The law relating to squatting in residential buildings changed on 1 September 2012 with the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This legislation made squatting in a residential building a criminal offence punishable by a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment, a £5,000 fine or both and extended the pre-existing laws which provided that a squatter could be guilty of an offence under section 7 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 if they failed to leave residential premises occupied or intended to be occupied by its owner.

With squatters now running the risk of exposing themselves to the sanctions available in respect of residential buildings, it is fair to say that they have looked for alternative locations to occupy. In practice, this legislative change has prompted a rise in the number of cases of squatting in non-residential premises and during the last year, there has been growing pressure on politicians to consider whether the changes brought in to combat squatting in residential buildings should be extended to cover non-residential/commercial premises.

In May 2013, the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, consulted with MPs on the scale and impact of squatting in commercial premises in an attempt to review whether a further change in the law was required. This followed an early day motion tabled before the House of Commons on 14 January 2013, asking MPs to consider whether commercial owners should have the same rights as their residential counterparts. During the last month, further pressure has been exerted on the government to progress the consideration of this issue following a number of high profile squatting cases reported in the press (examples include the Cross Keys pub in Chelsea, 111 Westminster Bridge Road and Patmos Lodge, a former sheltered and residential care home), with three senior Labour MPs joining Conservative MPs in calling for changes.