Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has made the first step towards outlawing squatting in commercial property. Mr Grayling is understood to have written to MPs to discover the extent of the problem before deciding whether to bring the law in line with that regarding residential property.
Pubs and shops have been occupied by squatters
Squatting in residential property has been illegal since September 2012. Anyone found guilty of doing so faces six months in prison, a £5,000 fine or both. However, commercial property was excluded from the legislation resulting in a rise in instances of squatting in pubs, shops and other business premises.
In these cases the police can only take action if the squatters commit an offence while they are occupying the property or they refuse to leave when ordered to do so by a court. This means that landlords must serve an Interim Possession Order (IPO) against the squatters to get the property back.
Following a clutch of high-profile instances of squatting in vacant Chelsea pubs, calls for the law to be amended to include commercial property have increased. It now seems that ministers are listening and are finally prepared to take action.
The Evening Standard reports a source close to Mr Grayling as saying that he is ‘sympathetic to the problem’ but he wants to gather as much evidence as possible before deciding whether or not to extend the law to cover commercial property.
This could be done without drafting new legislation as all it would require is the introduction of a clause to the existing bill, which could be done this year.
Bryan Johnston, an expert in real estate litigation, said; “In our view the current law sends mixed signals to squatters and landowners by making an artificial distinction between commercial and residential property. The law should be consistent – either the behaviour is criminal or it is not.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that they are ‘continuing to monitor the situation closely.’
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