Squatting

Dear insansapinas,

The stimulus package released by the government is earmarked to move informal settlers (squatters) to places where they will have their own home. Until election comes, when mayors, governors and other politicians make hakot na naman para mas maraming boboto. 


Let us talk about squatting... then. 
One of the nieces that I sent to college and I considered one of my children now resides in UK as a nurse. Hindi na siya Tsikiting Gubat noong kinuha ko.  Besides, her father is still alive and she has many siblings to help. Siya lang ang nagtapos. Sorry kung buhatin ko ang bangko ko. Walang bumubuhat eh. Arghhh.


Last year, her biological father came home from Britain after staying there for more than a year to become (taong bahay). He could have stayed there for good with welfare and government benefits but he did not want the weather. 


When we saw each other last year, she was going back to UK,  she was still very grateful. I told her that helping her siblings is another way of paying me back. May nakikita ba kayong halo sa ulo ko? Alleluyah.


She has to go back to UK. They could not afford to  leave the house vacant, kasi raw baka pagdating nila may nakasquat na. Yes, Virginia, squatting is not a crime in UK.

Like many young Londoners, 25-year-old Rueben Taylor shares a house in a neighborhood that’s part scruffy, part smart. Unlike many others, she doesn’t pay a penny in rent — and that puts her at the center of an escalating battle pitting the rights of property owners against the needs of tenants squeezed out of Britain’s shrinking stock of affordable homes.
Taylor is a squatter, who lives with four others in a brick and stucco 19th-century row house on a street of 600,000 pound ($950,000) homes. The owner is unhappy about the unwanted guests, but they are not committing a crime — something that could change if the British government has its way.

The Law on Squatting in the UK

The law on squatting

Squatting itself is not a criminal offence. However, it is illegal to get into a property by breaking in or damaging windows and doors. You could be arrested even if the damage is minimal.

In some cases, squatters can also be prosecuted for other offences. There is a risk that this could happen if: 

•  you don't leave when the landlord gets a court order, or
• a person who normally lives in the property, or has a right to move in (such as a new tenant) asks you to leave.

Using utilities such as gas, electricity and water without contacting the suppliers is also illegal.

If the landlord got a court order to evict the last people from the property, you can be evicted much more easily as the court order applies to anyone living in the property - the landlord can call the bailiffs in immediately.

What is scary is that these people are moving to the  Britain's most exclusive private  estates where values of properties range from several hundred thousands to millions.

Squatting in the US
With the foreclosures of homes, the houses were left vacant. Some people occupied the vacant homes as squatters until they're evicted.


Pinaysaamerika