266 Ways Of Crossing The Threshold

It is certainly correct that our statute books contain some 266 different laws allowing public authorities the right to enter your private home. These apply to all manner of officers, from RSPCA Inspectors to Television Licensing Officers. If you obstruct the entering Officer, you may find yourself subject to a very large fine.

Some entries require a warrant to be issued, some not; some require notice to be given, some not; some state the permissible hours of entry, and some do not. The report by the Centre for Policy Studies says the overall picture is ‘a mess of confused and intrusive regulation’ and this indeed is the truth of the matter.

But there are times when you might want the state to be able to enter a home without the owner’s permission. If next door is on fire and your neighbours are in Australia, you’d be annoyed if the fire spread to your house because the Fireman refused to break as he didn’t have the neighbour’s permission. And clearly if you were certain the flat below you was a den of inequity up to all sorts, it wouldn’t make sense if the police were refused entry by the occupants to check it out.

However, think about this in another light. It’s the middle of the night and the doorbell sounds. You struggle out of bed, open the front door, and an Officer from the Council wants to come inside now. You can’t stop him as he is allowed to under the Housing Act 1985. Rubbing sleep from your eyes you refuse, but if you are considered to have obstructed the Officer you could find yourself subject to a £5,000 fine.

There is no single legal power for public servants, be they police officers or pensions inspectors, to have the right to enter private property. Their right to entry, must rely upon a specific law that authorises them to do so in particular circumstances, like the Officer using the Housing Act. This can be very confusing for Joe Public, who opens the door to the ‘authorised’ person waving a piece of paper as they barge past.

The Report recommends a reform to the law of entry by bringing all powers under a single Act, a simple set of universal rules which Joe Public would find much easier to read and understand. This is surely a sensible solution, and would encourage transparency and accountability. An Englishman’s house is his castle, unless the law says otherwise, and this law needs to be easily understood and accessible to everyone.

Published 01/05/2007.