Squatting Now a Criminal Offence

Squatting in a residential property is now a criminal offence in England and Wales. Of course, this is very welcome news for homeowners, and in our opinion long overdue. The new law came into force on September 1st, 2012 and means that anyone knowingly entering a residential building as a trespasser, whether living there or planning to live there without the owner’s consent, faces a fine of &pound5,000, six months in prison, or both.

Squatting has been on the increase in recent years and can happen even during a brief void period or when a tenant has gone on holiday. Until September 1st, landlords’ main option was to remove squatters by obtaining a civil court order, which could be time consuming and expensive. But now, Police will have a specific duty to enter a property to arrest anyone suspected of squatting. It will also be more difficult for squatters to claim trespassers’ rights as their occupation is now a criminal act.

However, squatting as a criminal offence will not apply to residential tenants who continue to stay in a property, even if they fail to pay the rent. In these cases, landlords will still have to go through normal eviction proceedings. Neither will the law apply retrospectively, so anyone already squatting in a residential property on September 1st will not be liable to prosecution.

Although squatting has only very rarely been a problem for our own landlords, we know that it is a real concern so the new legislation will offer peace of mind and we feel it is a significant move forward in protecting the rights of homeowners and residential landlords.