Council kicks out squatter
Wednesday 12 September 2012
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EmailWestminster council has become the first local authority to use a new anti-squatting law to reclaim a home from an unauthorised occupant.
Westminster City Council's housing management provider CityWest Homes contacted the police about a squatted flat on the Lisson Green estate.
Police asked for the squatter to be given prior warning before officers arrived at the flat to take possession, a council spokesman said.
But when they arrived at the flat in north-west London, the occupant had left.
Under the new law squatters on even disused residential property may face a fine or up to six months imprisonment.
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