Advisory Service for Squatters

ASS press statement 27/9/12

Today is a sad day. A young man has been jailed for living in an empty property.

Presumably, like many thousands of people trying to live in London, he couldn’t find somewhere more secure, or couldn’t afford it.

The new law, Section 144 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012 criminalises homeless people while doing nothing about the speculation, inefficiency and greed that lead to thousands of properties remaining empty and unused.

According to the Evening Standard one man has been jailed for 12 weeks, a woman is awaiting sentencing and a third person was fined £100. They had been living in the property for some time and the owners had taken normal civil procedures to get the property back, and had not felt the need to involve the police.

The new law was brought in against a background of media myths. The Evening Standard today is saying “The law was brought in amid a squatting crisis in London as organised eastern European gangs and other squatters targeted family homes”.

Squatters never target people’s homes, they move into empty properties. Even before the new law was brought in it was illegal to try to squat a property where somebody was living or was intending and needing to live.

The word “home” was used by the media in new and strange ways, meaning buildings that had previously been somebody’s home but had been rented out to other people since.

If the stories printed by the press had been true the police would have intervened and charged the people involved. This did not happen.

Squatting has been widespread in England and Wales, particularly in London, since the late 1960s. It happens throughout the world, including in countries where it is illegal. There is no reason to think it will be going away.

The new law only criminalises trespass in a residential property for the purpose of living there. There are many circumstances where people will be able to squat, to arrange licences with owners, and otherwise find ways to live in properties that would otherwise be empty.

The Advisory Service for Squatters has been in existence for 37 years, advising and supporting squatters and other homeless and vulnerably housed people. We expect to be around for some time to come.

If you are having problems with the police, the following are questions we need answered so we can keep on top of things and help each other.

• Address of property involved?
• How long have the occupiers been there? Any kind of licence or authorisation?
• Who has acted against them? Someone claiming to be an owner? Someone else?
• Police involvement? Names and badge numbers of any officers? Which police station?
• Who does own it? Or have rights to possession?
• Is it wholly residential?
• When did the incident happen? Date and time?
• Any other people involved?
• Was anyone arrested? Do we know who/ what for?
• Exact time/ arresting officer?
• Contact details for any witnesses to the arrest?
• Has anyone been charged? If so, with what?
• Have they been granted bail or kept in?
• Have any solicitors been contacted/ taken on the case? Contact details for them?
• How do we (eg ASS/SLN) contact the occupiers themselves?
• Alternative contact details in case they lose their phone?
• Any other helpful witnesses who we may want to contact later?
• Any other issues/ support needed? (eg reclaiming possessions, filing complaints etc)

FACTS ABOUT SQUATTING IN ENGLAND AND WALES for media and others

SQUATTING MEANS OCCUPYING EMPTY PROPERTY, TO LIVE IN OR FOR OTHER USES

ASS, and others, estimate that there are at least 20,000 squatters in England and Wales. A large proportion are in London and probably 60% are in residential properties.

All the properties occupied by squatters were previously empty. It was already a crime before 1st September not move out of a property at the request of someone who had been living in the property themselves, or who had a right and need to be living there.

Most squatted property, and most property in general, is owned by institutions; companies, councils, speculators, banks who had repossessed them……

Squatters do not squat people’s homes.

Many landlords think that tenants and sub-tenants are squatters because they no longer want them in the property. Tenants and sub-tenants have more rights than squatters, although very few compared to the rest of Europe.

Many squatters have been living in their homes as part of their communities for many years, looking after buildings which would otherwise have fallen down, attracted pests, become dangerous…..

EMPTY PROPERTIES

According to the Empty Homes Agency there are 720,000 empty properties in England.

ASS believe that empty properties should be requisitioned and put to use by those that are in need of them. Squatting is the most direct form of requisitioning, but also often the most insecure.

THE LAW

Until the 1st September 2012 squatting was basically covered by civil law. Unless the property was in fact someone’s home, anyone claiming a right to the property had to show this in court before they could get an order for eviction. The law was tightened up against squatters in 1977 and 1994, both after media campaigns claiming that people’s homes were squatted while they were out. These proved to be false.

These law changes left the position as predominantly a civil matter because it was felt that neither the police nor landowners understood the complexities of land and housing rights. Police in Camden have decided that a licence isn’t valid if it hasn’t been witnessed by a solicitor, when a judge had adjourned the matter for further enquiry.

The new law will criminalise thousands of people at a stroke. This is a poorly defined, wide ranging and ill considered law. The Coalition’s equivalent of the Dangerous Dogs Act has been rushed through parliament with as little process as possible, and will come into effect with no guidance on how it will be enforced. The consultation response received by the Ministry of Justice under a year ago showed that along with 95% of responses, neither the Law Society, Criminal Bar Association nor the Metropolitan Police supported this law change.

It makes no sense to criminalise squatters. People who are already vulnerable will either become criminals or will be forced to move onto the streets. A government that has committed to reducing spending will see a rise in demand for housing benefit and increased spending on public services corresponding to homeless individuals no longer being able to provide for themselves and instead being dependent on already strained public services and charities.

SQUATTING IS STILL LEGAL in non-residential property. The new law also excludes people who have been given a licence to stay there (by someone with a right to do so) and those who are not living in the property. It is not clear how the police intend to work their way through these complexities, and ASS hope they will use caution rather than require court action against them.

Squatting happens all over the world, whether it is legal or not. When there are empty properties and people needing them, there will be squatting.