i think you're probably right - its just not happened near me which is lucky? am i a snob? are all squatters the stereotypical pains in the backside?? lol! so many questions ...!
Occupation of empty properties is a civil, not a criminal law, matter in England and Wales. Being homeless is tough and squatting to some degree in our opinion is morally justified. In some cases however is not an aid but pathological profession. There are, lets call them professional squatters, who bend the law and use vunerable people to take over their properties. Are they supposed to be treated as criminals? What about definition of an empty property? Such a definition could prevent situations which are not acceptable from common sense point of view?
I think the matter should be made criminal if the person has gained access (trespass) if the property is owned. However, if a person has died and had no family and probate takes forever I suppose its difficult to force the law to get rid of them?
I've never agreed with squatting although understand it must be difficult if you're homeless. Dont see why the councils can't take over the empty properties and turn some into more housing and shelters and do things properly!!!
if anyone out there is worried and does'nt know what to do read this:
http://lettingfocus.com/pages/myarticles_squatters.html
its written from a lettings point of view but quite interesting as I would have no idea what to do.
is this a huge problem in surrey?
Hello chezza1974,
I believe squatting is a problem everywhare in England. Is it huge in Surrey? I've never heard about squatters taking over the entire island so at least for Kingston Borough this is a huge problem.
The biggest squat in Surrey
hi kk
i think you're probably right - its just not happened near me which is lucky? am i a snob? are all squatters the stereotypical pains in the backside?? lol! so many questions ...!
KK these guys were removed from the island on Friday - so the whole thing is a history now.
KK these guys were removed from the island on Friday - so the whole thing is a history now.
Yeah, I remember seeing that on Fridays ITV news. Police circled around in boats and had a helicopter in the sky as police stormed Ravens Ait and arrested the squatters. To me, it seemed slightly unnessessary to use so much force but i suppose the police had to prepare for the worst scenario... i heard a rumor that they were using it for drugs? i havent heard enough of the full details to be sure of that though.
news of squatters in guildford at Tyting farm interesting that the chaps say there are 1 million vacant properties and 500k homeless. hmm. surely not rocket science to work out a solution!!!!!!! pah!!!!!!!
Well I am in two minds about it. I can sympathise with the homeless and to an extent can understand squatting. However (this is a big however) what does disgust me is the state some of them leave the property in. Has anyone here watched grime busters?
If you are going to inhabit a property you take care of it! You do not use the shower as a toilet. You do not litter the house. You do not let the dog pee on the carpet. It is honestly foul the state some properties are left in - I watched one episode and these poor cleaners had to take all the carpet up and showed the patches on the concrete that were stained through urination.
I think alternative measures need to be in place. There is homeless accommodation out there - however the individual will have to pay £20 (possibly over that) a night. I think there should be free accommodation out there.
How would you guys try to tackle the issue?
I completely sympathise with the squatters, if a property is abandonded and so long as they dont cause trouble or use the premises for illegal activity.. but as its been mentioned above, most of them often leave the property in an awful state! if they were to keep the property in the state they found it, and respect the area around it, then as far as i am concerned, they can stay for as long as the law allows them to; and when forced to leave they should just accept it and move on without a struggle.. Unfortunately tho, this is not an ideal world and ive heard about squatters using some buildings to host illegal raves that cause a disturbance to the surrounding area and in some cases they've been used for drugs, growing cannabis, and all sorts of things.. and then they have to be removed from the building by force, just like we saw with what happened a few weeks ago at Ravens Ait because they didn't leave when police ordered them to.