Legal notices go up at the empty Wanstead NatWest
Legal notices have been posted on the long-empty former NatWest at 53 High Street, where a local news site reports squatters and a court possession order. What's known, what isn't, and what the law says about squatting in commercial buildings.
The old NatWest on the High Street has been a blank frontage for three years. Now, according to a local report, it has legal notices on it, and possibly squatters inside.
Local site Wansteadium first reported on Wednesday 28 October that notices were visible and that a County Court order named two defendants. It said it is "understood" the squatters have been inside for two months and that a possession order has been granted. Its report didn't say who owns the building, who applied for the order or when it was made. We haven't seen the notices or the order, and had no statement from the owner, the court or Redbridge Council at publication. This rests on a single published source, so we haven't named the defendants or repeated court details we haven't seen. We'll update this as soon as anyone says more.
For a building on the main street of a village where everyone knows everyone, it has been a long wait. NatWest announced it would close its branch at 53 High Street, E11 2AB, on 31 October 2023, one of 34 closures between September 2023 and August 2024. That's three years ago this Saturday.
It wouldn't be the first squat on the High Street. In June 2016 about 20 squatters moved into the former Barclays, as the Ilford Recorder reported, and Sainsbury's, which owned it, applied for a possession order. Bailiffs removed them in July, after about three weeks. In October 2024 squatters also took over The George while it was between tenants, and police said it was a civil matter.
The law depends on the building. As the government sets it out, squatting in a residential building is a criminal offence, punishable by up to six months in prison, a £5,000 fine or both. A former bank is non-residential, where entering and living in it without permission is "not in itself a crime".
That isn't a free-for-all. Damaging property is a crime, and it is "usually a crime not to leave land or property when you're instructed to do so" by the owner, police, council or a court order, says gov.uk. An owner can seek a possession order, which is what the notices would suggest has happened here if the report is right. Bailiffs or enforcement officers typically carry it out, and we've seen no date.
As for the future, we don't know who owns the building now or whether it has a planned use. We found no announced plans for the site.
