When Is Trespassing Illegal in the UK? Civil vs Criminal

In the UK, trespassing is illegal as a civil wrong by default, meaning the landowner’s recourse is a lawsuit rather than a police response. It becomes a criminal offence only in specific situations set out by statute: squatting in a residential building, aggravated trespass that disrupts lawful activity, entering a protected site, trespassing on railway property or with a firearm, residing on land with a vehicle after being directed to leave, and a handful of related offences. The distinction matters because it decides whether the police can arrest you or whether the dispute belongs in the civil courts.

The Civil Default

Entering or remaining on someone else’s land without permission is a tort. The landowner does not have to prove any damage: trespass to land is actionable per se, so the mere act of being there without authority is enough to found a claim.

The remedies are damages and an injunction. A court can award nominal damages to vindicate the right to control the land even where nothing was harmed, and mesne profits (the rental value for the period of occupation) if the trespasser stayed for any length of time. Police generally will not get involved unless there is a breach of the peace or the facts fit one of the criminal categories below.

When Trespass Is a Crime

Several statutes carve out criminal offences from the general civil position. These are the situations where trespass can lead to arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, or a fine.

Squatting in a Residential Building

Since 1 September 2012, squatting in a residential building in England and Wales has been a criminal offence under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. The offence is committed if you enter a residential building as a trespasser, know or ought to know you are trespassing, and are living there or intend to live there.¹ “Residential building” covers any structure designed or adapted for use as a place to live, including temporary or moveable ones.

The statute sets a maximum of 51 weeks’ imprisonment or a level 5 (now unlimited) fine, but a transitional provision keeps the effective custodial maximum at six months until a separate sentencing reform provision comes into force. As of 2026, it has not.¹ Squatting in a commercial building remains a civil matter unless another offence is committed in the process.

Aggravated Trespass

Under section 68 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, a person commits aggravated trespass by trespassing on land in the open air and deliberately doing something intended to intimidate, obstruct, or disrupt a lawful activity on that land or adjoining land. The provision is often used against protesters who enter private land to interfere with hunts, construction projects, or other permitted activities. The maximum penalty is three months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to £2,500 (level 4), or both.²

Residing on Land With a Vehicle

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 inserted a new offence into the 1994 Act as section 60C, aimed at people who reside on land without consent while having a vehicle with them. The offence applies where that presence has caused, or is likely to cause, significant damage, disruption, or distress. If the trespasser fails to leave after being asked, police can arrest them and seize their vehicles. The maximum penalty is three months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to £2,500, or both.³

Section 61 of the same Act works alongside this. It allows a senior police officer to direct two or more trespassers to leave land if they are present with the common purpose of residing there, have six or more vehicles between them, or have caused damage, disruption, or distress. Failing to comply, or returning within twelve months, is an offence carrying three months’ imprisonment or a fine, or both.³

Protected and Designated Sites

Trespassing on a site designated under section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 is a criminal offence. The Secretary of State designates the sites, which include Crown land, royal residences, parliamentary buildings, and locations important to national security.⁴ Designated sites under the 2007 Order include Windsor Castle, the Palace of Westminster, Sandringham House, Highgrove House, and Chequers.⁵

The maximum is 51 weeks’ imprisonment or an unlimited (level 5) fine. The effective custodial maximum stays at six months until the same sentencing reform provision mentioned above is brought into force.⁴

Railway Property

Trespassing on railway property has been a criminal offence since the Railway Regulation Act 1840. Section 16 makes it an offence to wilfully trespass on any railway, station, or connected premises and refuse to leave when asked by a railway officer. The penalty is a fine.⁶ It is one of the oldest criminal trespass provisions still in force, and Network Rail prosecutes hundreds of cases each year, often involving people taking shortcuts across tracks or trespassing to take photographs.

Trespassing With a Firearm

Section 20 of the Firearms Act 1968 creates two offences. It is a crime to trespass in any building while carrying a firearm or imitation firearm without a reasonable excuse. It is separately an offence to trespass on any land (including land covered with water) while carrying a firearm or imitation firearm without reasonable excuse. The burden of proving the reasonable excuse falls on the person carrying the weapon.⁷ The building offence is the more serious of the two and can be tried on indictment.

