is not residential.

Under these circumstances the police should not have any interest in the people or property

and should be persuaded of this. You dont have to open the door to talk to them, explain

through the letter box or from an upstairs window. Get involved in local networks so you can go

to neighbours and help explain the situation from outside.

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The law does say that you commit an offence if you know or ought to know that you are a

trespasser, so remember to give a no comment interview if you are arrested.

NON-RESIDENTIAL SQUATTING IS STILL LEGAL

The law says a building is residential if it is designed or adapted, before the time of entry, for

use as a place to live, and includes any structure or part of a structure (including a temporaryor moveable structure). Otherwise squatting is still legal. It is not clear whether a residential

part of a pub (for example) would therefore count as a building but it would be safest not to live

in that bit (just use it for other things).

Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 makes it an offence to force entry to a building which is

occupied, and this includes squats. This will no longer help against the police if they are

enforcing the new law against squatters in residential properties, but is otherwise still valid. The

new Legal Warning, available from ASS, will explain the law and the fact that building is notresidential. Other people will have rights under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 for

example.

FINDING A PLACE

There are thousands of empty properties, even taking into account the new law. Non-residential

property tends to be larger, and the law change generally means that it makes sense to get

together with like-minded people. Local networks can be useful for support and keeping an eye

on empties, as well as developing campaigns against empties, against local councils using the

new legislation

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It will be even more worth carrying out research on empties with the new law. Finding out who

the owners are can help predict how they might react to finding out the place is occupied,

whether they might be up for coming to an agreement.. There is no simple link but

The best place to look for is one that has empty for some time and is not going to be put to use

for some time. These will probably be fairly run down and need some work on them, but if you

know you have time its more worthwhile.

The local councils Planning Department has a register of all planning applications and

decisions which you can see online. This will tell you who, if anyone, has made an application or

got permission.

The Land Registry records ownership of most places. You can get the details for a particular

place at www.landregistry.gov.uk. It costs 4 per place (with a credit or debit card). If there is

both a freehold and leasehold owner registered, the leaseholder is the one with rights to the

place who can evict you. Dont assume that if you cant find an owner, or if the owner is dead or

bankrupt that you are automatically safe. Dead owners have executors and bankrupt companies

have administrators.

Once you are inside you will find more useful information in the mail and any documents left

around. Keep them all carefully.

GETTING IN

Many empty properties can be walked into as they have become insecure through vandalism.

You do not want to commit criminal damage and the police may try to accuse you of this, but

they would only be able to do anything if there were witnesses. Once you are in, you should

change the locks or secure every door and other way in so that you control entry and are

physically, as well as legally, protected. You should repair any damage done by other peoplestraight away.

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IF THE POLICE SHOW UP

As explained above there are very specific conditions in which the new law has effect, and the

police SHOULD not take any interest otherwise. You should try to explain the situation to

them without letting them into the property. The police are not meant to act as agents for private

individuals or other landlords, but unfortunately they often seem to think that if they have been

given access, this gives them the right to give access to someone else, or that you have givenup any rights under S6 CLA.

We are going to go through a long phase of getting to understand how the police will act. There

should be some guidance from the Association of Police Officers which should make what we

can expect more clear, and which should explain to the police at least some of things they might

do wrong, which we will be able to refer to.

Even before the new law there has been an increase over many years in police threatening to

arrest people for some charge unless people move out. Clearly if they believe that a criminal

offence has been committed they would not allow the culprits to simply walk away like this. It is

extremely rare for squatters to be charged with things like burglary, criminal damage or

extraction of electricity which are the polices favourite excuses for carrying out evictions

without lawful authority. ASS would of course recommend that you dont leave yourself open to

be charged with such offences and think that the best way to do this is by giving a No

Comment interview if you are arrested.

In general record as much information about any police officers threatening you and your home,

including their numbers, and anything they say. If things go wrong contact ASS or your local

network/whatever to discuss making a complaint, and/or suing them.

If you get arrested you still do not have to say anything, and it is a good idea not to. You have a

right to your own solicitor, we advise you not to go with the duty solicitor, who often work withthe police. Only accept a solicitor who is happy with you giving a no comment interview. If the

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police know that you have committed a crime then they will charge you. If not they will just be

fishing for excuses, and you may something which can be misinterpreted. Some police like to

believe (when it helps them) that doing repairs is criminal damage for example.

STAYING IN

The chances of staying forever are extremely thin. At some point someone will turn up with aright too the property and want you out.

We THINK that most evictions will still not take place until there has been a court case. As well

as use of the new law, there is old law which means that you might be evicted without a court

hearing if the property wasnt actually empty (you made a mistake) or is due to be moved into

by a tenant who needs the place to live in. The first case is called a Displaced Residential

Occupier (DRO) and the second a Protected Intending Occupier (PIO). A PIO needs to have the

right form of certificate or statement to show that they do have a right to live in the property andneed to do so. If they have done what they need to you can be arrested for not moving out.

Court claims now include a normal possession order claim and the slightly speeded up Interim

Possession Order which includes criminal sanctions. In other words if an IPO is made and

served on you properly you could be arrested for not moving out within 24 hours. A normal

possession order has to be enforced by court bailiffs, who can be quite busy, particularly in

Central London.

If you get court papers talk to ASS about coming up with a defence. Its amazing what they can

get wrong, including not even having a right to the place. Normally defences are a bit more

technical.

Dont put too much effort into major repairs if you dont know how long youll have there. Do put

effort into working out a decent relationship with your neighbours. This can help in all sorts ofways.

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You can get DIY advice online or from good books like the Collins Complete DIY manual, which

should be in your local library if such things still exist.

Did we say to get a network together? Have you done it yet?

CONTACT

ADVISORY SERVICE FOR SQUATTERS (ASS)

Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel High St,

London E1 7QX.

Open Monday to Friday 2-6pm

Tel: 0203 216 0099 or 0845 6445814

Fax: 0203 216 0098

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[email protected]

SQUATTERS ACTION FOR SECURE HOMES (SQUASH) www.squashcampaign.org

or for local support:

- Practical Squatters Nights (every Tuesday 7-8pm rotating between South and East London)

56a InfoShop 56 Crampton Street SE17 / LARC 61 Fieldgate St E1

- South London Network

- [email protected] sln@aktivix

- SNOB-AHA- brighton.squat.net- Bristol Housing Action Movement - http://www.public-interest.co.uk/bham/

version 15th June 2012

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Squatting Made LESS Simple