Squatters Plan 'A Hub for London's Homeless People'

Squatters have taken over a former office block in the heart of Soho in the latest occupation of central London’s most prestigious addresses. The derelict five-storey Victorian building, which is due to be transformed into a restaurant and luxury flats, is being used by activists who moved in at the weekend intending to create a hub for the capital’s homeless. But neighbours said the “beautiful” property has now become run down, and its owner - a pension fund run by retail giant John Lewis - is believed to be in the process of applying for an eviction order. The John Lewis Pensions Partnership Trust last year submitted an application to turn the building into ten flats and a ground-floor restaurant with a new penthouse apartment overlooking central London. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

UK Housing Crisis: Why Buy-to-Let Feudalism Must Die

It's surprisingly lucrative to do nothing in modern Britain if you have a bit of capital behind you. Welcome to the new feudalism. The rentier class is thriving. And none more so than the nouveau seigneurs in the buy-to-let market, who snaffle up what's left of the UK's scarce housing supply and extort those who can't afford to buy their own home. What can you do about it? Nothing if you can't buy your own house. Squatting is now a criminal offence so that's out of the question. You just have to pay the rents or live in the gutter. Easy returns with little risk but maximum rewards, buy-to-let investors nothing and expect everything – and they've got it. Read more on Yahoo News.

Squatters Take over Britain's Most Expensive Council House

Squatters occupying Britain’s most expensive council house vowed to fight attempts to evict them after it was sold for nearly £3 million. The group moved into the four storey building as it went up for auction to protest against the sale of council housing stock.  The Grade II listed property fetched £2.96 million, considerably more than its reserve price of £2.25 million. Seven protesters occupied the premises. They claim Southwark is in urgent need of public housing with 25,000 people on the council waiting list. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

No More Squatters Rights

Almost 70 suspected squatters have been brought before the courts in the year since it became a crime, figures show.  The data, obtained from the Crown Prosecution Service under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that 69 people were charged. Many of those found guilty were handed fines, usually of around £100, while others were given conditional discharges. One person received a jail term of 90 days.  Announcing the new law, which came into effect on 1 September last year, the government said it would “end the misery of squatting”. Many commentators feared that people who were unable to pay rising rent prices would find themselves affected.  Read more on the Independent website.

£91 Million to Tackle Over 6,000 Empty Homes

Communities Minister Don Foster has announced that towns across England will benefit from £91 million to refurbish and bring back into use over 6,000 empty and derelict homes and commercial premises, particularly in the Midlands and North where the problem is most acute.  The funding will be spent on refurbishment in areas where empty properties have commonly led to problems such as squatting, rat infestation and collapsing house prices, driving remaining residents away.  Read more on the GOV.UK website.

Squatting Law 'Sending Homeless to Prison’

Squatter’s Action for Secure Homes (SQUASH) has collected and analysed information to produce a six-month impact analysis of the criminalisation of squatting in residential properties. SQUASH is launching a campaign calling for the law to be overturned.  The report - The case against section 144 - said “Given the magnitude of the housing crisis and the huge rise in homelessness we are currently facing, this law has critically narrowed the options for many, and is sending homeless people to prison for seeking shelter in empty buildings.”  Download a copy of the report from the SQUASH website.

Criminalise Squatting In Commercial Premises, Say Tory MPs

It could soon be chucking out time at the Black Bull. The disused inn, around the corner from Chelsea's football ground in south-west London, has been occupied by squatters for two weeks. The landlord wants his property back and the Ministry of Justice says it is considering whether to criminalise the squatting of commercial properties.  Tory MP Mike Weatherley, who represents Hove and Portslade in East Sussex, has met the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, to press him on the matter.  Most squatting, he said, was not about homelessness, as it was carried out by "web-savvy and educated" young people. Guidance provided to the police already warned they should be careful charging people if "there are genuinely homeless people involved".  Read more on the Guardian website.

