The Ministry of Justice has now published its response to the recent consultation on proposals to criminalise squatting. The consultation paper, entitled ‘Options for dealing with squatting’, received over 2,000 responses.
As a first step, the Government is proposing to make squatting in residential properties a criminal offence.
The offence would be committed where a person:
Section 7 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 already makes it a criminal offence for a trespasser to fail to leave residential premises when required to do so by or on behalf of a ‘displaced residential occupier’ or a ‘protected intending occupier’.
While this allows those who are effectively made homeless by squatters to take action, it does notprotect landlords or owners of second homes.
At present, the Government is not planning to criminalise squatting in commercial premises.
The legislation will not apply in situations where the property has previously been occupied legitimately, such as where tenants fall behind with their rent payments.
If you are having problems with unauthorised use of your property, contact us for advice.
Posted by Peter Nicholas on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 03:40 PM