{"id":696,"date":"2011-04-06T08:23:51","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T08:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.legal4landlords.com\/?p=696"},"modified":"2011-04-06T08:23:51","modified_gmt":"2011-04-06T08:23:51","slug":"squatting-for-dummies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/squatting-for-dummies\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatting For Dummies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest landlord News by: Madalena Penny<\/p>\n

In the late 1970,s and early 80\u2019s squatting was far more prevalent than today.\u00a0 In fact in 1979 alone there was estimated to be 50,000 squatters throughout the UK, 30,000 of these could be found in London.\u00a0 Today there is an estimated 20,000 property hijackers living rent-free in England and Wales.<\/p>\n

Most squatting took place in empty council houses, with local authorities removing staircases from empty properties and filling toilets with cement to deter squatters, however families fed-up with council housing waiting lists were also a popular addition to the squatting movement at this period.\u00a0 Squatters tended to blend in with communities and in some instances in London, street-parties and festivities were organized including neighbours, squatters and friends.\u00a0 Whichever form, nearly all squatters took up residences in empty homes only.<\/p>\n

Today, however, squatting is a far darker scenario, with tenant demand at it\u2019s highest and house-building at it\u2019s lowest, squatting has become a blight for property owners landlords and local authorites.\u00a0 So called \u2018squatters rights\u2019, which coincidently never existed, was established through the \u2018Criminal Law Act 1977\u2019 under section 6, which made it an offence to use violence or threats of violence to gain access to premises when there is someone on the premises who is opposed to such entry.<\/p>\n

The act, which was established to prevent unscrupulous rogue landlords similar to the Rackman scandal of the 1960\u2019s from using heavy-handed tactics on tenants, has been bandied about by squatters recently as a crucifix to a vampire.\u00a0 Unfortunately, last year, certain areas in London and Essex were targeted by immigrant squatters, causing misery to homeowners and residents, who were left homeless by these actions. More recently, one family in London lost their home temporarily to a band of European squatters who boasted that the laws in England were soft, making it easier to squat.<\/p>\n

At present, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, clearly states that it is not an offence if a person is a \u2018displaced\u2019 residential occupier or a protected intending occupier or an agent acting on their behalf who breaks down the door or forces a window to gain entry to their own residential premises, providing you are not a landlord<\/a> or non-residential owner.<\/p>\n

In fact, if you suspect, a squatter has damaged your possessions or stole anything, you are within your rights to call the police, who can forcibly gain entry to your home if they suspect a criminal offence may have taken place.<\/p>\n

However, like our Scottish cousins, next year, squatting will be rendered illegal.\u00a0 Housing Minister, Grant Shapps has addressed the continued issue and plans to introduce policy reform, renewing the outdated legislation with new reform making squatting a criminal offence.<\/p>\n

After an interview with an 88 year-old gentleman who\u2019s home had been taken over by east European immigrants, it is obvious that vulnerable members of society are threatened by the new wave of squatters.\u00a0 Unlike their 1980\u2019s counterparts, there is nothing wooly or quirky about squatting in these times and these days the bully-boy tactics arise from the squatters themselves, while hiding behind 1970\u2019s legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latest landlord News by: Madalena Penny In the late 1970,s and early 80\u2019s squatting was far more prevalent than today.\u00a0 In fact in 1979 alone there was estimated to be 50,000 squatters throughout the UK, 30,000 of these could be found in London.\u00a0 Today there is an estimated 20,000 property hijackers living rent-free in England […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[16,37,85],"yoast_head":"\nSquatting For Dummies - Legal For Landlords<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/squatting-for-dummies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Squatting For Dummies - 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