Squatters in Chelsea are susceptible to removal and being arrested.
Squatting is when a person deliberately gains access to your property in Chelsea and starts living there without the owner's or the tenant's consent.
In most cases, squatting comes in as the last choice for someone who is homeless in Worlds End Estate, Chelsea, or Coleridge Gardens.
Just bear in mind that you will be evicted and arrested for entering the premises in Chelsea.
You are not a squatter if you stayed on the property in Greater London after the end of license or tenancy.
If you enter a residential property in Chelsea illegally to squat, this is a criminal offence.
You may be arrested and if you are convicted, you could:
Spend up to 6 months in prison in Chelsea
Fined up to £5,000
The following situations in Greater London would not warrant an arrest:
You keep on staying within the rental premises in Chelsea upon expiry of tenancy or certificate
Went into the Greater London property believing you were given tenancy over it - an example is if a hoax agency that had to right to rent, rented you the property
You are a traveller or gypsy encamping on an unauthorised site in Chelsea
Squatters in Chelsea can be evicted if:
The police in Greater London are not willing to arrest them
The owner of the property in Chelsea, Worlds End Estate, or Coleridge Gardens will not involve the police
They are staying in commercial premises in Chelsea
The owner in Chelsea can change the locks of the doors when you're not at home.
The property owner in Chelsea may also get a court order in Greater London to facilitate the eviction when squatters refuse to leave.
Harassment and threats of violence are against the law.
The copy of possession claim form is posted through the letterbox or attached to the front door, which should be done by the property owner at least 5 days ahead of court hearing in Greater London for squatting in residential property or 2 days earlier commercial building.
The details in the forms must include the time and place of the court hearing, as well as the defence form.
You have a right to contest the landowner's case if you are not squatting on the property in Chelsea.
This can be done by taking the defence form to the court and attending the court hearing in Chelsea.
However, if the court in Greater London rules that you are squatting, they will order you to leave the Chelsea property right away.
The owner must require the bailiffs from the court in Greater London to evict you if you don't leave.
You can receive some assistance meant for the homeless from the council because as a squatter in Coleridge Gardens, Chelsea, or Worlds End Estate, you are classified as homeless.
Homeless people can apply for help at their local council in Chelsea.
If you are homeless and unmarried, the Greater London council would advise you on how to find a place to live in Chelsea.
There are areas in Greater London that offer emergency assistance via specialist services as an option to sleeping rough.
Based on your priority need, you may get emergency housing from the council in Chelsea, for instance, you are vulnerable, expectant or have minors.
Those who come under the immigration or residences restrictions won't be able to get longer-term housing from the council, such as asylum seekers in Chelsea, Coleridge Gardens, or Worlds End Estate or a "no recourse to public funds" status.
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