Re: Squatters Rights Axed
£5000 fine. They will have time to save up if they aren't paying rent, council tax, etc..
Ideal solution. Gun to the head. Pull trigger. Job done. Only cost is the bullet.
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
finally some sense at last....squatters still end up with what they want tho....a place to stay paid for at our expense, even if it is only a 6 x 4 box
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
Saw this on the news this morning.
I think that squatters shouldn't have any rights in taking up residence in a property that does not belong to them but I do wonder how they would possibly pay any fine (especially if they are homeless/jobless etc) and aren't our prisons over crowded as it is?
Had to laugh when some women was defending squatters saying "oh but these buildings are abandoned anyway"... just because something isn't in use by whoever owns it doesn't mean anyone else should be able to do what they like with it... if they want it, go work and buy themselves a derelict building.
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
Good sense prevails at last, for once :)
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
Worth noting that the civil law was already in place to remove squatters. By changing it to a criminal offence it transfers the financial burden of removal from the property owner on to the taxpayer.
The vast majority of squatters are homeless and have taken up residence in empty buildings in our cities, of which many are owned by wealthy business men/women sitting on an investment.
The cost of evicting everyone who currently lives in a squat could reach £790m if they instead started claiming housing benefits, according to a report commissioned by Squatters Action for Secure Housing (Squash).
Of course, this figure doesn’t take in to account the legal cost of removal to the taxpayer and subsequent hotel bill at HMPs for those squatters who decide that 3 hot meals a day is a favourable option to sleeping on the streets.
And with the number of homeless people in England alone having reached 50,000 - up 14% since 2010-11 and 26% since 2009-10 - it might well be the case that squats and other temporary accommodation help disguise the true extent of the problem, according to Leslie Morphy, chief executive of homeless charity Crisis.
"These figures are just the tip of the iceberg," she says.
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
Squatters 'rights', note the word 'rights'. Just another erosion of rights, besides the bankers and wealthy tories don't want dirty homeless people in one of their portfolio.
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
I don't see this as being a good thing. I wonder what happens as this recession deepens and more people find themselves homeless??
I'm sure some of you here actually believe the government is working for your best interests ;D
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
And some people still think the Paralympics’ main sponsor really cares about the disabled.
Personally, I don’t think they give ‘ATOS’
:-?
Re: Squatters Rights Axed
they seem to have forgotten about (ignored) those who don't vacate after their rental contract expires though. they've left that one squarely at the foot of the landlords