Squatting Information on the Web

3) Who Owns It?

It is important to know who owns a building you squat or consider squatting, and what the owner intends to do with it. An easy way is to check the letterbox and/or debris around the place or ask the neighbours if they know.

Failing this, you can go to the Land Titles Office in Macquarie St, Sydney. Whilst the system there looks quite hectic and confusing, it is actually quite easy to use. The staff are quite friendly and the information cannot be denied to you - though extensive searches and printouts may cost a small fee.

Before you begin you will need :

a) to know the exact address of the building you're investigating

b) to know the council municipality the building is part of

c) 40c and/or a Telstra Smartcard

Then (1) using the Valuer-General and/or Water Board Records (on microfiche, catalogued by council area and street name) find the lot number, the DP (Deposited Plan) number and the listed owner of the building. To find where these microfiche records are, just ask at the information desk when you walk in.

(2) The microfiche listings may well be out of date so it is important to double-check your results. Approach a friendly looking staff member. Tell them what you're looking for (the current owner) and what you have found (the lot number, DP number and owner), and ask them if they have more recent computer records concerning the property.

(3) Using your 40c or Telstra Smartcard, call up the Development and Planning section of the local council that covers the building that you are investigating. Tell them that you are wanting to know whether any development applications (DAs) have been lodged for the premises within the last five years or so.

The council staff will ask you for the address and possibly the lot and DP numbers, so have these details handy. They will be able to give you basic information concerning all of the DAs that have been lodged, and approved or refused, for the building. Make sure that you ask what the DAs (especially the most recent ones) were for, and whether or not the building is (partly or wholly) heritage listed or registered as an item of environmental significance. This information could prove very useful later on if you are faced with eviction.

If they think that you are being a bit too feisty or suspect you are wanting to know this information for 'illegitimate' reasons, that council staff may ask you why you are wanting to find all this out. Have a story ready - I've said that I am part of a registered housing co-op looking to acquire a building or some property - but don't feel obliged to use it. You cannot be denied access to this kind of basic planning information. Be assertive in your consumption of government services!

Knowledge of who owns that place, and what plans they have for it, is important for a number of reasons :

1) as discussed more fully in the section on 'important legal stuff', it is only the owner or representative of the owner (or the person apparently in charge) who is actually authorized to ask you to leave the place once you've settled in. Generally speaking, the police cannot just turn up without prior direction from the owner and throw you out.

2) different owners are likely to respond to squatters in different ways and these differences need to be taken into account if (and when) you negotiate with them to stay. A multinational corporation or a government department with a fragile public image, for example, is much more likely to be vulnerable to the threat of a negative media campaign than a small time property investor - a theme discussed in more detail in section on 'important extra-legal stuff'.

3) a knowledge of the history and intended future of the building will help you to realistically evaluate the risks and benefits of squatting there. Don't make the mistake of assuming, however, that an approved DA will necessarily translate into any actual development of the building. Property investors (corporate-governmental or otherwise) indefinitely shelve approved DAs all the time for a variety of reasons.

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