If you’re interested in being a squatter in the UK, you may just have found a great field. Homeowners in the UK have found themselves highly frustrated lately because of a legal loophole that forces property owners to get a new eviction letter for every incident. This means that every time that a squatter is in their home, they need a new eviction order if they can’t prove that the squatter was previously on the property.
Professional Squatters
In addition, the legal loophole requires homeowners to go through a serious legal battle that usually lasts for many months. The threat is mostly coming for real estate investors in the UK who fail to keep steady tenants. Professional squatters will take over a vacant home, and it can become incredibly difficult and costly to remove them.
Blaming the Homeowner
To make matters worse, the homeowner may be blamed if the property isn’t properly protected. Of course, much of the time, the squatters insist that they are doing the homeowners a favor. They complain that properties in the UK shouldn’t remain empty when there is a housing shortage, and that rents are too steep.
Squatter Rights
For now, it is legal for squatters to enter unoccupied properties, as long as they don’t create any damage and as long as the property is vacant when they came. Once they are squatting, the owner actually has to take them to civil court to sue for possession. And – to make matters worse – if they have been in the home for 12 months, they can actually claim possession!