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Articles / Squatting in Europe? Know the Rules!:

Squatting in Europe? Know the Rules!

Monday, January 18th. A French court orders the eviction of thirty-three militants squatters on Paris’ most expensive square: Place des Voges. Squatting organisation “Jeudi noir” (Black Thursday) has been illegally occupying a 1000m2 private mansion to arrogate housing problems for youngsters, as lots of apartments stay unoccupied whilst rents are flamboyant. The owner of the building, which has been uninhabited since 1965, claims 140.000 euros compensation for unpaid rent since October 27th. The young squatters refuse to move, even though force orders could soon crudely throw them out. These squatters know what they are getting themselves into, because they know the rules. Do you?

Jeudi Noir and the mansion on Place des Voges

The idea may sound appealing: Why pay rent when you can squat? And certainly as in some cities housing may be a real problem. According to author Robert Neuwirth, journalist specialised in the matter, there are one billion squatters globally, that is about 1 out of 7 people on the planet. Yet there is an important distinction to be made between squatting by necessity and squatting as political statement. Obviously, in some cases, need-based and politically motivated squatting go hand in hand. In this period of global recession and increased housing foreclosures, squatting has become far more prevalent in Western, developed nations, like EU countries. In effect, struggling citizens living in a welfare state that cannot provide them with adequate resources take action into their own hands and squat.

In many European countries, there are squatted houses used as residences and also larger squatted projects where people pursue social and cultural activities. Young people squat buildings to use as concert venues for alternative types of music such as punk and hardcore. Known examples of ‘culture squats’ include “Can Masdeu”, an old leper hospital outside Barcelona and a former military barracks called “Metelkova” in Slovenia. Squats can be run on anarchist or communist principles, for example, Fabrika Yfanet, Villa Amalia in Greece, Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Austria (has legal status) or Blitz in Norway (has legal status).. The eviction of one such place, Ungdomshuset, in March 2007 received international news coverage. Others have been legalised.

In many countries, squatting is in itself a crime; in others, it is only seen as a civil conflict between the owner and the occupants. So before you decide to go and squat a flat in a European country, here’s what you need to know:

Netherlands
In the Netherlands, if a building is empty and not in use for twelve months, and the owner has no pressing need to use it (such as a rental contract starting in the next month), it can be legally squatted. The only illegal aspect would be forcing an entry, which is why changing the locks is the first thing Dutch squatters do. When a building is squatted, it is normal to send the owner a letter and to invite the police to inspect the squat. The police check whether the place is indeed lived in by the squatter—in legal terms, this means there must be a bed, a chair, a table and a working lock on the door which the squatter can open and close.

In most cities, there is often a kraakspreekuur (squatters' conversation hour), at which people planning to squat can get advice from experienced squatters, and so-called "wild" squatting (squatting a building without the help of the local group) is not encouraged. Dutch squatters use the term krakers to refer to people who squat houses with the aim of living in them (as opposed to people who break into buildings for the purpose of vandalism or theft). Currently, a new bill is being voted in parliament to make squatting punishable with a year of imprisonment, making the Dutch squatting community ask support from their European brothers:
http://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/Dutch-lawmakers-approve-anti_squatting-law_57300.html

Curious about how the ‘squatting-action’ takes place in Amsterdam?
A short subtitled film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq6u0w2H9Cg

Vrankrijk, one of Amstedams well-known squats

United Kingdom
In England and Wales, the term squatting usually refers to occupying an empty house in a city. The owner of the house must go through various legal proceedings before evicting squatters. Squatting is regarded in law as a civil, not a criminal, matter. However, if there is evidence of forced entry, then this is regarded as criminal damage, and the police have the powers to remove the occupants. If the squatter legally occupies the house, then the owner must prove in court that they have a right to live in the property and that the squatter does not, while the squatter has the opportunity to claim there is not sufficient proof or that the proper legal steps have not been taken. In order to occupy a house legally, a squatter must have exclusive access to that property, that is, be able to open and lock an entrance. The property should be secure in the same way as a normal residence, with no broken windows or locks.

Rampart squat in London

The legal process of eviction can take a month or longer, perhaps even years. This is what happens when the property is owned by a council or a housing association. Private landlords have been known to use various intimidating methods to convince a squatter to move out or indeed, to pay squatters to leave. In London, a group called the Advisory Service for Squatters runs a volunteer service helping squatters. It publishes the Squatters' Handbook and has drafted a legal warning to be used by squatters.

