Squatting

SQUATTING REFERS TO the act of occupying land or structures with the intent of creating temporary or permanent shelter without the consent of the owner. For example, a squatter may be a homeless individual who takes up residence in an old abandoned building. Although the building is otherwise uninhabited, if the individual does not hold a lease to the property, or possess some other form of entitlement, he is acting as a squatter. Squatting is a common occurrence in cities, where abandoned buildings are prevalent, and is often the consequence of a lack of affordable housing.

Individuals or families may choose to squat for several reasons. Homelessness is a common precipitator to squatting and the two often go hand in hand. Without adequate income, it is difficult to find satisfactory housing in many cities. Elevated rent and extended govern-ment-subsidized waiting lists force many individuals and families to the streets. Squatting is a realistic product of a desire to survive life on the streets.

Poverty and homelessness are so common in certain parts of the world that squatter settlements are familiar sights around the periphery of many cities. The migration of families from rural areas, where jobs are scarce, to the city increases city populations to the point that lack of housing is a typical phenomenon in developing countries. Homeless families establish themselves in settlements rather than live with family or friends in overcrowded conditions in the city. This grouping together that creates squatter settlements can be advantageous.

In some cases, the squatter settlement can be established as a legitimate community that is eligible for government assistance. This means that services such as water and sanitation may be provided to the settlement and members of the settlement may have access to gov-ernment-subsidized programs they were ineligible for when they did not have a permanent address, as noted by S. Speak.

The relationship between homelessness and squatting may be less related in some impoverished countries. For example, it is not unusual for rural landowners in China to temporarily leave their properties and families to find work in the city in order to supplement their housing and living situation. Any income earned in the city is then remitted to the family who continues to reside in the rural area.

In order to save money while living in the city, these individuals may resort to squatting; however, even though they are living on the street, they are not truly homeless. They maintain ownership of a residence even though they may not be living there.

Squatting for political reasons has been popular in Europe and Canada in the past. Political activists may be neither impoverished nor homeless; however, their political stance is for the support and protection of the disadvantaged. Squatting activity in this regard is a political expression aimed at reducing squatting occurrences and conditions associated with squatting.

[Page 1020]In many countries, squatting is illegal. Squatters can be arrested on charges of trespassing and breaking and entering. While squatting is a criminal offense, squatters sometimes use the courts to claim a residence as their own. Laws, such as squatter's rights, create avenues for squatters to establish land or property as their own. Squatter's rights, also known as adverse possession, refers to the right to claim ownership of property simply by living on or possessing it for a period of time. While most countries favor the rights of the property owner, most countries allow for the provision of squatters to obtain possession of property they do not own under certain circumstances. In the United States, in order for someone to claim squatter's rights, the following conditions must be met: the property must be put to use or occupied, the use must be public and visible, the land must be used or occupied without the permission or approval of the landowner, use of the property must not be shared with anyone else, and the property must be used continuously for a certain period of time. Local law determines the time period.

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