For property management companies and property owners, you’ll all be aware of squatting, especially towards vacant properties and buildings.
With over 20 years of experience in security, we’ve designed solutions that specifically target and prevent squatting.
Unlock inside access into WCCTV’s squatting prevention solutions, their key features and benefits below:
What are the Risks of Squatting?
In the context of properties, squatting refers to the act of occupying a building or land without the owner’s expressed or written permission.
There are several risks linked to squatting, and these are:
- Expensive legal costs due to eviction procedures and potential court fees
- Property damage caused from vandalism, neglect or unauthorised modifications
- Liability risks from any injuries that occur at the property or on its land
- Loss of rental income due to delays in selling or leasing the property
- Increased insurance properties following claims, creating higher premiums
- Attraction of other crime such as, drug-dealing, break-ins, theft and vandalism
- Reputational damage on you, your business, property’s value and relationships with the local community
- Administrative burden created through the resources and time spent resolving squatting disputes
Squatting may not initially seem like a big problem at the beginning, but it can quickly get out of hand and be expensive, so the best step you can take as an owner or manager is to prevent it in the first place.
Inside WCCTV’s Squatting Prevention Solution
Our squatting prevention solutions aim to support property managers and owners with a targeted, effective and proactive approach that protects your vacant and vulnerable properties and buildings from illegal occupation.
Specially designed to create a layer of defence between your property and potential squatters, our solutions help to minimise the legal and financial risks, whilst ensuring the property remains compliant with any legislations in place.
Below we delve into the details, exploring the core features and benefits built into our squatting prevention solutions:
Key Features and Benefits: Visibility, Monitoring and Deterrence
Previous studies found that crime decreased by 13% in places where CCTV was present, in comparison to those without.
From our experience, implementing security at your property or building isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. However, you need to ensure you have the correct supplier and product to support this.
Visibility, monitoring and deterrence are three core elements to all our squatting prevention solutions, whether it be our Redeployable CCTV Cameras or Rapid Deployment CCTV Towers.
We break down these core features and the benefits that can be gained through our systems.
Visible Squatting Deterrence Features
One of the main benefits of using our squatting prevention solutions is their ability to deter potential intruders, simply with their presence.
Our overt surveillance systems provide an obvious warning sign to any unauthorised individuals they’re being watched. Particularly, our CCTV Towers which stand up to 6 metres tall and are painted bright yellow.
Most potential squatters will scope out easy opportunities, often vacant properties without any surveillance present because they believe there is little to no monitoring in place.
Therefore, through the quick installation of our systems and appropriate signage, there will be no mistaking that the property is being monitored and reduces the likelihood of it being targeted.
24/7 Remote Monitoring to Implement Prevention Techniques
Having surveillance systems in place that solely record incidents isn’t enough to prevent squatting alone, you need a system that can take action in that moment.
That’s where remote monitoring services come in to support.
All of our solutions are backed by a fully-managed service that is catered to proactively preventing crime. Included within this, we provide 24/7 remote monitoring from trained security professionals.
These individuals will monitor your live video feed, assess threats and respond accordingly such as issuing a live audio challenge, alarming sirens and/or contacting the Police if required.
This adds a further line of defence through audio deterrence for those who choose to ignore the presence of our cameras.
We have found throughout the years of deploying our products, proactive prevention is the best tactic in protecting your property against squatting. Hence why our products focus heavily on providing this capability.
Relocatable Unit Offering Scalability for Multiple Properties
Designed to be rapidly deployed, both our Redeployable CCTV Cameras and CCTV Towers can be installed quickly to your property or building within 20 minutes for standard setups.
This ensures you can have near-immediate coverage, avoiding the weeks, even months of waiting to have a fixed system fitted.
However, ensuring the system can be rapidly deployed in the first place is not the only part we considered, our solutions are also easily relocatable and scalable over multiple properties.
For many property managers and owners, you’ll likely have various properties and buildings you need to secure and our systems can be moved to support those emerging threats and new requirements.
Even if at your current property, a new entry point or blind spot is discovered, our systems can be adjusted to cover those areas quickly, with minimal operational disruption.
This scalability helps to reduce costs , but also provides peace of mind that no property under your management is left without the security required to stop unlawful occupations.
