Remove Travellers or relinquish land title?

[Toetouchingtitties]

I’ve recently become an Administrator for a relatives estate. As part of their estate, they owned a very small plot of land in a London borough, surrounded by houses. The land is fenced in and did have a padlocked entranced.

I visited recently to check everything was ok, to find Travellers, plus their horses have taken it over. This must’ve happened in the last few months. It was relatively contained and tidy before - but is now an absolute mess, covered with rubbish etc.

I’ve enquired with bailiffs about costs to remove them and it’s roughly the same as the land would be worth if I sold it. I do not want the hassle of managing the eviction, re-securing the site, cleaning it up and then selling it; especially as the estate will lose money overall.

So, I’m thinking of just relinquishing the land back to the land registry and walking away. But, at the back of my mind I’d feel somewhat guilty as the area is otherwise well kept by the local residents.

AIBU to save the estate money, but by doing so potentially impact the local residents enjoyment of the area? For clarity, I don’t know anyone who lives in the area, I don’t live locally and we don’t have any local family ties.

And please stop dehumanising them. They're not a blight or a problem to be solved

Can you DM me your address, I'm looking for somewhere to live in the summer.

Also you should act in the interests of the person who owned it. Who presumably didn't want to hand it to a bunch of lawless thieves.

When we wanted to move travellers on after they trashed an empty house and surrounding land we turned up with a big digger. Gave them an hour to move on or they'd be stuck there with a massive trench that couldn't be driven or ridden over. They moved on within the hour without too much grumbling. We then dug the trench so they couldn't return so we could proceed with the demolition and rebuilding that had planning permission.

@Toetouchingtitties
The new Labour government might have a different view re the development of such land for housing so don't give up.

They might if the locals complain about the squatters

@Toetouchingtitties This is actually a very good idea.
If it has parking nearby.

Try talking to
http://www.londongypsiesandtravellers.org.uk

they might be able to help negotiate something. Some councils have a ‘negotiated stopping’ policy, so it’s worth talking to them - they could at least provide water/bins a portaloo while they’re there so they can keep it tidy. The Travellers might want to buy the land (Traveller planning policy is different so may be allowed). Either way, best way will be to get some specialised help with talking to them about what needs to be done - even giving them a few months lease on conditions of keeping it tidy and leaving when the council has found them somewhere else to go might work? Sounds like they’d be homeless if not where they are so it might be a good opportunity to resolve that with them.

And please stop dehumanising them. They're not a blight or a problem to be solved.

Pretty much every traveller site I have ever seen has been a blight. And the human waste that was left behind when they moved on from an industrial estate car park near me recently was very much a problem, the clearing up of which was paid for by local taxes.

They are both a blight and a problem to be solved. They are illegally occupying land which isn’t theirs and are making a mess of it.

Why is it that we are supposed to let travellers do what they want without fear of consequences when everyone else is supposed to live law-abiding lives?

One obvious question might be who is responsible for the costs of evicting them?

Might the Council/Police do it?

Have you considered buying a caravan off them?

I think the land owner is responsible for the cost, which will be higher the more adversarial it is (hence my suggestion of negotiations). It’s not actually illegal for them to occupy the land (breaking the lock was, obviously) Trespass is a civil offence - unless OP tells them to leave they’re not acting unlawfully by staying there. The council can intervene by serving a planning enforcement notice - that would give a timescale and compel OP to take reasonable steps to comply with the councils instructions.

Don’t give the land back. Keep it. At some stage planning will happen, especially with this government. That land could be a goldmine. Acting in the best interest of the estate would be to evict the people living there.

Be very careful before getting into a confrontation with them though. Even the police are scared of them in our area and they advise local businesses to just pay them what they want otherwise they come back and torch the buildings.

“Never bet a P!””

( Snatch)

No it’s not your right it’s the criminal offence of arson and attempted murder

Don’t be so bloody wet!

PAY them??
Never heard anything more ludicrous in my life!

That’s just going to make them return again and again abs again for extortion money.

And please stop dehumanising them. They're not a blight or a problem to be solved.

Travellers stayed on a local common for four days. The cost of cleaning up the human excrement they left behind cost the council £100,000 in specialist waste removal.

Given what that money could have been spent on in our local community, I'd say that's firmly in the blight category. If they'd left the site as they found It, that would be a different matter.

tell you what’s a blight on this country is bigotry and racism. Never understand why people think this single form of racism is acceptable.

I’m just recounting what the police told my friend who is FD of a local business. The travellers wanted to launder large sums of money through the business and the police advised him to do it rather than risk reprisals from the travellers. I found it chilling that they are effectively above the law in that situation.
I’m not suggesting the OP pay the travellers but I would advise her against dealing with them personally. It should be handled via legal representatives.

Do you know that they are still there? They might have only stayed for a short while. I suspect that local residents may well have complained.

@UnfriendMe I think you are human rubbish actually.
I am a traveller and proud.
How racist!

I would a) get a valuation (red book) from a RICs surveyor. Then b) leaflet the surrounding houses to see if they wanted to buy it at that price. They could set up a private park for their children to play in, or just create a wild life sanctuary. More importantly, they would have some control.