It’s not hot to squat – Bristol Security Guards can Help Protect your Property
Squatters have a bad name – and really, they’ve earned it.
Squatting is the act of occupying a disused building without permission of the owner, and it affects a lot of businesses, individuals and councils throughout the United Kingdom. This also rings true for those in Bristol – in fact, you may remember the resolution of such incident around April 2012, when around 40 squatters were evicted from a grade-ll listed building in Bristol called ‘Clifton Wood House’1.
Who squatting affects
Squatting can affect anybody – anybody leaving a property unattended for even a short period of time. From individual property owners, through to large corporations; for example in the story outlined above, owners of the building were Bank of Scotland – and it was noted that the building was worth around £3 million. It isn’t known how much damage was caused, but rowdy partying and boisterous activity was reported by residents in and around the local area to police.
The squatters were allowed back in to collect their belongings by the gracious owners of the building, but only accompanied by a Bristol security guard – and it obviously reminded them of the need for professional security, as they have since implemented strict security measures that weren’t in place before.
Protecting buildings and businesses against squatters
Buildings are worth a lot of money, and with property prices continuing their climb sky high, it means that any damage done such as vandalism by squatters is amplified in the cost it will carry to repair.
Not to mention legal costs, as there are many legal loopholes that squatters try to exploit, and often businesses and individuals have to go down costly legal routes before they can evict squatters from their property.
The solution? Professional security.
Because professional security guards in Bristol and other areas cost far less to place than damage caused by criminals who are let loose on an un-guarded building, many business owners and individuals who own buildings that are left alone for large part of the year are employing the services of security. Not just security to constantly stand guard, but professional security companies to either patrol the area, monitor CCTV or even implement an emergency response strategy in case of alarms being raised.
The impact of damage and cost caused by squatters should not be under-estimated – nor should the positive protection provided by the cost-effective solution of hiring some sort of security services to protect your business against crime.