At last, Squatters are to be recognised as criminals
 

:luxhello:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19429936

About bleeding time, fecking parasites :thumb:

What was wrong with the old laws?

Looks to me like classic Tory nastyology. Is squatting really that important to deal with when the economy is bugered and the country full of illegal immigrants?

i suspect that the actual cases of people coming home from work/living/holdiday-ing abroad to find a house full if squatters is miniscule, if it ever happens at all

the overwhelming majority of cases are re-occupation of abandond properties

seems odd, as TDW says to make such a populist song and dance about it

It was a ridiculous piece of law. Thank god they've got some sense and got rid of it.

The old laws meant that the legitimate owner of a residence had to waste large amounts of their own time and money pursuing the illegal occupiers through the courts, merely to regain access to their own property, upon which they then often have to spend thousands effecting repairs :cuckoo:

What exactly do you see is right with that :wonder:

Seen all the usual left wing liberal bullsh1t condemning the Tories for it on Facebook etc. Because obviously if it happens to them, they'll greet said squatters with open arms in their homes?

About time they did this, no idea how they've left it so long to make it a proper criminal offence.

If i break into your weekend car and drive it away, stopping you using it isn't that exactly the same as breaking into your house and preventing you using it?

I too suspect that the coming home to squatters story is a bit of an urban myth, but I know of several instances, in my area alone, of squatters occupying rented houses that are between tenants :nono:

I also know of one instance of a landlord & letting agent being removed from a property by the Police at the behest of it's new occupiers :cuckoo:

Wow, common sence prevails in law for once :o

Oh how often does that happen?

Breaking into a house is an offence.:cuckoo:

I don't know why I bothering with a troll, but here goes;

What if you'd left your car unlocked, and bob took it? Would you be happier then :cuckoo:

This issue, like many others, needs to be addressed and whether or not the Tories deal with it now or later will have no effect on the current economic climate. This law has been long over due and will is redress balance of unwanted occupation, both home grown and immigrants, in favour of the home owner.

Has bob got insurance?

Trespass is only in unusual circusmances a criminal offence, usually it is dealt with in civil courts.

Why is squatting now a criminal offence?

But breaking and entering is and this is what most squatters do when entering a residential home. Unfortunately the loophole is that he registered home owner needs to prove that there was a break in, difficult to do when the squatter were able to change the locks and do not have access to their own property.

So police won't investigate breaking and entering if a house is occupied by squatters? Do you have many examples of this happening?

Like I said, if you can provide evidence of breaking and entering, I'm sure the Police would no doubt step in, but if you have no access to your property and the locks have been changed, how are you going to get proof? Because of this Police treated these matters as a civil case and never intervened. Also the registered home owner would be subject to arrest and prosecution if found that they broke into their own home to get evidence.

One of the tricks that squatters use is to force entry into a house and leave, report it to the Police, and then enter the property at a later date. There is no way the Police can prove these group of squatters broke in and as it was reported that the property was unsecured, "legally" gained entry to the property.

And why are you so pre-occupied with getting number squatting? If an old and outdated law is wrong then it needs to be changed.

Because of this, I suspect.

There are many, many things they could put right before getting into bed with landlords.

For a minute I thought that said Squirters, what a relief :)

I'm not trying it be funny but you are saying that in the case of breaking and entering and squatting you need to do the police's job for it and collect evidence?

Yes, thanks to a legal loophole, if squatters claim they did not break in, well then you're pretty much stuffed. Under the Criminal Law Act 1977, squatters cannot be be charged for breaking and entering if the the property was left unsecured.

So you have to prove it was left secured?

This doesn't sound credible.

They should make a law that says if you have a second home it must not be left empty for more than say a year. Rent it or sell it. Housing shortage requires this. dl

It's what Pikeys do when moving onto someone's land. The night before they go around and break the padlocks. The next day they move in to unsecured premises. dl

The Squatters merely claim that the door was open and no one inside when they happened to walk passed. It's a blatant lie we all know they've either kicked the door in or climbed through a window but you have to prove otherwise.

This is why the first thing they do is change the locks to the house so you can't get in.

This will upset many women caught short in a public place :eek:

This is about houses I thought not land per se?

How do you know it's a lie?

No, you have to provide proof that squatters broke in, not that you left your property secured. Otherwise it's off to the civil courts to get a court order to begin the eviction process.