An MP from Sussex has stated that he wants all squatters and tenants who stop paying their rent to be dealt with quickly in criminal courts. Mike Weatherley who represents Hove and Portslade feels that they cause both damage and disruption and need be held to account for their actions.
At the moment landlords have to go through a long drawn out process of taking the squatters or problem tenants through the civil court to get their property back and the Conservative MP has recently written to the Coalition Government asking them to consider changing the law.
Mr Weatherley said “Brighton and Hove has nearly 4000 empty properties which is the highest number in Sussex. What happens is there’s no criminal act so they get evicted from the home and move to another and then evicted and evicted and evicted.
We ought to make it criminalised so these people can be held to account for their actions.”
The Government say that there are enough laws but they are all technical laws. One of them says that services from utility companies cannot be used by squatters, but until the police sit outside and see a light on, they are unable to do anything about it. Landlords with landlord insurance feel this is not acceptable and a faster process and something that stops re-offending needs implementing. Having the sympathies of the Government is not much help when landlords and local authorities are more often than not left to pick up the pieces.
In Scotland, squatting is both a criminal and a civil offence but in England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is classed as less serious and is treated as a civil offence only. Scottish landlords are also able to evict squatters without any notice and squatters also face a fine or a prison sentence.