There has been a lot of discussion in the public domain about the arrival of the new law which, in certain circumstances, makes squatting a criminal offence. In practice, however, it may have little or no impact on those who manage commercial property portfolios.
The new offence
The new law, which has been introduced by Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, came into force on the 1st September 2012. A squatter will have omitted a criminal offence if
- The person is in a residential building as a trespasser having entered it as a trespasser,
- The person knows or ought to know that he or she is a trespasser, and
- The person is living in the building or intends to live there for any period.
Scope and effect
The wording of the new offence is important. It can quickly be seen that it is not intended that the legislation will cover
- Tenants who have held over in the premises that they have been renting even after their lease or licence has expired, (even if the person leaves and re-enters the building);
- Persons in occupation of commercial property, even if it is being used as a residence, unless it is clear that the property is a “residential building” i.e. designed or adapted for use as a residential building.
Therefore this will primarily affect the private landlords of properties which were lying empty but which squatters have now occupied. The effect of the change means that it is now easier to establish that such a squatter is committing a criminal offence. Previously, the issue depended upon whether they had caused damage in entering the property. However, it was notoriously difficult for landlords to prove that squatters had caused any damage when entering the property when the squatters themselves will always claim the property was damaged before they arrived, and that they simply let themselves in.
It appears to be intended that the new law will be enforced by the police. There are clearly going to be practical difficulties with this but from the home owners perspective, the first step will be to notify the police if they hear that squatters have entered the premises.
Commercial Property
Therefore, the position in respect of commercial property is that a court order will still be required in order to recover possession from squatters. An application must be made to the local County Court. Notice of the application must be given to the squatters. If the names of any of the squatters are known, then they must be named individually in the application. Otherwise, the application will be against “persons unknown”. The application will generally be processed fairly quickly. It can still take a couple of weeks to obtain a possession order depending upon court availability. Generally speaking it is then beneficial to transfer the county court judgement for possession to the High Court for enforcement by specialist High Court Enforcement Officers.