Squatting to become a criminal offence in 2012 (but only for residential property)

Finally, something is being done about the absurd legal position on squatters.  Squatting is a bigger problem than many people think and the law is currently ridiculous at the moment. It goes something like this :-

1. Squatters break into your property
2. They may start vandalising it
3. You can only recover possession by a court order
4. Make a mistake in the paperwork (or don’t go out of your way to ensure the poor squatters know about the court proceedings) and you have to start again
5. Spurious defences by squatters often cause adjournments
6. Even with a  court order, squatters often given weeks thereafter  before they leave

It is about time that the above ludicrous situation changes and it appears, from a new Government bill, that squatting will be a criminal offence in 2012. Whether this will deter some squatters is a different issue as they may consider a short spell in prison another way of obtaining free accommodation. The new rules will apparently only apply to residential property not commercial. Why this is the case seems to us to be quite illogical although we suppose the rationale is that if commercial premises are left unoccupied the effect of the squatting is not so bad. Frankly, we don’t really see the difference.

What do you think ?