Squatting in England and Wales

In England and Wales, squatting – taking possession of land or an empty house the squatter does not own – is a criminal or civil offence, depending on circumstances.

At the lower end were the incomers known as borderers or squatters, who would erect a cottage or a hovel on common or waste ground to house themselves and would pay rent to the Manorial lord or would work on his demesne several days a week.

[8][11] In 16th- and 17th-century Wales (following its legal incorporation into England with the so-called Acts of Union, an expansion in population as well as taxation policy led to a move of people into the Welsh countryside, where they squatted on common land.

These squatters built their own property under the assumption of a fictional piece of folklore, leading to the developments of small holdings around a Tŷ unnos, or "one-night house".

In Elizabethan times, there was a common belief that if a house was erected by a squatter and their friends on waste ground overnight, then they had the right of undisturbed possession.

[14] In 1649 at St George's Hill, Weybridge in Surrey, Gerrard Winstanley and others calling themselves The True Levellers occupied disused common land and cultivated it collectively in the hope that their actions would inspire other poor people to follow their lead.

[18] Whilst the Government prevaricated, there was considerable public support for the squatters, since they were perceived as honest people simply taking action to house themselves.

Clementine Churchill, wife of the ex-Prime Minister, commented in August 1946: "These people are referred to by the ungraceful term 'squatters', and I wish the press would not use this word about respectable citizens whose only desire is to have a home.

[28] Housing activists including Jim Radford and Jack Dromey occupied the Centre Point building in central London to protest homelessness.

[30] In Somers Town, between Tottenham Court Road and Euston station in central London, Tolmers Square was occupied by more than one hundred squatters, who engaged with local groups to fight for a redevelopment plan which fitted the community.

[32]Students from the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment (at that time called the School of Environmental Studies) noticed in 1973 that the Georgian terraced housing composing the nearby Tolmers Square was threatened with demolition.

The students, Jill Baldry, Elizabeth Britton, Pedro George, Pete Henshaw and Nick Wates, decided to make their final year undergraduate project about the square.

The curator commented that "While millionaires leave 'spare' houses empty for months on end and Tesco buy up land to be left vacant indefinitely, so called public space continues to diminish.

By opening buildings to the public to make and share art, squatters create temporary autonomous spaces that radically refute this logic.

[43] The RampART Social Centre in Whitechapel, London, existed from May 2004 until October 2009, hosting meetings, screenings, performances, exhibitions and benefit gigs.

Such people may legally enter an occupied property even using force as the usual section 6 provision does not apply to them, and may require "any person who is on [their] premises as a trespasser" to leave.

These include a fast track process whereby the legally rightful occupier can obtain an interim possession order (IPO) in a civil court which will enable them to enter the premises at will.

In March 2011, Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove, proposed an Early Day Motion calling for the criminalisation of squatting.

[65] Mike Weatherley replied that "the self-proclaimed experts who signed the letter, sheep-like, have a huge vested interest when it comes to fees after all"[66] and Grant Shapps tweeted that "these lawyers are sadly out of touch".

"[68] Kenneth Clarke then announced an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which would criminalise squatting in residential buildings.

[79] In September 2012, Alex Haigh was the first squatter imprisoned under the new law, receiving a sentence of 3 months after occupying a housing association property in London.

These included the following pubs: the Cross Keys in Chelsea, the Tournament in Earls Court (both in London) and the Upper Bell Inn near Chatham, Kent.

[82] In February 2013, a homeless man named Daniel Gauntlett froze to death on the doorstep of an abandoned bungalow, in a case that has been linked with the new law.

[86] An activist from Focus E15 was arrested on suspicion of squatting in 2015, when she was occupying a council flat in Stratford, London, in support of a mother who had been evicted.

[94] In November 2012, masked squatters moved into the Bute Dock Hotel in Cardiff Bay, which was owned by the nearby letting agents Keylet.

[102] An activist group called Topple the Tyrants squatted a home belonging to Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in March 2011.

[104] Another group called the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians (ANAL) squatted a series of luxury mansions in order to bring attention to the housing crisis and the scandal of empty buildings.

[106] In January 2017, the group occupied a £15 million mansion at 102 Eaton Square in Belgravia and stated they would open a homeless shelter and community centre.

[110] Largescale evictions of social housing have led to many local campaigns in London, which often involved occupation as a tactic to support tenants at risk of being decanted.

St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Archaeological Society contributed another part of the exhibition which depicted the treatment of homeless people in the city over the centuries.