When Trespass Is Part of a Bigger Offence

Trespass can also sit inside a more serious crime. Burglary, for example, requires entering a building as a trespasser with intent to steal, cause damage, or commit grievous bodily harm. The trespass is not charged separately in those cases; it is an element of the greater offence.

When Being on Someone’s Land Is Not Trespass

Not every entry onto private land counts as trespass. Several legal frameworks give the public a right to be there, and exercising those rights cannot found a trespass claim.

Public Rights of Way

Footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways, and byways open to all traffic are routes where the public has a legal right to pass, even across privately owned land. Landowners must keep them clear of obstructions. Using a right of way for its designated purpose, such as walking a footpath or riding a horse along a bridleway, is not trespass. Straying off the path onto surrounding land is.

Right to Roam in England and Wales

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 created a right to roam over designated access land in England and Wales, covering mountains, moorland, heathland, downland, and registered common land.⁸ You can walk freely on access land without sticking to a path. The right comes with limits: you cannot camp, light fires, drive vehicles, or carry out commercial activities on access land under this right.

Coastal Access

The King Charles III England Coast Path, when complete, will stretch roughly 2,700 miles around England’s coast, and more than half is already open. Walkers do not have to stick to the path. Land on the seaward side, known as the coastal margin, generally carries public access rights too. Cropped land, gardens, and the grounds immediately surrounding buildings are excluded. Unlike traditional rights of way that are lost to erosion, the coastal path can roll back to a new position if the coastline recedes.

Airspace

Landowners’ rights extend upwards, but not without limit. Under section 76 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, there is no liability for trespass arising solely from an aircraft flying over property at a reasonable height, taking into account the wind, weather, and circumstances.⁹ Courts have not yet settled a firm altitude threshold for drones. A drone flying low enough to interfere with the ordinary enjoyment of a property, or being used for purposes like surveillance, is unlikely to benefit from the reasonable-height protection.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Trespass law is not uniform across the UK. England and Wales share most of the same statutes, but Scotland and Northern Ireland diverge.

Scotland

Scotland has much broader public access rights. Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 establishes a statutory right to be on land for recreational purposes, educational activities, and passage from one place to another. The rights extend above and below the surface, covering activities like caving and paragliding, and apply to most land in Scotland.¹⁰ Exercising these access rights responsibly is not trespass.

Scotland still has a criminal trespass statute. The Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865 makes it an offence to lodge in premises or camp on private land without the owner’s consent, expressly subject to the 2003 Act’s access rights. The penalty is a fine of up to £200 (level 1).¹¹ Prosecutions must be brought by the procurator fiscal within one month of the offence.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has no general right to roam comparable to England, Wales, or Scotland. Public access to open countryside depends on specific access agreements made under the Access to the Countryside (Northern Ireland) Order 1983, covering relatively limited areas. Where such an agreement is in place, the public can enter the land for open-air recreation without being treated as trespassers.

Northern Ireland has its own criminal trespass provision for public buildings. Under Article 23 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, entering a public building as a trespasser or knowingly interfering with lawful activities inside one is a criminal offence. The penalty is up to six months’ imprisonment on summary conviction, or up to two years on indictment.¹²

1
Legislation.gov.uk. Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 – Section 144
2
legislation.gov.uk. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 – Section 68
3
legislation.gov.uk. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 – Section 61
4
legislation.gov.uk. Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 – Section 128
5
Legislation.gov.uk. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007
6
legislation.gov.uk. Railway Regulation Act 1840 – Section 16
7
legislation.gov.uk. Firearms Act 1968 – Section 20
8
GOV.UK. Rights of Way and Accessing Land: Use Your Right to Roam
9
legislation.gov.uk. Civil Aviation Act 1982 – Part III – Trespass by Aircraft
10
legislation.gov.uk. Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 – Explanatory Notes
11
legislation.gov.uk. Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865
12
legislation.gov.uk. The Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 – Article 23