ALMO Reclaims Second Home Using Anti-Squatting Powers

A London ALMO has used anti-squatting legislation to recover two homes. Citywest Homes, which manages 22,000 properties on behalf of Westminster Council, has become one of the first organisations to use new rules which came into effect last month. On 4 October Citywest Homes became aware that a property had been occupied by a squatter a day after the home became vacant. Police later arrested the squatter under the new laws.  Although they did not charge the individual, the arrest meant Citywest could recover the property. Citywest also revealed it has used the new legislation to recover another property on the same estate.  Read more on the CityWest website.

First Squatter Jailed Under New Law

A 21-year-old man arrested at a flat in Pimlico, central London, has become the first person to be jailed under the government's anti-squatting legislation. Alex Haigh, originally from Plymouth, has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to occupying a housing association flat without permission.  The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Haigh was the first person to be given a custodial sentence under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, which came into force on the first day of September.  The law criminalises squatting in residential premises. Housing charities have warned that it may trigger a surge in homelessness as squatters are forced on to the streets in order to avoid a criminal record.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Charities Fear Squatting Law Will Raise Homelessness

Charities have warned making squatting illegal will drive up homelessness, as new powers come into effect.  From 1 September squatting in residential buildings has been a criminal offence in England and Wales.  Under the new law, squatters could face a year in jail or a £5,000 fine if they trespass onto the property.  Leslie Morphy, chief executive, Crisis said, ‘It will do nothing to address the underlying reasons why vulnerable people squat in the first place - their homelessness and a lack of affordable housing.’  Landlords will be able to complain to the police who can then arrest the squatters.  The law will not catch tenants who originally occupied properties with permission but subsequently refused to vacate.  Previously squatting has been treated as a civil matter meaning that landlords had to go to court to prove that squatters have trespassed onto their property to get an eviction.  Read more on the Crisis website.

Squatting To Become a Criminal Offence

Squatting will become a criminal offence at the start of September after legislation to protect homeowners was passed by Parliament.  Under the change, squatters will face up to six months in jail and a maximum £5,000 fine if they move into a homeowners’ property.  It will be the first time that squatting has become a crime and follows a spate of cases in which residents have returned to find their homes occupied, and often damaged, by intruders who refuse to leave.  Charities and other campaigners have complained that the measure, contained in the Government’s Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill, will criminalise the homeless and add to the numbers living on the streets. Justice minister Crispin Blunt insisted today, however, that homeowners needed more protection as he announced that the new law would come into effect from September 1. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Charity Urges Lords Not To Criminalise Squatting

A homelessness charity is urging the House of Lords not to criminalise squatting ahead of its reading on proposed legislation changes. Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, squatters in residential properties would be subject to a £5,000 fine or up to a year in prison. London charity Providence Row is calling on the Lords to block the measure, over fears it would penalise those who have no other options. Last year, over 1,000 people reported to the charity that they had resorted to squatting as an alternative to sleeping on the streets - 20 per cent of all people seeking help from the charity. Read more on the Providence Row website.

'No Need for New Laws on Squatting’

The Law Society has described Government plans to create a new criminal offence of squatting as entirely disproportionate. Responding to the Ministry of Justice's "Options for dealing with squatting" consultation, the Law Society said while squatting is understandably a concern to the public, current legislation is adequate to deal with the problem. John Wotton, Law Society president, said: "It is quite mistaken to create a new offence without the evidence to support it. Indeed, the Government consultation acknowledges a lack of statistical evidence. The proposals in this consultation are based on misunderstandings, repeated by the media, of the scale of the problem and of the current law, which is both comprehensive and effective. The consultation proposes to create a new criminal offence of squatting. This is unnecessary as it is our experience that squatting is not a very significant problem and that where it does occur there are a range of laws both civil and criminal that are adequate to deal with it. We urge the Government to conduct statistical research before reacting to media-driven public concerns.” Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

MPs Reject Amendment on Long-Term Empty Homes

An opposition amendment to 'depenalise' squatters of long-term empty homes has been defeated in the House of Commons. The proposed amendment to clause 26 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill was put forward by Labour MP John McDonnell. However, it was rejected by 300 votes to 23. Once adopted, the new legislation will make squatting in a residential building – including empty and abandoned homes - a criminal act. Homeless offenders will then face up to a year in prison and/or a £5,000 fine. Read more on 24dash.

