Date 26 September 2011
It isn’t often that an eviction process garners as much publicity as the Dale Farm debacle. Whilst everyone is familiar with the broad facts, a brief summary is that a number of travellers purchased a plot of land in Basildon. Planning permission was obtained to allow them to use part of the land for residential purposes. The remainder of the plot is designated green belt. However, the entirety of the land has been used for residential purposes.
After a long and drawn out process which has spanned a decade, the Council appeared this week to have obtained permission from the Court to evict the travellers from the green belt area. However, a last minute injunction was sought, to prevent the eviction from taking place before the determination of a retrospective application by the travellers for permission to convert the green belt site to residential use.
I had hoped that a decision would have been reached by the time of going to press, but, unsurprisingly, the parties have managed to draw it out yet again.
Recently, a group of travellers, widely reported (possibly erroneously) to have emanated from Dale Farm, pitched up on land at Stockwood Park in Luton. In this instance, the eviction process would be much less complicated, as the travellers in question do not own the land on which they are sited, so they are simply squatters.
Another common form of squatting is that of commercial squatters. These are particularly prevalent at this time of year. Commercial squatters take occupation of commercial premises and trade from these sites until evicted. Usually their stock is seasonal and may include Halloween costumes, fireworks or Christmas goods. In the case of fireworks sales, the local authority will take steps to close down such a shop unless it has been licensed or registered by the Council to sell fireworks. However, anyone (even a squatter) can register a property for the sale of fireworks. This will be of immense concern to landlords of unoccupied premises.
A landlord wishing to evict squatters from commercial premises must seek a Court order to that effect. The whole eviction process is achievable within two weeks, subject to the Court having availability to hear the case at short notice. Thus, it can be appreciated why it is that the cost and delay at Dale Farm has received such a high degree of media attention over the last few weeks.
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© SA LAW 2011
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