A group gathering outside someone’s house to press them to change their behaviour is a home-security problem that no lock or camera solves. English and Welsh law gives police specific powers for it, in sections 42 and 42A of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Section 169 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 widened both from 29 June 2026, and section 162 created a separate offence for protests outside the homes of public office-holders. This article summarises those provisions on legislation.gov.uk, including commencement regulations S.I. 2026/689. It is general information, not legal advice, and covers England and Wales.
Police directions under section 42
Section 42 allows a constable at the scene to give a direction to a person who is present outside or near premises used as someone’s dwelling. The constable must believe, on reasonable grounds, that the person is there to represent to the resident, or persuade them, of certain things, and that the person’s presence, alone or with others, amounts to or is likely to result in harassment of the resident or is likely to cause the resident alarm or distress. A dwelling takes the meaning in the Public Order Act 1986: any structure or part of a structure occupied as a home or other living accommodation, which includes a tent, caravan, vehicle or vessel.
A direction can require the person to take any steps the constable considers necessary to prevent the harassment or alarm. It can require leaving the vicinity immediately or after a period, and not returning for up to 3 months. The constable can make exceptions subject to conditions, such as a distance or a limit on the number of people allowed to remain. It can be given orally to individuals or to a group. A constable cannot give a direction when a more senior officer is at the scene, and the section does not allow a direction to stop conduct that is lawful peaceful picketing of a workplace under section 220 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
The offences that follow
Knowingly failing to comply with a direction, other than the requirement not to return, carries up to 3 months’ imprisonment or a fine up to level 4, or both. Returning to the vicinity within the period set in the direction, for the same purpose, carries up to 51 weeks or a level 4 fine, or both. Section 42A separately makes it an offence to be present outside a dwelling for the purpose of representing to or persuading the resident, intending the presence to amount to harassment or to cause alarm or distress, or knowing or ought to know that it is likely to do so. The effect must be harassment, alarm or distress, or the likelihood of it, to the resident, a person inside the dwelling or a person in another dwelling nearby. The maximum penalty is 51 weeks or a fine up to level 4, or both.
What section 169 changed
Before 29 June 2026, both sections applied where the person was there to persuade the resident that they should not do something they were entitled or required to do, or should do something they were not obliged to do. Section 169 of the 2026 Act adds two further purposes: persuading the resident that they should not have done something they were entitled or required to do, and that they should have done something they were not under any obligation to do. The additions extend both provisions to persuasion about things the resident has already done. The Act’s commencement regulations brought section 169 into force on 29 June 2026.
Protests outside the homes of public office-holders
Section 162 creates an offence of carrying on a protest, alone or with others, outside or in the vicinity of premises used as a dwelling by a public office-holder, for the purpose of persuading them that they should or should not do something or should or should not have done something, and because they are a public office-holder. It does not apply to official residences, which the section lists, including 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street and Chequers. It is a defence to show the defendant did not know the premises were used as the office-holder’s dwelling. The maximum penalty is the maximum term for summary offences or a fine up to level 4, or both.
The list of public office-holders covers ministers, members of the House of Lords and House of Commons, members of the Senedd, members of local authorities including parish and community councils, elected mayors, the Mayor of London and London Assembly members, police and crime commissioners and candidates at elections for most of those offices. Section 162 also came into force on 29 June 2026.
Practical points for households
The powers depend on a police officer judging the circumstances, so a householder facing a gathering outside their home needs the police involved. GOV.UK says to call 999 if a crime is in progress or someone is in danger and otherwise to use 101 or online reporting. Evidence can matter in later proceedings; the guide to stalking protection orders deals with a related situation, and the Victims’ Code guide explains what a victim of crime is entitled to expect. Recording on a home camera raises its own legal issues, covered in the guide to home CCTV and data protection.
The bottom line
Police in England and Wales can direct people outside a home to leave and stay away for up to 3 months where their presence amounts to harassment or is likely to cause alarm or distress, and being there with that intent is an offence under section 42A of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. From 29 June 2026, both cover campaigns about what a resident has already done, and a separate offence protects the homes of public office-holders. The provisions do not cover lawful peaceful picketing of a workplace.
Sources
- Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, sections 42 and 42A (legislation.gov.uk)
- Crime and Policing Act 2026, sections 162 and 169 (legislation.gov.uk)
- The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No.1 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2026, S.I. 2026/689 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Public Order Act 1986, section 8 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Report a crime (gov.uk)