Key Takeaways
- Squatting in a commercial building is not a criminal offence, unlike squatting in a home, so the police usually will not remove the occupiers for you.
- As the owner, the burden is on you to recover the property through the civil courts, normally with a possession claim against trespassers.
- Work out who is actually in occupation first. A true trespasser, a former tenant and a licensee are dealt with in very different ways.
- The court route can be quick. In urgent cases a hearing can be listed within days, but do not take matters into your own hands.
- Acting fast, keeping the site secure and documenting everything all strengthen your position.
You get the call every commercial landowner dreads. Someone has broken into your empty unit, your development site or your vacant office, and they are not leaving. Maybe it is a group living inside, maybe an unauthorised encampment on the yard. Either way, work has stopped, the building is at risk, and every day they stay is costing you money. So you ring the police, and they tell you it is a civil matter and there is nothing they can do.
That answer feels wrong, but for commercial property it is usually correct. The good news is that you are not powerless. There is a clear legal route to get your property back, and used properly it can work quickly. The key is knowing the right process and not making the situation worse by acting rashly.
This guide explains what you can and cannot do, and how to recover possession. If you are facing this right now, Osbourne Pinner offers a free 30-minute consultation with a commercial property solicitor. You can also read our guide to commercial property possession rights.
Why won’t the police help?
This is the point that catches owners out. Since 2012, squatting in a residential building has been a criminal offence under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, so the police can step in and arrest. That protection does not extend to commercial premises.
Squatting in a commercial building, or trespassing on commercial land, remains a civil matter. The police will generally only get involved where there is separate criminal conduct alongside the trespass, such as criminal damage, breaking in, threats or aggravated trespass. Absent that, removing the occupiers is down to you as the owner, through the courts.
First, work out who is actually in occupation
Before you do anything, identify who you are dealing with, because the correct legal route is completely different depending on the answer. Getting this wrong can add weeks or months to the process.
- A true trespasser or squatter entered with no permission at all. This is the classic squatter scenario and the possession-against-trespassers route applies.
- A former tenant is holding over after a lease has ended. This is not squatting. They came in lawfully, so you deal with them through the proper possession process for a former tenant, not the trespasser route.
- A licensee had permission that has now been withdrawn. Again, they entered lawfully, so a different process applies once the licence ends.
If you are unsure whether a former occupier has tipped into being a trespasser, our guide on whether a tenant can claim squatters’ rights is a useful starting point.
The main route: a possession claim against trespassers
For genuine trespassers and squatters in a commercial building, the standard route is a claim for possession in the County Court or High Court, using the Part 55 procedure of the Civil Procedure Rules. The claim is made using the prescribed form for possession against trespassers, and guidance is available on GOV.UK.
This procedure is designed to be relatively fast. Because the occupiers usually have no legal right to be there, an urgent case can sometimes get a hearing within days rather than weeks. Once the court grants a possession order, the occupiers are ordered to leave, and if they do not, the order is enforced by bailiffs or High Court enforcement officers. In genuinely urgent situations, an interim possession order can be used to speed things up further.
What about trespassers on open commercial land?
Trespassers on open land, as opposed to inside a building, are treated slightly differently. Here a landowner does have a common law right to remove trespassers using no more than reasonable force, and often without a court order, provided this does not cause a breach of the peace. In practice this is usually delegated to certificated enforcement agents rather than done personally, and many owners still prefer the certainty of a court order.
Unauthorised encampments, such as vehicles setting up on a yard or development site, bring additional powers into play under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The right approach depends on the specifics, so it is worth taking advice quickly rather than risking a confrontation.
What you must not do
This is where well-meaning owners land themselves in serious trouble. The urge to sort it out yourself is understandable, but the law places firm limits on self-help, especially where people are inside a building.
- Do not use or threaten violence against anyone in the property. That is a criminal offence, regardless of the fact they are trespassing.
- Do not force your way in to remove people who are physically present. Recovering possession of an occupied building is a job for the court process.
- Do not cut off services or try to make life uncomfortable to drive them out. That can expose you to counter-claims.
You can take reasonable steps to secure genuinely empty and accessible parts of a site, and you should. But acting against people who are actually in occupation, without a court order, risks turning you from the wronged party into the one facing legal action.
Could squatters ever end up owning the property?
This is the fear behind the phrase squatter’s rights, and it is worth putting in perspective. Someone occupying your property for long enough can, in principle, make a claim to own it through adverse possession. But for registered land the thresholds are strict and the owner is notified and can usually defeat the claim by objecting, so it is rarely a realistic risk if you act promptly. It far more often involves boundaries and disused land than anyone squatting in a building. Our guide to adverse possession of commercial land explains how this works and how to defend against it.
The practical lesson is the same throughout: speed matters. The sooner you act, the weaker any occupier’s position becomes and the quicker you get your property back.
Practical steps if it happens to you
- Act quickly. Delay only helps the occupiers and increases the cost and damage.
- Document everything. Dated photographs, notes of any damage, and copies of any notices you post at the property.
- Secure the areas you lawfully can, without using force against anyone inside.
- Report any genuine criminal conduct, such as a break-in or damage, to the police, even if the trespass itself is civil.
- Take legal advice early, so the right possession route is started without delay.
Talk to a commercial property solicitor at Osbourne Pinner
If trespassers or squatters have taken over your commercial property or land, our commercial property solicitors can move quickly to recover possession for you. We are a multi-office firm with solicitors in London (Piccadilly and Canary Wharf), Harrow and Manchester, acting for commercial landowners and developers in possession and property disputes.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation with a commercial property solicitor, Monday to Friday, with no obligation. It costs nothing to find out the fastest lawful route to getting your property back. We do not offer Legal Aid.
Call us on 0203 983 5080, message us on WhatsApp, or email [email protected] to arrange your consultation.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We always recommend speaking to a qualified solicitor for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