Squatting In Residential Premises

The government has released proposals to make squatting illegal in residential properties. Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, announced today that the new proposals would ‘end the misery of home-owners whose properties have been preyed on by squatters.’ The amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill means that anyone found squatting in any residential property would face a year in jail and/or a £5,000 fine. Download a copy of the Commons Library Standard Note which outlines the legal remedies that are available to landlords and homeowners to evict squatters from their properties in England and Wales from the UK Parliament website.

True Plight of Squatters Exposed By Research

Squatters have been revealed as some of the most vulnerable of all homeless people by research published as the Government consultation into criminalisation of squatting comes to an end. The research reveals that squatters are more likely than other homeless people to suffer from a range of disadvantages, from mental and physical ill health to learning disabilities to drug and alcohol dependency. Squatting: a homelessness issue was undertaken by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of Crisis. The report draws on analysis from a range of previous research into homelessness and squatting. The research concludes that criminalising squatters will criminalise a very vulnerable group of people and that far from being a criminal justice issue, squatting should be treated as a welfare and housing issue. Download a copy of the report from the Crisis website.

Squatting Law Is Being Misrepresented To Aid Ministers' Reforms, Claim Lawyers

Solicitors, barristers and legal professors have accused the government of misrepresenting the law and misleading the public to push through reforms on squatting. The 160 lawyers, who represent tenants and landlords across England and Wales, say the housing minister, Grant Shapps, and justice minster, Crispin Blunt, are "obscuring" the law and accuse them of "sensationalist misrepresentation" during recent debates on squatting legislation. Their letter, published in the Guardian, says that ministers' obfuscation and media misreporting have created "fear for homeowners, confusion for the police and ill-informed debate among both the public and politicians on reforming the law. [In] failing to challenge inaccurate reporting, ministers have furthered the myths being peddled around squatting". "As the proposals would have far reaching consequences for many vulnerable people, there is a need for informed factual discussion rather than a response based on sensationalist misrepresentation," it says. The letter adds that ministers should make the effort to "correct any statements they have made which are likely to have confused the public". Read more on the Guardian website.

Shapps Responds To Judge's Ruling on Squatters Rights

Housing Minister Grant Shapps responds to judge's ruling ordering a London council to publish a list of empty homes in their area. He said: "This is a bizarre decision that flies in the face of common sense. Rather than trying to prevent the anti-social and unfair practice of squatting, this judge is instead insisting that Camden Council publish a 'squatter's road map' - which in other areas has led to the numbers of squats doubling. We've been clear that we want to bring more empty homes back into use, which is why I'm making £100million available to help council-led efforts to do so and rewarding those that house people in former empty homes through the New Homes Bonus, by matching the council tax raised on those properties for six years. But I also want to shut the door on so-called 'squatter's rights' once and for all, and end the misery, expense and hassle that far too many people have had to endure for too long, which is why we are consulting on making squatting a criminal offence."

Squatters Could Be Good For Us All

Squatters are not criminals and could be good for society, a judge has ruled in ordering a London council to make public a list of empty homes in its area. With police backing, Camden Council argued that disclosing the list risked unleashing a wave of criminal damage, arson, drug-related crime and organised “stripping” of vacant properties. But Judge Fiona Henderson emphasised that squatters were not law-breakers and said official concerns were outweighed by the “public interest in putting empty properties back into use”. The tribunal ruling means Camden Council must now comply with a Freedom of Information Act request by…the Advisory Service for Squatters for a list of empty council-managed and private homes in the borough. The council said that the number of squatted properties in Lambeth nearly doubled after a list of long-term empty homes in that borough was made public. Read more on the Telegraph website.

Government Paper Says Squatting Ban Could Raise Homelessness

Proposals to criminalise squatting could increase homelessness and put pressure on the police and council housing departments, the government’s impact assessment of its policy has said. The paper, which assesses the effect of the plans on various groups, said the proposals could further damage the health of people already suffering from mental health problems and drug addiction. The government is making the plans in response to complaints from MPs, businesses and members of the public about squatting and several high profile cases reported in the media. The Ministry of Justice said criminalising squatting would send the message that “squatting is wrong”. Download the paper from the Ministry of Justice website.