Anti-squatting lobby set for victory as new law heads to Queen
SQUATTING. It’s a word that creates fear and loathing among residential landlords.
Squatters move into empty properties and take over occupation without obtaining the permission of the owner, their agent or the person legally entitled to live there.
But the law on squatting could be about to change.
Towards the end of 2011 the government took action to make squatting a criminal offence by incorporating a new clause into the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill 2011.
The Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords toward the Royal Assent needed to turn it into law.
It will, if passed, make anyone who enters a residential building as a trespasser and is living in the building, guilty of a criminal offence.
Adrian Mason, of agent Belvoir Luton, in Marsh Road, said: “It’s a very significant move and a welcome result for our industry.
“Squatting can have a devastating effect on a landlord’s business and it can be very difficult, time-consuming and expensive for them to remove squatters from their properties. Regaining possession can be a long and drawn out process and it creates real problems when trying to re-let a property to a potential new tenant.”
“While it is not necessarily widespread in our region, squatting has been a growing problem nationally and an issue we have taken a great deal of interest in, to help protect our landlord clients.”
Belvoir say it is almost impossible for landlords to successfully claim for damages, since the perpetrators more often than not have limited financial means.
In Scotland, squatting has been a criminal offence for over 150 years and anyone found guilty can be sentenced to up to 21 days in jail. But in England and Wales, owners have had to use civil courts to enforce their rights.
A 2010 UK Bailiff Company report found a 40 per cent rise in squatting eviction cases and a 132 per cent rise in squatting over a 15 year period.
Belvoir Luton, along with more than 140 other Belvoir offices throughout the UK, has backed a long-running campaign to change the law in England and Wales.
The campaign was spearheaded by the UK’s largest industry bodies, the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association.
Mr Mason added: “We welcome the government’s decision to criminalise squatting.
“We will continue to support the industry bodies – who are pushing for further clarification on issues surrounding immediate re-possession of property, so our clients can build their property portfolios without hindrance from unwanted trespassers.”
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