SQUATTERS

When an uninvited intruder moving onto his land complete with car and caravan, Alan Roberts decided to take matters into his own hands. While the illegal tenant was still soundly asleep, Mr Roberts got into his JCB forklift.

First, he picked up the man's Vauxhall Cavalier from its spot on one of his fields and dumped it outside his land. Then he returned to scoop up the caravan, still housing the unsuspecting squatter.

As it was lifted into the air, the man appeared at the window looking rather startled to discover he was suddenly airbourne. Mr Roberts said it was the second time in a week that the mystery man had parked the vehicles on his land.

Spokeswoman for Humberside Police, Lisa Fleming, said, "Police attended but it is a civil dispute between the landowner and the vehicle and caravan owner. Officers spoke to both parties and the caravan owner volunteered to move his vehicle within 24 hours." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Sep/06)

Squatters have started to make minor repairs to the former Smiths Clockworks in Queen Street that they have occupied for months. They said their aim was to bring the state of the derelict building to the public's attention. Its current owner Joseph De Winter, who lives in London, said he did not want to comment on the issue. The building has been empty for more than a decade and was purchased for £347,000 in 2001. The squatters have made minor repairs to part of the roof. The clockworks was founded by John Smith in 1856.

John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby CityScape, said the building should be brought to the attention of English Heritage. He saod the protesters have a good objective but many building projects were being shelved now because of the economic situation and the state of the property market. The original planning permission for the property, which has now expired, included refurbishment of the building. Squatter Martin said there had been "a load of important historic events that have happened here" including clockmaker John Smith and Sons taking over the site. (Source: BBC News, Feb/10)

Thousands of illegal immigrants have been granted "squatters' rights" to remain in Britain permanently after proving they have lived here for 14 years. A little-known rule, introduced by Labour in 2003, allows illegal immigrants to claim "indefinite leave to remain" if they manage to live in Britain's black economy for long enough or are failed asylum seekers who manage to avoid deportation. After 14 years they can apply to the Home Office which considers factors such as "compassionate circumstances, strength of connection to the UK and previous criminal record", before deciding whether an illegal immigrant will be allowed to stay. If successful, the immigrant will then be allowed full access to the welfare state and be eligible to apply for a British passport.

Since rules changed in April 2003, 7,245 illegals have won the right to live here permanently, more than 1,000 a year on average. It is likely that many paid no income tax during the 14 years they spent in Britain. The Home Office estimated in 2005 that the illegal immigrant population in Britain was between 310,000 and 570,000 but other groups such as Migrationwatch UK, which campaigns against mass immigration, have put the figure far higher. Migrationwatch UK now believes the true number of illegal immigrants could be as high as one million. One immigration law adviser said, "I'm surprised this rule still survives, to be honest. It is an anomaly when compared with the rest of the Government's policy which purports to be getting tough with immigrants who have irregular status."

Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said, "What disturbs me most is how many more people will be able to establish this type of squatters' rights to stay in this country. Rewarding illegal behaviour is always bad, and there ought to be a lot more effort put into stopping people getting to this 14 year level. One of the reasons why we want to set up a specialist border police force is to prevent people being able to stay here for many years entirely below the radar." Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, said, "It is wrong in principle that people who have been undercutting British workers for many years and often paying no tax should be granted full access to our welfare state. This is a reward for crime, provided you get away with it for long enough."

A Home Office spokesman said, "Not all applications for indefinite leave to remain through the long residence rule will be granted. They are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the strength of connection to the UK, previous criminal record and compassionate circumstances, and so on." He added that it was expected that the number of people granted indefinite leave to remain under the rule would fall as asylum claims were dealt with more quickly. One immigration law adviser said, "I'm surprised this rule still survives, to be honest. It is an anomaly when compared with the rest of the Government's policy which purports to be getting tough with immigrants who have irregular status."

