Squatters' rights
Submitted by KarenSheffield on Thu, 10/21/2010 - 12:19
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
There is no such thing as a squatter's right in England. Most respass is a civil tort, not a criminal offence, but under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 certain forms of trespass, eg those involving squatters, are criminal offences. Do not believe everything you read in the Daily Mail. In the 1980s they ran a hate campaign against squatters, illustrated with lurid tales about people going shopping and returning to find their house had been squatted and they could not evict the squatters. These were complete fiction in the vast majority of cases. The Daily Mail has found new bogeymen now - asylum seekers, benefit cheats etc. - but they are not one to let an issue rest if they can stir up a bit of indignation aganist anyone who is not white, male, British, fully employed, heterosexual etc.
