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19 October 2012 / Christopher Cant
Issue: 7534 / Categories: Features , Property
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Criminal gains

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Can a criminal squatter acquire title by adverse possession? Christopher Cant investigates

Criminal entry onto land will not block a claim to title based on adverse possession. Will the new offence aimed at residential squatters prevent such a squatter succeeding with an adverse possession claim?

Section 144 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 makes it an offence to squat in a residential building from 1 September 2012. Previously s 7 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 (CLA 1977) made it an offence for a trespasser not to leave having been asked to do so by a “displaced residential owner” or a “protected intending occupier”. The new offence applies to all residential buildings whether or not vacant immediately prior to the trespass and whether or not a request to leave has been made.

The elements of the offence set out in sub-section (1) are:

  1. the person is in a residential building as a trespasser having entered it as a trespasser;
  2. the person knows or ought to know that he or she
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