Legal challenge launched over anti-squatting legislation

A mother of four from Wales has launched legal action over the Government’s new anti-squatting legislation, which came into force on Saturday (1 September).

Irene Gardiner claimed that the legislation could force her to leave the house in Newchapel, Llanidloes, that she has lived in for 11 years with her children.

Created by s. 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, the new offence of squatting in a residential building is punishable by a maximum term of up to six months, a £5,000 fine or both.

Gardiner, who works in a charity shop, claimed that the Act could make her homeless along with her two school-age children.

Her lawyers, Leigh Day & Co, argued that if the police and/or the Director of Public Prosecutions were to take action against her, they would be acting in breach of the Human Rights Act, and breaching her Article 8 right to a personal and family life.

Ugo Hayter of Leigh Day & Co said: “The ramifications for society are enormous. This legislation will have impacts on the most vulnerable people in society, and will be a further burden on already strained public services.

"There is existing criminal and civil law which enables property owners to swiftly evict squatters, and home owners will derive no further protection from this new legislation. It will simply criminalise the homeless.”

In guidance on the new offence, the Ministry of Justice called for close co-operation between the police, local authorities and homelessness service providers when the new offence is enforced.