Evicting squatters
by David Carter on 16 March 2010
When someone occupies your premises with no ownership documents, lease, tenancy agreement, or record of having paid rent to a landlord, then you’ve got a squatter.
And, unless they go voluntarily or you secure a peaceable re-entry, the only legal way to remove squatters is with a court possession order.
Definitely do not try to remove them by force yourself or you could be accused of a criminal act under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. I would recommend you having a witness whenever you visit the premises, so you cannot be falsely accused of using threats or violence. If you do secure a peaceable re-entry, you still have a duty of care for their possessions.
The court process is in two stages – an interim possession order, then a full possession order. You must apply for both and a final order for possession will normally be made at a hearing shortly after the interim possession order has been made.
You can apply for an interim possession order if the squatters are occupying, without your consent, a building, a part of a building that is a self contained room or flat within it, or the land next to a building. It does not cover open land.
You also have to have an immediate right to possession of the premises being occupied (and have had that right for the whole time the premises were illegally occupied), and you need to make your claim for possession within 28 days of the date on which you first knew your premises were being occupied without your consent.
You can still apply for the possession order, even if you do not know the squatters’ names – you can refer to the defendant as ‘Persons unknown’.
When the court issues your application for an interim possession order, you must serve the documents to the squatters within 24 hours by putting a copy on the door of the premises and putting them through the letterbox in a sealed, transparent envelope addressed to ‘the occupiers’.
Once you get your interim possession order, you must serve it within 48 hours (in the same way you served the notice of application). Then the squatters HAVE to leave within 24 hours, otherwise you can get a warrant of possession for eviction or get the police to evict them. The police can then fine and/or imprison them.
When you get the interim possession order, you will also get a date for the hearing for a final possession order. The squatters can plead their case at the hearing. But if your possession order is awarded, then you can get a warrant of possession for eviction if the squatters still haven’t left the premises.
At this point, if you still haven’t been able to get them out, you can transfer up your possession order to the High Court (using Form N293A) and get a Writ of Possession, which can then be enforced by a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO). An HCEO has more powers than a County Court Bailiff and does not need to give notice that they are attending to evict.
And, finally, once you’ve got your property back, don’t forget to change the locks!
If you would like to learn more, there is a helpful guide for owners and landlords at the HMCS website.
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Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd, trading as The Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. The author will not be held responsible for any comments posted by visitors to this site. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice. The author has used his best endeavours to make this article as accurate and complete as possible, but requests that the reader be aware that the law of England and Wales frequently changes. The author strongly advises the reader to take legal advice before embarking on any enforcement action.
