"Stay Off My Land' Whoever You Are" ' Supreme Court Appeal On Newcomer Injunctions

• Published date: 11 January 2024
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Real Estate and Construction, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Construction & Planning, Real Estate
• Law Firm: Gowling WLG
• Author: Ms Şenay Nihat and Minerva Christiaan-Rakus

Why is the Supreme Court decision so important?

The recent Supreme Court decision of Wolverhampton CC v London Gypsies and Travellers [2023] UKSC 47on newcomer injunctions allows landowners to apply for both interim and final injunctions against 'persons unknown' to prevent unlawful occupation.

This means that unlawful occupation does not need to occur, or even be threatened at the time the landowner applies for the injunction. These injunction are made 'contra mundum' i.e. once ordered anyone will be bound, provided they have notice of the order. The landowner must prove certain facts within their application. However, this is likely to become an important tool to protect land from unwanted occupiers.

What is a newcomer injunction?

A "newcomer injunction" is a relatively new concept which enables landowners to bring an injunction against an unnamed party or 'persons unknown'.

It all began around 2015 when local authorities wanted to prevent Gypsies and Travellers from unlawfully setting up camp on their land. The local authorities could not use a normal injunction, i.e. an injunction with a named defendant because either:

1. They did not know who was going to unlawfully occupy their land in the future or when this would happen. Therefore, they were unable to name a party as the defendant to the proceedings; or
2. They knew who was unlawfully occupying their land; but by the time they had issued proceedings and received the injunction, the original group (and named defendant) had vacated and was replaced by another. Therefore the injunction became unenforceable as the named defendants were gone.

To resolve this problem, local authorities pursued a different approach; and relied upon the following provisions of planning law and public law, to issue proceedings against 'persons unknown':

• Section 187B of the Town and County Planning Act 1990, which enables the court to grant an injunction to prevent actual or apprehended breach of planning control and public law and bring injunctions against persons unknown; and
• Section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972 where local authorities could bring proceedings to enforce obedience of public law.

As such, 38 local councils issued proceedings against 'persons unknown'. Practically, this meant that these 'persons unknown' were not represented at the injunction hearings. The injunction was then issued 'without notice' and displayed at a prominent location on the land, to warn newcomers that the injunction was in place.

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