To see how London squatters go about, here’s a short informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SiqT0qxyWk

Spain
In Spain, there exists a great culture of squatting that is called “okupas” in Barcelona (“squats” in English). For the last 20 to 30 years the squatting movement has gained momentum, but in the late 90’s governmental repression increased and has continued until now. Currently, the government of Spain and possibly all of the governments of the world have begun to realize that squats are locations of resistance that build upon radical ideas, in turn showing that another world truly is possible. This realization has lead the government of Spain to passing Article 245, which thereafter lead to many of the squats in Spain being infiltrated by the police.

The Okupa that can be spotted from Parc Güell, in Barcelona

There are basically two types of squats, the first type acts as a resident for the squatters, while the second type are the squats or locations that are designed as places to organize events. Some of the events that are organized include for example, community food a la Food Not Bombs, in celebration of some festival. In certain cases events are organised to direct funds in order to support legal aid for friends who have been detained by the government. Some squats organize classes that are related to artistic manifestations such as painting, exotic dances, drums, and theatre, ect., where capital may be donated for the class in order to help maintain the squat. Besides organizing events, many of the squatters find temporary contracts in order to support the squat. Quite frequently many squats organize parties and festivals, where an entrance fee is sometimes charged and/or drinks are sold.

international squatting symbol

An example of a Spanish squat with cultural manifestations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIH-WlH68po&feature=channel

France:
In France, in spite of the law on empty houses requisition – founded in 1945 after consecutive citizen squatting, due to housing shortage in the post-war years – and the law Besson (1990), the ‘occupation’ of a house remains as a rule illegal. To French law, squatting is a permanent offence, which means that every day you occupy this constitutes a flagrant offence. At the request of the owner it is not thus rare that the police intervenes to proceed with the eviction of the occupants, even though legal procedure might take a long time. The legal issue concerning squatting is thus quite complicated. A law protecting tenants from expulsion during winter can be applied in favour of the squatter in certain cases.

Paris houses a large number of artist squats, the most famous being 59 Rue Rivoli and le Frigo (“the fridge”). A lot of these squats have been legalized after negotiation with the government, based on the social and cultural events they organise and the animation they bring to a city or district.

If you want to see what the Frigo looks like, find the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUe3FSV2fn4&feature=related

The famous artist squat on Rue Rivoli in Paris

The squatters from Jeudi Noir will probably not be able to stay in their mansion for very long. But at least they put urging housing difficulties for youngsters on the table, whilst saving up on rent…
To know more about them, visit the website: www.jeudi-noir.org

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Keywords:

squat, housing, travel, artist, tourism

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1 comment by 1 user

Really nice article! I am from spain, but I've been squatting in Holland. Is a huge difference between methods of squatting. the "wild" one, and the "polite" one. But they are adapted to the law and the situation of the place. The new law in Holland will change the methods of the squatters, and make the solidarity between them stronger. I don't think squatting is going to be legalize all over; governments are getting more conservative and freedoms are being shut down. But by the other side, I don't think they will make disappear radical movements, it will be the opposite, they will get more radical in order to get back their token rights. well, squatting nowadays, is an alternative of living using the waste of the consumerism and free market. Many people (civilians) are against squatting. The manipulation of the medias make a big influence, and they feel explode seeing that some people doesn't need to pay an expensive rent to live. So they think is not fair, and they get upset with squatters. The problem is not squatting, the problem, the HUGE PROBLEM, is the system. You expend half of your life solving housing, and the other half paying for it. Is what we are tough in the school: study, find a job, buy a house, and pay until the end of your days. while you are busy with this matter, there is no time for revolution, not even time to dream about it. Squatting, is just one way to reject this anti-life system. Squatters work (many people think they do nothing) hard to make their places alive. And try to make a balance between the easy straight path, and the difficult unsafe one. every day squatting is getting more support from neighbours. they see this people is not just there to make noise and other typical cliches. They also try to improve their community, they give space for other associations, make workshops for old an young people, and do it for no money with no money. witch mayor does it? you can like it or disgust it. but is a reality; same as you need to breathe to live...