If you are a Gypsy or traveller and you are facing eviction from an authorised encampment or an unauthorised site in Cardiff, you can check your rights and find out where to get help in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Chatham, or Merthyr Tydfil.
Most travellers and gypsies who live on mobile homes and caravans reside on an authorized permanent site in Cardiff owned by either housing association/council or private owner.
The owners of a private site in Cardiff can only evict you if they get a court order on reasonable grounds for eviction for the COUNTY site.
You may be removed from a property in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Merthyr Tydfil, or Chatham if your:
Unable to give pitch fees in Cardiff
Don't maintain your mobile home or caravan in South Glamorgan
You act in an antisocial way in Cardiff
Moreover, if you are not using the mobile home in Cardiff as your major resident, you may be at risk of eviction.
However, many local councils in South Glamorgan will permit you to travel with your caravan for several weeks yearly.
In order to obtain an eviction order in Merthyr Tydfil, Chatham, or Cardiff/Caerdydd, the landlord in Cardiff must demonstrate that:
Tenants received the eviction notice and sufficient time to pack up
You have breached the terms of the agreement
The court will look into the entire situation during the possession hearing in Cardiff.
You may choose to be in attendance during the South Glamorgan hearing accompanied by your lawyer or legal representative.
Then the Court in South Glamorgan determines whether it is rational to issue the eviction order in Cardiff by ending your agreement.
There are various transit locations in Chatham, Cardiff/Caerdydd, or Merthyr Tydfil offered by certain local authorities.
You can stay at a transit site in Cardiff for up to 3 months in your mobile home or caravans.
The Council in South Glamorgan may terminate your stay in Cardiff and serve you four weeks' written notice without a court order or a reason for the decision.
You can also lose the right to stay on the site in Cardiff if you no longer abide by the terms of the agreement.
It is compulsory that they would notify you and give you a fair notice to put things in order.
In each location in Cardiff there is a lack of approved permanent and transportation places.
If you have purchased your own land in Chatham, Cardiff/Caerdydd, or Merthyr Tydfil, you also need to plan and get permission and license to park your mobile home or Caravan in your land.
The South Glamorgan council has the right to take legal actions against you and prevent you or anyone else from living on the property in Cardiff if you don't have a site license or a planning permission.
The council can:
Serve you an enforcement notice in Cardiff
Apply for an injunction in court to evict you from the land in South Glamorgan
You can live on the land in Cardiff unless you are prevented from doing so by the court.
This process is referred to as a 'tolerated' unapproved development.
An illegal camp in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Chatham, or Merthyr Tydfil involves camping and staying in a caravan where you have no legal permission to do so including:
Roads, coastlines and lay-bys in Cardiff
Farmland and Private Land in South Glamorgan
Forests and parks in Cardiff
Negotiated Stopping In Cardiff In South Glamorgan
You can come to a negotiated stopping agreement in a few areas in Cardiff as an alternative to moving on immediately.
With this agreement, you agree that you won't leave waste on the land and you won't light fires in Cardiff/Caerdydd, Merthyr Tydfil, or Chatham.
You would be granted a temporary stay for about one month by the council in South Glamorgan.
To know more, you can talk to a gypsy liaison official at the local council.
The council or police in Cardiff might do the following if you don't move on when asked to do so:
Grant structured guidance for you to quit the land in Cardiff
Ask for a removal order from the magistrates' court in South Glamorgan
However, if there is a child on the land in Chatham, Cardiff/Caerdydd, or Merthyr Tydfil, his needs will be considered before asking you to leave.
Not leaving an unauthorized encampment in Cardiff following a formal direction is a criminal offence.
You could be arrested and fined or your vehicle can be impounded.
If you can prove you couldn't go on in Cardiff because of sickness, technical failure or another disaster, you might have a defence.
If your mobile home cannot be parked in a legal manner in South Glamorgan, you qualify as homeless.
If you are to be evicted in Cardiff within the next two months or if you are currently homeless, the council can help if you seek assistance from them.
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