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UK Housing Minister looks to Scottish example with squatters

December 08 2010
Act used to assist the Highland clearances has wiped out squatting north of the border


Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied building that the squatters do not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use. Housing Minister Grant Shapps has published an online guide for homeowners, aimed at preventing squatters "invading" their property. Mr Shapps says he is keen to end the "anti-social, undesirable and unfair" practice of squatting in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

According to the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, squatting is regarded as a civil matter (a private dispute between squatter and homeowner), whereas in Scotland it is a criminal offence. Squatting was made illegal in Scotland as a result of the Trespass Scotland Act, passed in 1865. Jim, who lives in London and is a longstanding member of the Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) explains: "The Act was passed after the clearances, to make sure the clearances worked and to make sure the people didn't come back. And now there's virtually no squatting in Scotland."

Research carried out by Edinburgh's Squatters' Rights Association (ESRA) confirms Jim's analysis, reporting that squats formed in Scotland tend to be broken up quickly and legally. Shelter Scotland warns on its website that "squatting is not an option in Scotland" and explains that the owner of lawful occupier of a property has the right to evict squatters without any notice or applying to the court for an eviction order. Squatters in Scotland also face a fine or even imprisonment.

Advocates of squatting have voiced concerns that policies and laws that oppose squatting could compound the problems of homelessness. Jim, from ASS, explained that the majority of people who squat in the UK do so out of necessity, rather than for political reasons: "What is important to understand about squatting here, which is very different from squatting everywhere else in Western Europe, is that mostly it's about housing - people being angry that they've got nowhere to live with buildings standing empty. It is far less overtly political, as in say Germany or Greece."

An investigation published by the Guardian newspaper earlier this year found that almost half a million homes are lying empty in the UK – enough properties to put a roof over the heads of a quarter of the families on council house waiting lists - and these figures do not even count commercial properties. Karley Sciortino, who has squatted in London for several years, said: "It's completely ridiculous to think that in this current state people in the UK are still homeless."

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