Out-Law News 2 min. read

Senior Labour politicians join those calling for criminalisation of squatting in commercial property


Three senior Labour politicians have joined the chorus of those calling for criminalisation of squatting in commercial properties, one year after it became a criminal offence to do so in residential property.

Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary; former minister Dame Tessa Jowell; and Lib Peck, leader of Lambeth Council, have written to the Justice Secretary asking for the change in the law (2-page / 204KB PDF). In their letter, the three claimed that there had been an increase in the number of squatters "now specifically targeting non-residential buildings" in the Lambeth area of London since 1 September 2012, when squatting in residential buildings was criminalised.

"The change in the law last year to criminalise squatting in residential properties has brought a welcome relief to homeowners in Lambeth," the letter said. "Extending the law to protect businesses would be a welcome move."

"At present, businesses with an empty property are concerned that they not only have to pay full business rates, but that they also have to spend significant sums of money securing their premises and face lengthy and costly legal proceedings to evict squatters. The impact on Lambeth's local communities is profound, especially when nuisance and noise is involved," the letter said.

The letter included two recent examples of squatting in the area to "illustrate the local concern". In one case, a group that had been evicted from the local Buddhist Temple took over 111 Westminster Bridge Road, where they were later joined by other groups of squatters. The building's assets were "quickly removed and sold", while there was one allegation of rape and a series of violent assaults during the eight-week duration of the squat. Developers face clean-up bills of at least £100,000, according to the letter.

Another case of squatting, at a former sheltered housing scheme at Patmos Lodge, has cost £150,000 in eviction and ongoing security costs, and squatters exposed dangerous asbestos while stripping lead and metal from the building, the letter said.

Squatting in residential buildings became a criminal offence in England and Wales on 1 September 2012. The offence is committed where a person in a residential building as a trespasser, having entered as a trespasser, knows or ought to know that he or she is trespassing and is living in the building or intends to live there for any period. Individuals can face up to six months in prison and a £5,000 fine if found guilty of the offence.

However, squatting in commercial and other non-residential buildings has not been criminalised. Property owners must instead pursue civil proceedings or take action under existing criminal offences, such as those in relation to damage to private property, in order to have squatters removed.

The Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, is said to be "sympathetic to the problem" of commercial property squatters and has begun gathering evidence about the impact and scale of squatting in commercial property since the law changed. In May, the Ministry of Justice told Out-Law.com that Grayling was writing to individual MPs in order to form a "better picture" of the extent of the problem in their own constituencies, and would "monitor the situation closely" to see whether further action needed to be taken.

"The worrying examples given in this letter bolster a growing concern that commercial property owners are bearing the brunt of the limitation of the squatting offence to just residential properties," said commercial property expert Nicholas Vuckovic of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"This limitation appears to have exacerbated the expensive headache for commercial landowners in having to resort to civil proceedings, and so they could be forgiven for questioning its wisdom. It's therefore good to see this growing support for the criminalisation of squatting in commercial properties. This now appears to be an overdue and logical next step," he said.

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