Monthly Archives: May 2016

PRESS RELEASE – Squatting Stats 2015: rising homelessness linked to criminalisation of squatting

The latest report, “Squatting Statistics 2015: The link between rising homelessness and the criminalisation of squatting” (May 2016), from Squatters Action for Secure Homes (SQUASH), in partnership with Streets Kitchen, found that 148 people were arrested under section 144 in 2015, bringing the total number of people arrested for the offence to at least 736 since 2012. The criminalisation of squatting in residential properties in England and Wales, through section 144 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2011), is leading to the arrest of young homeless people in the hundreds, rising street homelessness and is pushing up residential property prices.