The rules allowing illegal immigrants to claim residence after 14 years were formalised by the Home Office in 2003 but previously existed as a loose concession. The arrangements mirror the legal status of "squatters' rights", formally known as adverse possession, in English and Welsh law. These rules say that anyone who has occupied land or property for 12 years can apply to be registered as owner. The 14 years which illegal immigrants have to wait before claiming indefinite leave to remain in Britain is only four years longer than the period of time required of lawful immigrants. Those who stay here on a visa or who are granted refugee status only have to wait 10 years before applying for the same concession, if they have been continuously resident in Britain. (Source: Sunday Telegraph, Feb/10)

A Latvian artist travelled from his homeland to squat in a £10million London mansion after hearing how easy it was to live for free in the UK. Jobless Jason Ruddick journeyed the 1,500 miles from his home in the Baltics after a pal told him about squatters' rights in Britain. After arriving in London he moved into the abandoned multi-million pound home in posh Highgate, complete with running water and heating. He even boasted how he 'eats for free' after going through the bins at a nearby Iceland store adding, "You get lots of things for free here. I knew before I came that people live in squats and have legal protection. You even get food for free. We go to Iceland and get all the good food from the rubbish bins. We always have a full fridge."

Before 'moving in' to the ten-bed home in Highgate he set up home in and empty pub called The Bull. But after living there for several months, he decided to find somewhere new and simply walked down the road before finding the plush home in the exclusive Broadlands Road, where smaller seven bed homes sell for £7million. He says he is 'reluctant' to leave Highgate, adding, "It's the best place to live. I wanted to live in Highgate, that's why I was looking for properties around here. I really like the area, it's the best area to live in." He admitted that in Latvia, squatters were routinely arrested and hauled before the courts, but said the UK was an 'easy touch', adding, "It's really expensive to live in such a big house if you have to pay for it." (Source: The Sun, Jan/11)

Squatters who broke into and occupied a £1million house have been given hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money in legal aid to fight eviction. The intruders from France, Spain and Poland have been living in the three-storey five-bedroom townhouse for a month. Meanwhile, owner John Hamilton-Brown has been forced to rent a two-bedroom flat for his family while he battles to get the gang out of the house.

Mr Hamilton-Brown applied to the county court last week to seek an interim possession order to enable him to claim the house back. He did not hire a solicitor because of the expense. But when he arrived at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court, in East London, he was amazed to find that two of the squatters had been granted legal aid and were represented by a duty solicitor.

Because they were EU citizens and unemployed, they qualified for free legal representation. Mr Hamilton-Brown had already been to the court four times since his home was invaded. He was not granted the interim order that would have let him remove the squatters within 24 hours because of a legal technicality.

He was granted a possession order, meaning he will now have to wait up to six weeks for a warrant that will allow bailiffs to remove them. A legal notice put in the front window by the squatters states that anybody who enters without their permission could face six months in jail and a £5,000 fine. A neighbour said, "They have more rights than we do. They know what they’re doing on the legal side of things as they’ve been in houses before in the area." (Source: Daily Mail, Feb/11)

Squatting is set to be made illegal. One case highlights how squatters can exploit legal loopholes to remain in other people's properties. When squatters took over Noel Kingsbury's house as he was preparing to sell it, it marked the start of an four-month battle which exposes how the law fails to protect homeowners. The illegal occupants refused to leave until he had battled through the courts to secure an eviction order. When they finally went, they left behind a trail of destruction including walls covered in graffiti, abandoned drug needles and excrement-stained mattresses.

Mr Kingsbury thought he had his property back. He was wrong. Just two weeks later, the squatters returned. This time the homeowner assumed that having obtained the original eviction order, he would at least be spared the expense of a second legal tussle. He was wrong again. Due to a loophole in the law, the court proceedings had to start anew. By the time bailiffs finally evict the squatters, Mr Kingsbury will face a total estimated bill of £40,000 for repairs and legal fees.

Mr Kingsbury, who lives with his wife, Jo, near Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, said the damage done by the squatters had taken about £30,000 off the value of the house. Legal bills, a "specialist" clean-up and lost rent has cost him a further £10,000. Under current law, it is a crime to break in to an empty property but not to enter one that has been left insecure. Once squatters are in a building, owners can only enforce their rights by securing orders in the civil courts. (Source: Sunday Telegraph, Mar/11)