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Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is by no means insane, especially if you consider the broader legal status. It's illegal to break into places, and it's illegal to occupy people's homes. What is called squatting refers to occupying empty/abandoned places, and it would be insane to make that a criminal offense.
You mean that if I have a place and leave it empty for any reason, then it can be squatted, and this is perfectly legal? If yes, this is unbelievable and insane, yes.
> Signed by "The Occupiers", the notice ... claimed any attempt to enter the premises without their permission was a criminal offence and could result in a prison sentence or fine. This is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense and that they can even argue that forceful eviction by the owner would be a criminal offense
> is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense No. Clearly a civil case.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is by no means insane, especially if you consider the broader legal status. It's illegal to break into places, and it's illegal to occupy people's homes. What is called squatting refers to occupying empty/abandoned places, and it would be insane to make that a criminal offense.
You mean that if I have a place and leave it empty for any reason, then it can be squatted, and this is perfectly legal? If yes, this is unbelievable and insane, yes.
Leaving your primary home empty because you visited a grocery store is not the same as leaving your 2nd (physically unnecessary) home empty except for 4 weeks a summer.
Housing should be a right.
Hoarding it should be criminal.
Even in the wake of the GFC, we've had unclear ownership on houses taht were foreclosed on (sometimes legally, sometimes not) where the foreclosing firm didn't have clear ownership of the debt and may have just gone out of business anyway.
I, for one, am more interested in people having shelter than I am with a house sitting empty for decades because it has no heirs or the true owners own so many properties they don't even notice.
Yet squatting can be (and is) weaponized with fake leases that turn the issue into a civil complaint with all that delays that entails. Squatters are getting sophisticated by finding out details of the owner to make their forged lease seem more realistic.
Which brings us to the real problems:
1. Housing is unaffordable. Squatting is a symptom of unaffordable and/or unavailable housing; and
2. Private property (as opposed to personal property) as a form of wealth creation is fundamentally broken and incompatible with affordable housing.
> Signed by "The Occupiers", the notice ... claimed any attempt to enter the premises without their permission was a criminal offence and could result in a prison sentence or fine. This is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense and that they can even argue that forceful eviction by the owner would be a criminal offense
> is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense No. Clearly a civil case.
Lots of comments here complaining about the fact that squatting is allowed. But the property seems to have been empty for years. It's hard for me to be sympathetic to the right to leave a property completely vacant and unused.
The property was functioning as a pub until March of this year: https://whatpub.com/pubs/NLD/5989/york-albany-london The squatters seem to have taken possession less than a month after it was closed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense No. Clearly a civil case.
Yet stealing property that isn’t real estate is criminal.
Squatting rights are necessary in any property system. In many European countries they were setup after WWII because an absolute property system was failing the people: there were many abandoned buildings whose owners were dead/missing/gone and many people whose dwellings had been destroyed. Squatting saved many lives, and so did the laws that legalized squatting.
> Signed by "The Occupiers", the notice ... claimed any attempt to enter the premises without their permission was a criminal offence and could result in a prison sentence or fine. This is insane that squatting is not a criminal offense and that they can even argue that forceful eviction by the owner would be a criminal offense
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well that's an easy fix right there. In the US you pay property taxes regardless.
Not exactly. I mean, in the US, as far as I know in all/most jurisdictions you don't get a different tax rate depending on whether the property is vacant or not. But in many places you can get a sizable property tax deduction for historic designated properties, sometimes equal to 100% of the value of the structure. Note that in the UK "listed building" means the property is registered as being historically significan…