So, whether it’s protecting residential properties during the construction phase or monitoring a vacant commercial building prior to its new occupants, our solutions offer versatile coverage.
Cost-Effective Squatting Prevention Solution
Cost tends to be a deciding factor in many individuals’ or business’ choice to deploy security at their property or building.
Security guards are becoming increasingly expensive and utilising CCTV systems like our Towers can save up to 88% in costs.
Below briefly takes you through the cost differences between deploying security guards, fixed CCTV systems and WCCTV’s squatting solutions:
|
Costs: |
Security Guards |
Fixed CCTV |
WCCTV’s Squatting Prevention Solutions |
|
Upfront Costs |
Low |
High |
Medium |
|
Ongoing Costs |
Very |
Medium |
Low |
|
Maintenance Costs |
High |
Medium |
Low |
|
Hidden Costs |
Medium to High |
Medium |
None |
|
ROI |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Our temporary CCTV solutions for squatting prevention are both budget-friendly and high-quality, so you don’t need to make a decision between one or the other.
Captures Crystal-Clear Evidence of All Incidents or Near-Incidents
If squatting occurs, you will need to follow the legal process in removing them, otherwise you could cause further issues that impact your property or building, and your business.
However, to ensure this is completed smoothly, having clear video evidence of the individuals occupying the property illegally and any subsequent incidents or crimes caught following this.
Our squatting prevention solutions are fitted with state-of-the-art cameras that capture crystal-clear footage, 24 hours a day.
All cameras have built-in Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) and infrared capabilities that allow you to capture imagery at all times of day, weather conditions and varied distances within the specified location.
This footage is stored safely and can be accessed by you or any trusted individuals wherever you are and on any device for.
Applications for WCCTV’s Squatting Prevention Solutions
Our squatting prevention solutions are designed with you in mind, offering advanced systems aimed to suit varying environments with unique security needs.
Due to these units being rapidly deployable, relocatable and backed by live remote monitoring at all times, they can be adapted to meet your specific security requirements.
Throughout our years of service, we identified key property applications for our squatting prevention solutions that will help give you an idea of where WCCTV can support you:
Residential Developments
Residential developments during both the construction phase and shortly after this are often left vacant for an extended period of time.
This lengthy vacancy period leaves them vulnerable to squatting for this exact reason.
Our squatting prevention solutions offer a scalable system that can develop along with your project, providing complete protection and minimising the risk of illegal occupation of any property or land on your site.
With rental options available, you can cater your security to the length of your residential development.
Vacant Commercial Properties and Buildings
Empty retail units, offices and other commercial properties and buildings are prime targets for squatting.
It can be extremely costly for property owners and managers if their property or building becomes occupied by squatters due to lost rental, vandalism and reputational damage.
Our Rapid Deployment CCTV Towers work as both a highly-visible deterrent and live monitoring system, helping identify any potential intruders before they even manage to gain entry.
Standing up to 6 metres tall and painted yellow, they can be placed around the property’s perimeter and create an unmistakable presence that will be off-putting to squatters.
Critical Infrastructure and Utility Sites
Whether it’s an infrastructure project, utility facility or transport hub, there will be times where they will be left temporarily empty or unused, and these moments can be used by squatters to occupy that space.
At WCCTV, we have extensive knowledge in securing critical infrastructure and the severity surrounding this.
Our solutions are effective, adaptable systems that have the advanced capabilities to protect such sites, offering remote connectivity for you to access your live video stream, wherever you are, on any device.
Public Sector Buildings
Local Authorities and Councils will often be left responsible to manage vacant or unused properties and buildings across the area.
With stretched budgets and the temporary requirements linked to this, we offer a cost-effective way to protect these assets from squatting without tying you into a lengthy, expensive contract.
This ensures Local Authorities and Councils avoid costly clean-up fees and legal battles, as well as any community disruption.
Why Choose WCCTV?
Backed by over 20 years of expertise in mobile CCTV solutions, WCCTV’s squatting prevention solutions are proven, trusted systems that help stop squatters before any costly problems can occur.
Our relocatable, rapidly deployable CCTV units deliver advanced property protection without the expensive price tag of deploying fixed cameras.
Whether it’s safeguarding a singular property or managing an entire property portfolio, our experts can help with your requirements and ensure you have the correct system and service for you.
Speak with an expert today to explore your options with WCCTV!
