A nightmare scenario many landlords fear is squatters breaking into their commercial premises, settling, and refusing to vacate without a court order.
Spesso gli abusivi sanno cosa stanno facendo e conoscono i loro diritti. I proprietari possono scoprire che gli abusivi hanno affisso alla porta una sorta di avviso che recita‘QUESTO È UN EDIFICIO NON RESIDENZIALE - L'articolo 144 della LAPSO NON è applicabile.’ – and they’d be right.
Quali sono le opzioni per i locatori?
The first port of call for most landlords is, naturally, to call the police. However, most find that the police volontà not get involved unless what’s known as an ‘interim possession order’ (“IPO”) has been obtained from the court. An IPO carries a penal notice that allows the police to remove the squatters if they have not vacated the proprietà within 24 hours of the order having been made and served on the squatters. The Squatters could therefore be arrested and face criminal punishment such as fines, or even imprisonment, if they do not vacate.
So, a landlord can either initiate possession proceedings against trespassers in the ‘standard’ fashion, or, if they meet the criteria, seek an IPO. If they seek an IPO, they must act fast as the application must be made within 28 days of knowledge of the squatting.
Il test legale
L'IPO può essere concessa solo se:
(1) the claimant is only seeking possession. A claimant cannot seek an IPO if there is a claim for another remedy (e.g. damages); and
(2) il richiedente ha un diritto immediato al possesso e ha avuto tale diritto per tutto il periodo di occupazione illegale; e
(3) the defendants entered the premises as trespassers.
A common misconception is that the legal test for immobili commerciali owners obtaining an IPO is the same as obtaining a standard possession order against trespassers – after all, a squatter is a trespasser, and to obtain an IPO, the individuals in question have to have entered the property as trespassers (as above).
Tuttavia, questo non è il caso. Per ottenere un'ordinanza di possesso standard contro i trasgressori (che non comporta le stesse sanzioni penali in caso di inadempienza), il locatore deve solo avere un diritto al possesso (non un diritto immediato). Non è così per l'ottenimento di un IPO.
Diritto di possesso immediato e potenziali problemi
An immediate right to possession means one can claim a full right to possession and there are no superseding legal interests that stand in their way.
Lacune nella registrazione
Un problema abbastanza prevedibile che un proprietario può trovarsi ad affrontare è l'acquisto di un immobile e l'immediata esecuzione di lavori di ristrutturazione prima di riaffittarlo. Gli immobili commerciali sfitti soggetti a lavori di ristrutturazione, che sembrano cantieri e non sono completamente protetti, sono l'obiettivo principale degli abusivi.
The issue a landlord might face is that it can take many, many months for HMLR to complete the application to register the landlords proprietorship. During this period, known as a registration gap, the landlord is the beneficial owner of the property and do not hold an immediate right to possession, until the registration is completed (and the registration gap ends) at which point they become the legal registered owner.
In questo caso, il tribunale vorrà probabilmente vedere la registrazione completata, quindi è fondamentale che i ricorrenti accelerino qualsiasi richiesta di registrazione e siano pronti a produrre copie aggiornate dell'ufficio HMLR almeno il giorno dell'udienza. In caso contrario, si rischia che il giudice ritenga che il proprietario registrato sia l'unica parte con il diritto al possesso immediato e la richiesta di risarcimento potrebbe fallire.
Locazioni
What often precedes vacant possession is the surrender of a Lease. Similarly with registration gaps, it can take HMLR many months to complete an application to remove the Lease from the register. In this instance, the court may consider the Landlord does not have the right to immediate possession and in fact it is the Lessee with this right. Again, it is vital the Landlord expedites any application to remove the Lease from the title or risk the judge taking this view.
Conclusione
IPO’s are brilliant tools for removing squatters quickly, however Landlords need to act fast and ensure they hit the procedural requirements. The penal notice IPO’s carry mean judges can often take an even more cautious approach to that of standard possession claims, so Landlords need to make sure everything is in place, and they are satisfied of their immediate right to possession.
Further, the IPO is only (by name) an interim order, and the possession order is not made final until the return date. As part of the prescribed form of application and witness statement, Landlords will give a number of undertakings – another distinct difference from the standard possession route – of which includes undertakings not to re-let or damage the property until the possession claim has been decided. Landlords therefore need to ensure they are not breaching any of the undertakings they have given in this interim period, and it is advisable they see the process through to a final order to avoid doubt, even in the event the squatters vacate following the IPO.
For any further information, or if you are a landlord who finds themselves in a situation where squatters have settled in your property, please reach out to the team: Harry Medway at h.medway@rfblegal.co.uk, Rudi Ramdarshan a r.ramdarshan@rfblegal.co.uk, Ben Frost a b.frost@rfblegal.co.uk o a Victoria Huxley all'indirizzo v.huxley@rfblegal.co.uk.
Scritto da Harry Medway.
Harry Medway
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