Closed petition Repeal new squatting law (section 144 legal aid bill)

Closed on 21 January 2014

We call for Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which criminalises squatting in residential properties to be repealed. The law is not working:

- Homeless people are being penalised. Many are finding themselves on the streets who would otherwise have found shelter in abandoned residential properties
- Some have ultimately gone to jail for using empty buildings to put a roof over their head
- Contrary to government propaganda, the law is doing nothing more to protect people in their homes, who were already protected by the existing Criminal Law Act 1977
- It is encouraging property speculators and unscrupulous landlords to keep buildings empty
- It is increasing the burden on taxpayers as squatters move into the housing benefit system on top of the prosecution costs
- Despite an overwhelming 96% rejection in the governments consultation, the law was rushed through parliament without sufficient scrutiny and therefore lacks any legitimacy