Monthly Archives: June 2013

SQUASH NewsRound: April – June 2013

Stories in this Issue: Will there be Further Criminanlistion?; Open House 2013; Let Down Housing Demo and the Right to Protest; Violent Attacks on the Homeless; London Fire Brigade Used for BackDoor Evictions; International Solidarity: Holland

Guardian Letter: Government attack on squatting

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jun/17/attack-squatting In September of last year, the government made it a criminal offence to squat unoccupied residential buildings. This move came at a time of a major housing crisis: there are currently around a million unoccupied or empty homes in the UK, and growing homelessness. Squatting is one of Britain’s oldest forms of tenancies, and communities and political movements have grown up around it. There are now signs that the government is seeking to extend this criminalisation beyond the residential sector. As figures and representatives in the trade union and student movements, we are alarmed by the prospect of such […]

Anti-squatting laws and the coming crackdown on occupations

**A [letter in today’s Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jun/17/attack-squatting) voices the concerns of unionists, students and MPs about possible new squatting laws. Here’s the full story.** It’s been less than a year since it became a criminal offence to take shelter in abandoned residential buildings, but it appears that the government is concerned that they haven’t yet caused enough misery and distress to homeless people. It’s looking increasingly likely that new proposals to extend the criminalisation of squatting to non-residential properties may be brought forward by the end of the year. As well as the disastrous impacts that this will have on those who […]

SQUASH NewsRound: February to March 2013

SQUASH Update; Mike Weatherley Ltd – Open for Business; Squatting the British Press; Squatting Academia; The Global Housing Crisis Continues