I’ve written about squatters before, see My Blood Boils, 2nd May 2011, so I was intrigued by the announcement by the Justice Minister, Crispin Blunt that squatting is to be made a criminal offence and that ‘squatter’s rights’, as if such a thing ever existed, are to be scrapped.
It remains to be seen if the police will actually enforce any such law and prosecute the offenders. Personally I’m not holding my breath seeing as they persistently refuse to uphold the current laws of criminal damage and theft, inherent in all cases of squatting (unless of course the squat happens to be on the route of a Royal wedding)!
Needless to say, the spokesman of the Squatters Action for Secure Homes group condemned any such law claiming it “would only serve the interests of property speculators”, ignoring completely the devastating effects illegal squatting has on the ordinary homeowner who returns from his or her weeks holiday to find their home occupied by a bunch of eastern European immigrants, the locks changed, their furniture and possessions ruined and facing a long and expensive process before they can regain possession of that which is rightfully theirs.
I sincerely hope that Crispin Blunt’s proposals do become law and that the police vigorously enforce it for the sooner this scourge is lifted the better.
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