Man leaves home for a week - 15 squatters move in

[Behemoth]

I do feel sorry for the home owner, these students should have been deported ages ago if they can't afford to live over here. I don't use this term very often but if you squatt in someones home your nothing short of scum.

[99Flake]

Since it is his house he should just get some mates together, break HIS front door/window and then go in and 'evict' them. Surely there is nothing to stop him getting in and making the place completely uninhabitable? Get someone to go and sandblast those exposed beams for example, they would soon leave.

[Terbinator]

Can't he just get some hired goons to turf them out.

[GoNz0]

i would have gone in with a bat and removed them.

[peterb]

Can't he just get some hired goons to turf them out.

I don't think Neddy and Eccles would really do the trick

http://www.thegoonshow.net/

i would have gone in with a bat and removed them.

Unfortunately bats are a protected species, so that is not an option.

On a more serious note, please retain a sense of.. 'proportion' on this, because if the current trend continues, the thread will be cut off in its prime.

[Lee H]

It's all the governments fault for not building sustainable, affordable housing especially when the flood gates from Europe opened with a large influx of new people adding to the population.

Sorry... I thought I was replying on the daily fail website then

[99Flake]

On a more serious note, please retain a sense of.. 'proportion' on this, because if the current trend continues, the thread will be cut off in its prime.

Not 100% sure where you are coming from there, maybe the bat one was a bit silly but when you put it into context, why not go in there with something to scare them off?

I think what the guys are saying is, surely you could just just make their life a living hell so they go away? Or is that also illegal?

[mikerr]

Anything you do will likely be classed as harassment, which the police WILL act on
- even if they won't act on the squatting (a civil matter).

[99Flake]

Anything you do will likely be classed as harassment, which the police WILL act on
- even if they won't act on the squatting (a civil matter).

But surely you can't harass people that are in your house?

Isn't that like someone coming into my house and asking me to turn my music down because it is too loud? At that point I can tell them if they don't like it then leave? That isn't harassment that is common sense, they don't have to stay there, it isn't their place to dictate what goes on, their options are 'or leave'.

Also I thought you had to be squatting for quite a few years before you had any 'rights'.

[mmh]

Isn't that like someone coming into my house and asking me to turn my music down because it is too loud?

THIS...

every hour on the hour during the night blast music (Or a dreadfully annoying single pitch at 1db below the noise requirement to remain within the law)... make sure thier life is a living hell, make them want to leave...

[Michael]

What is it with people on the internet assuming that if he did turf them out he'd have hell to pay? Maybe in the cases where the homeowner kills the robber he'll find himself in some bother (As we know), but this....

If he went in with some heavies and had them all dragged out, that would be the end of it. If they did go to the police they'd have a hard time getting anything done about it, i'm willing to bet the police would politely tell them that it's tough luck.

Would they actually go to the police? Probably not.

[oolon]

I would have the power, gas and water cut off. Also if they gained entry to the house by breaking something or changed the locks on the doors, I would be speaking to the police about criminal damage as well as thief charges (against any property in the house of mine that they have touched). http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/squatters.htm Getting the police on your side by acting quickly so they treat the people as trespassers rather than squatters.

[KidChameleon]

It's all the governments fault for not building sustainable, affordable housing especially when the flood gates from Europe opened with a large influx of new people adding to the population.

Sorry... I thought I was replying on the daily fail website then

Shock news! Squatters cause cancer! And they will make the value of your house plummet! Health and safety gone mad! Political correctness gone mad! Everything is a disaster! You're all going to die sad and lonely!




I wonder if you could get away with putting a new lock on the doors and boards over the windows. Some kind of screw-on latch with a padlock. Then when the locksmiths are called, just tell them you're the owner of the house and don't want anyone messing with your locks. Of course, you'd be sitting outside the house for 24 hours a day just because.

[peterb]

Not 100% sure where you are coming from there, maybe the bat one was a bit silly but when you put it into context, why not go in there with something to scare them off?

I think what the guys are saying is, surely you could just just make their life a living hell so they go away? Or is that also illegal?

What is it with people on the internet assuming that if he did turf them out he'd have hell to pay? snip--->.

The Criminal Law Act (CLA) 1977 S6 makes it an offence to violently enter occupied premises (without lawful authority) That is use violence against someone occupying premises. (So if I was playing loud music, and you came round with a baseball bat to force entry, you would be committing an offence.)

Even a displaced occupier does not have lawful authority to use violence to enter (or re-enter the property).

However there is also an offence of adverse occupation, where someone who trespassers on a property (a civil offence) commits a criminal offence if, when asked to leave by a disdplaced occupier, refuses to do so.

I am not a lawyer, but I would have thought this might be the case here.


But - going round to intimidate the people into leaving is technically assault and also an offence under the CLA.

The DM article is not clear on what actually happened - it is written for sensationalism. The house may have been unsecured during renovation - we don't know. The DM article says that a date for an eviction hearing has already been set.

However the principle is that you cannot counter one unlawful act with another.

(Reference - Police Law 11th edition - English J, Card R - pp934-939)

[Saracen]

Not 100% sure where you are coming from there, ....

Where he's coming from is that some of the replies were tantamount to advocating using violence to turf them out. That, despite the fact that they are squatters, is a criminal offence and would likely land the home owner in court and acquire him a criminal record, with all the adverse career implications that can have, if he did.

And, as far a derailing this thread goes, we have to draw a line between a bit of venting of spleen on the net, and advocating criminal offences.

So, expressing the disgust that most or all of us will feel for the situation is one thing, but tending towards advocating criminal acts in anything beyond a joking matter is not something we will ignore, and where it has the potential to cause legal problems for HEXUS, we will err on the side of caution ... hence Peter's caution to tone it down or lose the thread.



As for what to do, well, squatting is far trickier to get away with than it used to be and the best advice, if you can't talk to them and negotiate them out, is probably to apply to a court for an Interim Possession Order. It should be possible to get one within a few days, and once you've got it and providing you comply with procedures, you can put the squatters in the position of committing a criminal offence if they don't vacate within, IIRC, about 48 hours. It's not quite the end of the line in that it is interim, but it's pretty effective at at least getting them out of the property while it goes through the full court process, if indeed they decide to challenge it.

Property owners have some problems with squatters, but it's FAR harder to (legally) stay in a property as a squatter than it use to be up until about 7 or 8 years ago.

[Michael]

The Criminal Law Act (CLA) 1977 S6 makes it an offence to violently enter occupied premises (without lawful authority) That is use violence against someone occupying premises. (So if I was playing loud music, and you came round with a baseball bat to force entry, you would be committing an offence.)

Even a displaced occupier does not have lawful authority to use violence to enter (or re-enter the property).

However there is also an offence of adverse occupation, where someone who trespassers on a property (a civil offence) commits a criminal offence if, when asked to leave by a disdplaced occupier, refuses to do so.

I am not a lawyer, but I would have thought this might be the case here.


But - going round to intimidate the people into leaving is technically assault and also an offence under the CLA.

The DM article is not clear on what actually happened - it is written for sensationalism. The house may have been unsecured during renovation - we don't know. The DM article says that a date for an eviction hearing has already been set.

However the principle is that you cannot counter one unlawful act with another.

(Reference - Police Law 11th edition - English J, Card R - pp934-939)

That all may be true, but the point i'm making is, if he was to turf them out, would they actually have the gall to go to the police about it, and even if they did, are the police really going to pursue it or tell them to get on their bikes?

This thread as a recent reference to the fact that you can quote as much armchair law as you like, but the police have the final say. Unless they can afford a lawyer. Which I doubt.