But their hopes have turned into a nightmare because a group of Romanians occupied the property over Christmas.
To add insult to injury, police told them that they were being 'racist' for questioning the squatters' right to live in Britain on benefits. The unwanted guests have changed the locks at the three-bedroom terrace house and moved in their own furniture. read further
Despite your panic, this is a run of the mill squatting scam. The police were correct in considering it racist of the homeowners to question the squatters' right to live in Britain on benefits. That is a separate question though. Note that it wasn't a case of the race card being played to excuse the squatters, the question was about immigrants in Britain collecting welfare.
ReplyDeleteThe homeowners were cautioned against approaching the home, because the squatters had shown a tenancy agreement. Had that agreement been valid, the landlord cannot simply walk into the tenant's home. There is a due process for eviction. It is certainly a problem for landlords here, you can be stuck with a tenant not paying for months before you can get rid of them. I had nightmares about tenants deciding they can just stay and stop paying, back in my landlord days. Fortunately I was lucky to choose good people and that never happened.
In this case, once the homeowner showed it was illegal squatting, and not a civil landlord and tenant dispute, the police acted quickly and the squatters were evicted yesterday. The homeowner is still understandably upset, but it is certainly not a case of "political correctness gone mad"