How Migrants Snatched Our Homes
A GANG of Lithuanian squatters is behind a terrifying scam in which people’s homes are seized and locks changed while they are out, it has emerged.
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George Pope returned to his home to find squatters there
The illegal tenants have been holed up in one property for at least five months and the authorities are powerless to evict them without a court order.
In another case, an elderly man took his dogs for a walk and returned home to find the Lithuanian gang had moved in and were throwing all his possessions out of the window and into his front garden. Tenants have been told the police are powerless to act as the occupation of their homes is a civil matter.
But critics of civil law complain it moves too slowly and vulnerable [at]people are left in a legal limbo while lengthy repossession order hearings are dragged out in courts.
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Angie Belalij's (centre) house has been taken over by squatters
Yesterday mother-of-one Angie [at]Belalij, 37, revealed how she had moved out of her home in Barking, east London, for it to be renovated.
But she was shocked to return to find a family of violent Lithuanians had taken control of the house and were refusing to leave.
She said: “They have been in the property about five months now. It was empty because it was having major renovations. I went round to see the builders and we found squatters in the house.
“When I said to them, ‘Why are you here, this is my house’ they got in my face shouting at me that they had rented it and they had rights.”
Last night Tory MP Philip Davies said: “It is an outrageous state of affairs. The law needs to be strengthened, if necessary, to protect people from the menace of squatters. It is unacceptable for people to have their property taken away from them and not be able to reclaim it without a State-funded court hearing.”
Fiona McEvoy of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Huge sums of taxpayers’ money are at stake in cases like this.
“The system is clearly not working if housing associations are getting tied up in lengthy court cases.”
Residents fear a ring of bogus estate agents may be watching their houses, waiting for them to leave before moving illegal tenants in.
Mrs Belalij said she was told by the Lithuanian squatters they were paying an agent £600 a month to live there. A printed notice on the window of the property cites the Criminal Law Act 1977 and threatens to prosecute anyone who enters the two-bedroom house without permission. The squatters have refused to leave and Springboard Housing Association cannot evict them without a lengthy court [at]process.
The terrified mother said “Under no circumstances am I ever moving back there now. If people can just break in and change the locks overnight, I have got a 14-year-old son and it’s not safe. I am scared to go back there. It is horrific.”
This week next-door neighbour George Pope, 72, was homeless after he found a family squatting in the council house he has lived in for four years. He had taken his two German shepherds to nearby Parsloes Park last Thursday but fell ill and stayed with a friend for two days.
When he came home on Saturday morning, his belongings had been thrown out on the street and the foreigners had changed the locks.
They claimed to be paying an agent £500 a month to live there.
The pensioner told the Daily Express: “On Saturday morning I went back and my key didn’t go in the lock. I saw a man walking up my path and said, ‘What do you want?’
“He said he was from Lithuania and said, ‘This is my property now’. He said they had paid £3,000 for six months.” Mr Pope, who suffers from arthritis and has cancer, was told neither Barking and Dagenham Council nor the police had the power to evict the squatters.
Although he has now managed to gain control of his property, he is too scared to live there.
He said: “I am not going to stay there. I sat in there this morning and I still felt shaky, looking out on the road. I have been shaking and shivering all the time and I haven’t slept for days.”
The squatters have stolen his washing machine, cooker, bedclothes and even his wall clock. Mr Pope said: “The houses all around the area are being taken over by squatters. It is some sort of scam through some sort of estate agent. It’s frightening.”
The Metropolitan Police said it would need a court order to evict squatters but confirmed it was investigating claims of fraudulent sub-letting of the premises.
Neighbour Sarah Knight, 37, has a nine-year-old son and is fearful for their safety. She said: “We’re frightened to go outside. It almost feels like I’m next. I’m frightened through the night now. My son is freaking out. He’s sleeping in my bed.” A spokesman for Barking and Dagenham Council said it was aware of both squats on the road.
He said: “We have contacted the housing association concerned and have asked them to try to resolve the situation.”
A Springboard Housing Association spokeswoman said: “We are very sympathetic to our tenant, Angie’s, situation. We are continuing to do everything we can to make sure she can return to her property as speedily as possible.”
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