Evicting Travellers In London, Greater London

In the UK's housing crisis, there is also the inadequacy of official sites in London for travellers.

This shortage of approved sites in London has created the need by travellers to set up unapproved encampments in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, or Islington in car parks and playing fields and other people's lands.

Government statistics show that there is an increase in the number of caravans on unauthorised grounds in London, which rose to 17 per cent from 2016 to 2017.

But there was a mere two per cent rise in rented plots for social gatherings in Greater London between 2010 and 2017.

Options In London For Eviction Of Travellers

There are two options that Landowners and local authorities in Greater London can use to recover the possession of these lands and evict travellers in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, or Islington.

The first strategy you can use to evict Greater London travellers on public and unauthorised lands is by common law.

Under common law, London landowners have the power to enforce their ownership of their Greater London property by removing unwelcome travellers by using reasonable force.

These evictions in London are carried out by law enforcement agents.

Within a 24-hour time period, travellers are typically served with an order for removal in London by Denbigh Franks enforcement agents.

If travellers do not adhere to the order and vacate the site in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, or Islington, they will be forcefully removed by the enforcement agents from Denbigh Franks, who can either take the help of police or not.

There are some benefits to using common law for the eviction of travellers in Greater London.

The significant advantage is the speed for carrying out the London removal.

In most instances, you can carry out an eviction under common law in 24 hours which gives travellers and squatters little chance to damage the land or property in London and lessens the opportunity for fly-tipping in the area.

The next option for Greater London landowners and local authorities for evicting unwanted travellers is to approach the court and obtain a writ of possession.

The first step to eviction in London under the possession writ is to get an order of possession.

The court will issue this order against travellers and squatters in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, or Islington and word it as "against persons unknown".

Once the court grants this order of possession in London, the petitioner can transfer the request to the High court for enforcement by a Denbigh Franks High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO).

The main advantage of transferring this order of possession to the Greater London High court, is that you do not have to give any notice to use it, however, the Denbigh Franks High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) may choose to provide notice before acting depending on the condition.

This transfer of the court order is useful when you are dealing with London travellers on your land as you need the element of surprise to stop them from stealing or damaging the property and the surprise will take away the chance for them to resist eviction in Greater London.

Long Term Means For Prevention In London

The best way to stop travellers in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, or Islington from setting up an encampment on peoples and government land is to stop it from happening, and if you prevent this from happening, it will save money, time that government officials and land owners in Greater London waste when they deal with eviction.

Landowners could do the following things to prevent unnecessary encampment, and building fences and gates around these lands and making large signs to put at entrances is a strategy for stopping unauthorised persons from entering these lands in London.

Also, you can protect an area of land in London from unwelcome visitors by creating embankments, trenches, and earth bunds.

Traveller Eviction FAQs